Car Styles You hated But Now Like-Why The Change

[arcticbuicks]

I used to hate certain years and models and thought .....those are just plain ugly......I always thought of the twenties and thirties the same for how i liked most and maybe just for how they varied different also  .....but there were a lot of forties and fifties and especially 59 and 60 i hated ..........and now i really like them .......and some little cars i thought were just plain ridiculous and ugly........ now i think they are so cool...........anybody else have similar ?

[1935Packard]

Not me.  I look back on the sketches I made of cars when I was a kid, and the books I had about classic cars with certain dog-eared pages of favorites, and they're exactly what I like today.  

[Fordy]

Would have died of excessive laughter 40 years ago if someone suggested I get an upright Ford Prefect, underpowered, cramped and plain horrible to drive.

I now own 2 of them!

[avgwarhawk]

I was never a fan of the 58 GM model year.  However, over time I the 58 Buick has caught my eye.  I'd love to own one. 

[Dandy Dave]

Some just plain ugly looking stuff just grows on you like an old and ugly dog. An old friend had a little dog he called pumpkin head. It wasn't much to look at but it sure was lovable and happy to see him came home. 

Edited February 8, 2023 by Dandy Dave (see edit history)

[8E45E]

The malaise era cars with the ugly 5-mph bumpers at each end never did anything for me, and still don't.   They have never 'grown' on me at any point in time, and never will.

 

Craig

[Rusty_OToole]

During the late 80s and 90s when the rounded streamlined look was in fashion, I noticed that cars of the upside down bathtub era (1946- 51 Nash, Packard, Hudson, Lincoln, Kaiser, Frazer) started to look better. It was like they suddenly made sense by putting them in context.

Edited February 8, 2023 by Rusty_OToole (see edit history)

[John]

71-73 Buick Riviera.  Reminded me of a squatting toad.  Not so bad 50 years later when most new cars have no distinguishing features.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

I posted a 66 Pontiac Catalina recently in the "not mine" section.  I was into typical muscle and sportscars, along with collector cars of the time (mainly prewar anything, some 50s)in my youth.  Not sure I would have seen myself spending time or money on one of those full size GMs of the 60s, although that was my father and grandfather's typical choice for years.

I really like styling and colors on that car even in the rough, and the 389 was a pretty good engine.  So yes, that appeals to me now when it didn't before.

All said though, I have mainly stuck with or returned to interests I had in my youth.  Prewar anything, select postwar US and sportscars interest me most.

[TAKerry]

Never cared much for mopar stuff, chargers look like boxes to me (I would like to have one for what they are though), and not to mention the over exaggerated styling of the late 50's stuff! I do admit the finned mopars are pretty cool cars at this point.

[rocketraider]

78-80 Buick and Oldsmobile intermediates. The "buttless" cars.

 

I actually grimaced first time I saw one. Nowadays a well-kept one, especially a 442, catches my eye. 

 

They're positively refreshing compared to the used bars of soap prowling the roads now.

 

My reaction to the first GM W-bodies in 1988 was much the same. A Lumina Z34 or Cutlass Supreme coupe could live here now, just don't ask me to change an alternator or serpentine belt. The knuckleheads responsible for those aspects ought to be beat around their ears.

[Porsche 68]

In the 80s I was a Porsche Mercedes’ Benz mechanic up until 15 years ago that’s I would ever drive customers hand me downs Then I met Rich old school very cool he has a 28 wiper and a 32 Chevrolet Now that he is older 86 I work on his cars very simple no need to buy expensive tools very relaxing to work on He has opened my eyes to pre war cars there awsome! So now I have 2 of my own As I have said before the 34 dodge is going to be my daily this summer.  John

[dsailer]

My grandmother passed down a 59 Ford Fairlane when I was a teen. I remember thinking I wouldn't be caught dead driving it. I should have driven it proudly.

[JamesR]

8 hours ago, arcticbuicks said:

were a lot of forties and fifties and especially 59 and 60 i hated

 

As a kid I disliked many or even most of the cars of the late 50's and early '60's. Some were cool, like the '57 Chevy, '57 Plymouth and most generations of Thunderbirds and Corvettes, but I found the styling of the era too ornate and often odd. It didn't help that there were thousands of battered, rusty and barely or non running examples of these cars in side lots and trailer parks everywhere by the late '60's. 

