Real stunner today in Chelmsford, Bond Street.

[219]

You're right that car shape has aligned over the decades. There's loads of reasons but I doubt we'll ever see an era where new cars come out looking like a Ponton or grosser or Chevrolet bel air... They're just not efficient or safe design choices.

As said above, I certainly pay attention to fresh metal, especially if it's expensive, as I've aspirations of owning it one day.

This car above, I'm sure I saw the very same the day before. I definitely saw the same model, and the plate looks too familiar too. It definitely drew attention, not just from me.

While it is true that much has changed in car design in the name of safety and efficiency, it has been recognised that so many new cars are bland and just plain ugly .

You just have to look at the many car makers who now take styling cues from earlier models :

Mercedes restyled the front end of the SLK to have a classic grille reminiscent of the W121 190SL

Then there was the SLS/SLR , complete with gullwing doors as a nod to their 1950’s counterparts

Current model VW Beetle , perhaps a dressed up Golf but it stands out from the hatchback crowd

Fiat 500

Jaguar S Type perhaps a Mondeo under the skin but styled to look like the Mk II

N doubt many others

 

[E53AMG]

It happens in other walks of life like fashion too, vintage clothes have become the current rage (Paloma Faith partly responsible) and it has long been known if you hold onto clothes long enough they come back into fashion.

I remember my Father in Law buying a white round TV in the Mid 80s that looked like it had come straight off the 70s series UFO.

Not long ago Casio LCD watches came back into fashion, and now Nokia have re-launched the old 3210 handset!

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[Petrol Pete]

It happens in other walks of life like fashion too, vintage clothes have become the current rage (Paloma Faith partly responsible) and it has long been known if you hold onto clothes long enough they come back into fashion.

I remember my Father in Law buying a white round TV in the Mid 80s that looked like it had come straight off the 70s series UFO.

Not long ago Casio LCD watches came back into fashion, and now Nokia have re-launched the old 3210 handset!

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There is a photograph (printed on paper !) of me that is probably about 30 years old , there I am in my way to cool for school KAPPA tracksuit, grey with white lettering and green accents around the words KAPPA. I look a right TAWT in it ! my teenage son is begging me to dig through all of the junk in the loft in the vain hope that hideous 2 piece monstrosity still exists so he can wear it .

What the hell is wrong with these kids !?

 

[Petrol Pete]

While it is true that much has changed in car design in the name of safety and efficiency, it has been recognised that so many new cars are bland and just plain ugly .

You just have to look at the many car makers who now take styling cues from earlier models :

Mercedes restyled the front end of the SLK to have a classic grille reminiscent of the W121 190SL

Then there was the SLS/SLR , complete with gullwing doors as a nod to their 1950’s counterparts

Current model VW Beetle , perhaps a dressed up Golf but it stands out from the hatchback crowd

Fiat 500

Jaguar S Type perhaps a Mondeo under the skin but styled to look like the Mk II

N doubt many others

Not to mention the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS I had as a hire car for 3 weeks in the USA recently. ergonomically flawed to such an extent you could not drive with your arm resting on either arm rest, if you opened the boot (trunk !) when it was wet all of the water from the lid went straight into the boot space soaking everything inside, which was almost nothing because the boot was pretty useless, the list goes on. But WHAT a great noise it made as it lost traction pretty much everywhere on the winter roads of Maryland. And it looked the part...as it fell apart. I love it that cars like that exist today. The new Corvette XYZZZZ can not be sold in the EU because of unsafe 'Bonnet (hood) protrusions'. Marvellous !

 

[219]

Not to mention the 2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS I had as a hire car for 3 weeks in the USA recently. ergonomically flawed to such an extent you could not drive with your arm resting on either arm rest, if you opened the boot (trunk !) when it was wet all of the water from the lid went straight into the boot space soaking everything inside, which was almost nothing because the boot was pretty useless, the list goes on. But WHAT a great noise it made as it lost traction pretty much everywhere on the winter roads of Maryland. And it looked the part...as it fell apart. I love it that cars like that exist today. The new Corvette XYZZZZ can not be sold in the EU because of unsafe 'Bonnet (hood) protrusions'. Marvellous !

And my 9 year old son is in awe of the current model Mustangs that are so popular over here .

 

[Conquistador]

I see a few of these round where I work, or it could be the same one as they move around trying to find free parking... That's city of London for you.

There's no free parking around Chelmsford! The same half a dozen traffic wardens do their rounds but why the driver chose to park in one of the most awkward spaces to park in town is beyond me. I hate parallel parking on that road.

The spaces beneath John Lewis are very accommodating!

