The Challenger Gets Challenged
What's next? Pushbutton radios? Whitewalls? Brooklyn Bob, writing about the Dodge Challenger concept, has challenged me to comment on the current obsession with retro design (dangerous ground as we both know how car fans can be super-sensitive when their favorite ride is criticised).
Retro's popularity is the effect of remembering an era when cars weren't packed with computer technology and horsepower was king. I understand that, because I was there and got to enjoy that stuff when it was new.
Not all retro cars offend me. I like the New Beetle, the PT Cruiser, and the MINI although the PT Cruiser is only retro in theme whereas the other two are based on automobiles of great historical significance. As Bob knows, I do not much like Chrysler's current stable of sedans with their once-upon-a-time nameplates and big, boxy, in-your-face styling. (I've already been threatened with bodily injury when I trashed these cars during my era as About.com's new cars Guide, so please hold your insults… the neighbours are getting nervous.)
Retro cars begin as concepts. The boys in the design department get to discussing how much fun it would be to recreate the Whippet in modern guise and next thing you know it holds center stage in the Los Angeles Auto Show. The grey hairs in the crowd shed tears of nostalgia and the kids go wild because kids love every concept. Marketing takes over and presto, one more retro car the world doesn't need. I agree, Bob, this fad has gone too far.
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I would just like to make a slight correction. The Mini is not a “retro” car. It is just the newer model of mini. It wasn’t like the the previous Mini had production halted for any period of time, this was just the a renewed design from the ground up, bigger, heavier and bloated, but fun none-the-less. It’s just the next generation of Mini, if you will.
As a side note, I cannot fathom how they could make the Mini bigger as they did, but end up with LESS room for back seat passengers? I’m 190cm tall and fit fine in the back of the original Mini (with a roll cage no less), and yet I’m quite cramped in the new one.
Eric