balthazar

Sixteen was not the greatest design, but it was helped as far as it did reach due to having some length to work with. Current CTS is a very nice, striking design, but it's angularity works with a smaller template. Ciel has numerous heritage-feel cues, but again is helped by being a decent-sized canvas to start with. Has a ton of fluidity the s-class for example, sorely lacks. I hope the Cadillac Omega follows the Ciel rather than the Sixteen in language. Next Impala is no stunner IMO, just run of the mill, but I don't expect leading edge design from Chevy. Small cars can have striking design, but productionizing brings it all back to the muddy pond of mediocrity. I didn't mean to imply retro cues are the only way to create a so-called 'new classic', but it has been the only way recently we've seen designs that have a distinct appearance. There are more obstacles to design today than at any other time in history, IMO. 'Progress' has been slower these last 20 years than any other 20-yr span, too.

Unfortunately, we haven't seen a so-called "new classic" in a good 30 years, and with ever-tighening restrictions on design WRT CAFE, .cd, packaging, and the push to smaller & smaller vehicles, I don't expect to. A given brand used to be visually distinctive, apart from everyone else, esp the luxury brands. No more. Now the average driver, if they even care, struggles to ID a mercedees from a toyota out on the road. Brands like BMW vainly cling to outdated front-end designs just to have a whisker of distinction- unable to ever break free and offer anything new/fresh. Size, trim, language are all compressed into tighter & tighter boxes. Homogenization is the guiding hand, not expression. There is no room nor allowance to 'take chances' anymore.

Trucks get shortened far more often than cars, but still :

They all also tend to place the rear wheels a bit too far forward. What these radically shortened jobs miss is the parallel line of the roof; they all slope immediately from the windshield header in a alien manner. They need a slightly longer greenhouse and a more upright backlight- in the case of the Plymouth, more in line with an early '50s roof/backlight. - - - Most of those '70s shortened Sevilles were poorly done IMO, and they should've been easy due to the sharp/straight edges of the design.

Saying retro is a 'cop out' fails to see beyond faint strains of familiarity to what is timeless beauty. Line, flow, proportion & detail is art, not retro. It's like looking at a picture of Rita Hayworth from 1941 today, and saying, 'we don't want to go there because we've been there'. Nonsense. Beauty is eternal, and achieving it in design should be a constant. Instead we get shapeless lumps with no detail & derivative cues, like the Bentley coupe, and try to self-affirm the concept of 'progress' by calling it 'gorgeous'.

^ Good base question; I guess to be 'neat' & different ?? Puzzling that it seems to center around Tri-5 Chevys tho. I've never seen a '50s Ford or Plymouth shortened like this. EDIT :: Seek & ye shall find ~

I noted that too, but I believe Electras did use cut-pile.

Car is in really fantastic shape (other than underhood cosmetics), and the Buick people have no issue with 4-drs (esp flattops : 1800 hits in 4 days). So far, the price is in line with market value for an Electra in this shape. I wouldn't chase a 4-dr at anywhere near market price, enjoying the svelt beauty of a 2-dr hardtop as I do (or one day will), but this is still a towering Cheers.

'64-65 Baccaruda, red, Cragers, a bit worn but registered. '57 Chevy 4-dr wagon, teetering for balance on top of a 4x4 chassis.

>>"I've always hated this modification, looked like crap in the 70s - still does today."<< It works for me on the wagons, because the squareness is retained. The '57 is a fail because the flow of the roof is too truncated & forced. This is the issue with trying to get true fluidity & grace on modern designs- they are too homogenized and too short. You end up with a sonata.

This page has the numerous, very different sketches under the Avant concept at a good viewing size. Unfortunately, unless Buick builds a concept for the street, production-izing any of these will only result in dumbed down/bland/homogenous stuff in comparison. Think Volt concept vs. reality. In other words, I believe the best we can hope for from Buick in the short run (thru 2020) is the level of design/uniqueness we have in the Enclave. Not that that's bad, but...

Anything signed off on by E. T. Gregorie. Seriously, Ford cars (post-'80) seldom float my boat, tho I do like numerous Ford trucks (of course, those are still seen regularly). So the answer is probably 'nothing'.

Problem is, there is so very little unique modern design that making 'the next classic' is nigh unto impossible. The only things distinctive on the road today are in fact those that aren't afraid to utilize classic, dynamic proportion & line. Those that do are Camaro, Challenger & Mustang.

^ no love here ??

I would have to believe he set the bar unsurpassably high for a car that has been reproduced more often than any other; there have been dozens & dozens & dozens of Cobra replica companies. A brutal, elemental, eternal classic. Godspeed, CS.

^ I agree totally that the Riviera name is one of the image highlights from Buick's history. Except for the corporate-forced '86 gen, there wasn't a real turkey in the paddock. However, I haven't seen more than 3 '79-85 E-bodies in 1 year in over a decade- I believe they have passed from general consciousness. Maybe in other areas of the country it's a different story. Not that they should be forgotten- they were excellent designs (I love the Eldos & the Rivs), just my observation. I know I move in vintage circles, but I've seen references to the '63-65s outside of car circles. Both are excellent designs, but only one says 'classic' IMO. I would vote a toss up WRT the '63-65 or the '79-85 AFA which comes to mind more often for the general schmo. A poll (not here of course) would be interesting...

sales of that were so pathetic, no one is asking.

So dark, it looks more like a 'cave find'.

Didn't see the piece, but I tend to enter the car arena from the 'end of life' side of the equation. It's a mindset that is ingrained in me (preserve the dying). Nice to see a BMW beater in the clinch, tho - thanks C&D!

I couldn't find a pic of the shorty '56 custom I see @ Lead East frequently.

hmmm:

If it's RWD, won't the whiners just moan 'It should've been a Cadillac'?

My buddy bought a rock solid '68 Fairlane 500 fastback project, previous owner was working on eradicating the exterior trim to make it out like a Cobra Jet. Loved the body shape, interior isn't bad for this period Ford, but the nose is so bland. Could look like one of these:

Looked over a sweetiepie '48 Stude Champion coupe. Off the road since 1968, I would love to refab the mechanicals and drive it just as it looked.

Mygod- the motor is as long as only 2 of it's horns.