 

I especially disliked the economy and compact cars of the late '50's and early '60's, like the Lark, Rambler, Valiant, Corvair, etc. They sold a zillion of them when they were made, so they were also everywhere when I was a kid, often in bad condition. My view of late '50's vehicles started changing in about '79 when I decided to buy an old pickup truck. I was 20 or 21 at the time. The nice looking '55-'57 Chevy trucks were popular enough at the time to be out of my price range, generally speaking, so I bought a well worn but good running '59 Chevy Apache for $275. At first, I disliked the quad headlights, which I thought made the basic styling (very similar to the '55) look quirky. Then the quirkiness started growing on me, and I found the quirkiness of other vehicles of the era kind of appealing, too. And, eventually, very appealing. 😀

[arcticbuicks]

yes,same for me the 4 headlight cars mostly of 1958 seemed to bother me also ......and really on a very unchanged car or truck from previous year.......for me i loved a 57 caddy and hated the 58 caddy.......now i think the 4 headlight caddy looks even better and meaner.

[JamesR]

14 minutes ago, arcticbuicks said:

i loved a 57 caddy and hated the 58 caddy

 

I've come to appreciate and admire almost every car of the late 1950's. However, I still think that one of the best looking eras for American cars was 1948 to 1957. In 1948 the step down Hudson was introduced, and in my humble opinion, it set a new standard for how good a car could look. Between '48 and '57, many spectacular looking cars were introduced. The '49 Ford and Mercury. The fantastic GM sedanettes were still being made, including the super sleek Cadillac of '48 with the tail fins. The last of the Packards. The Bourke coupe Studebakers. The amazing new two seater Thunderbird came in '55. The iconic tri-five Chevrolets were introduced. In 1956,  Chevy introduced the beautifullly restyled Corvette, and FoMoCo introduced the equally beautiful Continental Mark II. Exner's early forward look was incredible and there were many many other great looking cars.

[tcslr]

As much as I try, the PA fender headlamps just dont do it - always been that way.  Early 50s US cars generally same things.  European though - I generally like. Early 60s - just about everything.  late 70s and 80s - very little.  It is kind of similar to music - As much as I try to understand/appreciate jazz infusion - it just sounds like noise no matter how many times I listen.  

I have realized that appealing and unappealing cars are like porn - I know it when I see them but I cant put a finger on just why - a least usually.

 

 

[MotiveLensPhoto]

The VW bug was always something I liked. Until I drove one.

 

Never was a fan of the Corvette, but the new ones are looking really great.

[Pfeil]

I've always been into Pontiac, however in 1966 Pontiac styling started to veer off the mark and 67 was even worse. There was an alternative. Ford made a better-looking Pontiac in 1966 than Pontiac. Although the overall car is not bad, that wild exaggerated split grille went over the top for me.

 

1966 Pontiac>1966 Ford

 

 

In 1967 Plymouth made a better-looking Pontiac front end than Pontiac, but on the Plymouth, you needed to pick the right roof. The wrong roof would make the car fat looking in the middle of the car.

 

 

1967 Pontiac1967 Fury< nice Pontiac🙃

 

 

Right type of Plymouth roof>  the wrong roof>

 

Note that this is the first (1967) year Pontiac started putting a valance under the bumper. This is a big mistake. Anyone who has a car with a front valance will tell you that it's the worst for stone chips. I remember when I was a kid, I said to my dad, comparing our 59 Pontiac to a 59 Chevrolet that the Chevrolet looked cheap without a FULL bumper. See below,

 

 

 

[CHuDWah]

There's cars I like better than others but I can't think of any I hate - even Yugos have a place in the world.

[John_S_in_Penna]

I tend to like the same cars now as earlier.

So my tastes have stayed pretty much the same.

[Pfeil]

On 2/8/2023 at 1:06 PM, Golden73 said:

The VW bug was always something I liked. Until I drove one.

 

Never was a fan of the Corvette, but the new ones are looking really great.

I didn't think much of 1940 styling-still had running boards but had headlamps in the fenders. I had my 59 Pontiac Catalina, a 13 second car I was still drag racing, but I needed a car, a dependable car with over 30+MPG to finish off H/S and then to go to college. The company my dad owned had a fleet of three VW's and I maintained them. I also knew IF you did the proper maintenance and knew how to drive them because there are RULES, they will go forever, so I bought a 1965 VW type 111 1200"A" Custom, a European model. A 1965 Beetle has the same era styling as 1937-38 Ford styling, meaning running boards and headlamps in the fenders and the headlamps are covered by glass covers.  Once you've owned a Beetle, they start to grow on you. I don't know why but they do. I still have that car. The one on the pictures left is mine.

 

notice either car has the 3/4 headliner, so the side panels are painted, not like the export deluxe cars which have headlining material on the sides. My car is a 65 111 and the other is a 66, Type 115 or standard model ragtop sunroof. A U.S. export sunroof would be a Type 117, steel sliding sunroof. 

 

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[1937hd45]

I'm thinking...........so far if they were butt ugly 20-30 years ago they still look the same. 

