body styles

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hey there,<P>my name is jacques troussard and i am a senior highschool student at northgate high. all seniors are required to take up a senior project and topic. my project is a cosmetic restoration of an american classic. my research topic question is on significate changes in body styles and composition in cars for the past 30 years. i am asking for anyones help. perhaps if anyone knows were i can find good reference material, or offer to be interviewed by me as a 1st person source. anything at all would be greatly appericated.<P>-jacques

[Guest]

For Puegot:<P>There is little this particular Club can offer you. It is understandable that you do not understand the word "classic" in the same context as we do within the confines of this particular Car Club. To us, the "classic" era is that era between roughly 1925 and 1942 (with some limited exceptions). During that era, car body building methods change dramatically.<P>Your question appears to be centered in the era of the most recent thirty years, or, if I understood you correctly, since around 1970.<P>We, within the confines of the definitions of THIS particular car club, would call the entire period you are inquiring about...the "modern" era. <P>MOST car bodies built since the late 1930's and up thru the present day, are welded together on huge "jibs" from large pieces of stamped light guage "draw-able" steel, with more and more "robatics" and computer control making its appearance in recent years.<P>More recently, we have seen the use of various kinds of man-made "composite" materials. However, further discussion on the modern era would be outside the confines of what this particular car club is involved with.<P>I would suggest you enter any of the chat rooms within the Collectable Auto Discussion Forum that deal with the MODERN era, for a more detailed discussion of your question.<P>Good luck<P>Pete Hartmann<BR>Big Springs, AZ

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Check out "The (new) Cadillac Database":<BR>[ <A HREF="http://www.car-nection.com/yann" TARGET=_blank>http://www.car-nection.com/yann</A> ]<BR>In the "PHOTO" section, you could pick a period of thirty years to see how auto styling of a single marque (Cadillac) evolved over that period.