 

[Petrol Pete]

And my 9 year old son is in awe of the current model Mustangs that are so popular over here .

I asked for one at Washington DC airport the other month, I saw loads of them parked up at AVIS along with the Camaros and Corvettes but they don't do the 5.0 V8 for hire !?? But I was OK with the V8 Camaro SS.

The guy at the desk insisted the ECO Mustang was a great drive , I told him I drive a V8 5.4 in the UK as my daily drive and I would feel bad coming to the 'home' of the V8 and jumping in a muscle car without the muscle

 

[Darrell]

Jaguar S Type is a Mondeo under the skin but styled to look like the Mk II

Oi!! That’s fighting talk!! You’re thinking of the X Type.

Our S Type is hardly the best looking car in the world but as it’s 16 years old, has a bit of chrome and is in Jewish Racing gold it certainly stands out in the crowd.

 

[John]

It must be similar to songs in that there must be a limit to the number of different songs you can have which remain appealing.

So I suppose it is inevitable that in modern cars the styling cues sometimes come from older cars.

I don't like the rears of the current crop of Mercs because as stated, they all look the same now. Maybe it would be better if I liked the backs in the first place!

But I do like the S Class Maybach front end. Quite like the wheels although I wouldn't change them.

 

[Codger49]

Thought the Jag S type was based on the Lincoln Town Car.

 

[Darrell]

Thought the Jag S type was based on the Lincoln Town Car.

It was.

 

[E53AMG]

Oi!! That’s fighting talk!! You’re thinking of the X Type.

Our S Type is hardly the best looking car in the world but as it’s 16 years old, has a bit of chrome and is in Jewish Racing gold it certainly stands out in the crowd.

I bought an identical one brand new, it was my first ever new car, what was I thinking of back in 2003!

The electronics were superior to any car I have owned since, the fact you could program the seat memories to each individual key and the entry exit function is still superior to my current R231!

The gearbox lurch was it's only downfall apart from astronomical depreciation!

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[Darrell]

I bought an identical one brand new, it was my first ever new car, what was I thinking of back in 2003!

The electronics were superior to any car I have owned since, the fact you could program the seat memories to each individual key and the entry exit function is still superior to my current R231!

The gearbox lurch was it's only downfall apart from astronomical depreciation!

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We bought ours as a stop-gap car off my dad for £1100 in April 2016. It’s still running well and we’ve only had to spend 3-400 for minimal services and getting it through it’s MOT. It’s been far better than we can have ever wished for.

 

[Petrol Pete]

It was.

Aaaaargh ? Really ? I had a Lincoln Town car from Avis in the USA a few weeks ago, a black MKT AWD...no? , me neither. It was like driving an overstuffed armchair and had the same steering rack as Maggi Simpson uses in the opening credits. What an awful car. It was black and reminded me of the type of car you see in a funeral procession or an airport taxi, the local guys at work said that's exactly what they are used for, tellingly the 2 weeks I drove it I never saw another one on the road....

it also turned in 19 mpg (adjusted) which is abysmal for a slow, 3. something V6 petrol

 

[E53AMG]

We bought ours as a stop-gap car off my dad for £1100 in April 2016. It’s still running well and we’ve only had to spend 3-400 for minimal services and getting it through it’s MOT. It’s been far better than we can have ever wished for.

Bargain if you consider I paid £32,000 in 2003, silky smooth V6 and gold colour was rare in those days matched to the cream leather it was fab in those days. Of only I had waited 13 years could have saved £30k [emoji33]

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[Darrell]

Bargain if you consider I paid £32,000 in 2003, silky smooth V6 and gold colour was rare in those days matched to the cream leather it was fab in those days. Of only I had waited 13 years could have saved £30k [emoji33]

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We have the same cream leather and if anybody here has the chance to drive or be a passenger in a sorted S Type R they should go for it.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Oi!! That’s fighting talk!! You’re thinking of the X Type.

Our S Type is hardly the best looking car in the world but as it’s 16 years old, has a bit of chrome and is in Jewish Racing gold it certainly stands out in the crowd.

You’re right, the S-type shares it’s DNA with the Lincoln LS

 

[gr1nch]

View attachment 78204

Not a fan of those Maybach wheels (bet the chauffeurs love polishing those and kerb avoiding!), but it's a stunning looking car. It's one of the few cars where the inside looks a *lot* better than the outside.

 

[C43AMG]

Doesn't look like it's locked, ( Door Mirrors not closed )

 

[renault12ts]

Doesn't look like it's locked, ( Door Mirrors not closed )

They can be programmed to stay open.