[Rusty_OToole]

Air cooled VW fan from way back. Drove them for years, I am a big guy and had lots of room in a VW when I could not squeeze into a comparable Japanese car. The more I studied them the more impressed I got with the genius simplicity of design and construction. It is truly much harder to design a good economy car than to design a price is no object luxury car or sports car. I know a lot of people don't see it that way but I like them.

[Twisted Shifter]

Never liked Studebakers - from the bullet-nose through the bitter end...except for the Lowey hardtop coupe. I now have three Larks: '59, '60' and 61, arguably the ugliest of them all!  Go figure.

[EmTee]

The 'bustle-back' Seville...

 

 

 

But - without the padded roof. 

[28 Chrysler]

I didn't like the 70s styling until the 80s came out but  then came the "jelly beans" cars. These are the cars that make the 58 -  60 Chevy s look better.

[Pfeil]

I'm with Bill on this one. I hated 4 dr. cars until some of the German cars made them popular especially in the 70's. That three-box look was very popular, and it suited 4 door cars. In 1976 I was looking for a new car and the German cars were too expensive, so I settled for an American car. That car turned out to be the most trouble-free car I've ever owned despite paint and body issues initially. Mechanically the car was good and a week after delivery it was very good after making the suspension over to my specifications with parts out of the G.M. parts bin, like springs and sway bars from TransAm, variable-high effort 9-C-1 Police Nove steering box. Koni shocks. Police Nova rear springs and sway bar. 

 I found out much later after reading an article that when John DeLorean became general manager of Chevrolet, the 1975-79 NOVA was on the drawing board and Delorean decided to make this car handle and look in the three box tradition. Typical of the mid 50's to the mid 70's initial new car mockup styling was on two door models, but the 75-79 NOVA lead cars were a 4 door. Turns out DeLorean really liked European 4 door sport sedans. I didn't know all of this at the time, but when the 75 models came out, I knew I didn't like the two door models roofs at all and thought the four doors was just right. Apparently, Cadillac division liked the general shape, and their K body is an adaptation of the X body.

    >>to me the only roof that looked good was the 4 dr.

 

 

 

Since all X bodies are basically the same except for 1976 Chevrolet and Olds were still using the 250" seven main bearing gear to gear-no timing chain I-6 engine vs the other makes 231 V-6 it was a no brainer to go for the Olds version. I still have the car.

 

 

 

 

The two door roofs just didn't cut it for me. >< especially this one

Edited February 9, 2023 by Pfeil (see edit history)

[Roscoe]

Never was overly crazy about the '41 to '46 Chevrolet trucks....or many 1940's cars. Then in '08 I bought my mutt/street-rodded '46, because it was old, could be driven daily, and was different. I fell in love with the little frog looking thing and now I think it's a beautiful truck, and wouldn't part with it for anything. And I now have a love for the '40s cars. They all seem to have gotten better looking to me as time goes on.

[Buffalowed Bill]

A little late to the party but.... I've driven Studebakers since I was 17 yrs old. Because of Studebaker's unique styling most guys either loved them or hated them. However even if someone liked the look of the 1953-55 coupe/ht. it was a stretch for a kid in own one. A Studebaker slogan was "Different by Design." Kids don't like being different. At least not so different that they stood out from the crowd.

 

My Dad drove a 1951, 2dr Champion. I guess I liked it when I was 7yrs old, but a few critical comments from other kids changed that. The car moved on and so did I. Regardless there would never be a time that I did not have at least one Studebaker in my collection. 

 

I began to cringe a bit in 1956 when Studebaker began to follow the crowd to the popular shoebox style. While I felt the shoebox had been a misstep, the model that really got to me upset was the Lark. When it arrived in 1959 I didn't like it at all. I didn't know how anyone could like that little, sawed off, boxy, thing!

 

Well my Dad must have liked it because he bought a year old 1963 Lark Daytona. It would be his last car. It was pretty well understood that when he passed that I would become the car's caretaker. In 1988 it came to pass. It would however be my only Lark so to make that official I called him "Malarkey." For the next 25 yrs he became my trusted companion while we traveled the backroads throughout the West. He never failed me or left me stranded. I learned to love the car for what it was. With that new found appreciation, I learned to like how he looked. It's amazing how the passage of time changes how we look at our cars. The car ages but does not change. But we change-maybe it's a matter of growing up. There is more to a car then a pretty face!

 

My collection now includes four Larks and a 1950 and 1951. Maybe it's just closure!

 

The car below is not Malarkey but substitute black/white interior and it would be his double.

 

Edited February 10, 2023 by Buffalowed Bill (see edit history)