The best decade for car design?

[Stotty]

Leading from a discussion in a coolwall thread...

What's the best decade for car design?

I'll start by nominating the 1960's, which for me includes many (though not all!) of the most beautiful cars ever made.

I could post pages and pages of loveliness from this decade, but for now, just a few of my favorites that capture the beauty:

Lamborghini Muira

Ferrari 250GT SWB (I have a permanent internal debate with myself on whether this or the Muira is the most beautiful road car of all time)

Mk1 GT40 (road car)

And of course it wouldn't be a post about cars from me without a 911 (the greatest sports car EVER built)...

Porsche 911

Given I also like another decade quite a bit, and I am starting the thread and setting the rules, the poll allows for 2 votes

 

[Cano]

The 30s. By far and far. Unfortunately I'm about to depart and can't overwhelm this tread with delicious art decó and streamline desings, but that will change in a few hours/tomorrow.

 

[Dagger311]

I'm going to have to say the 60's as well. Most of my favorite designs come from there, with a few from the 50's as well.

 

[TexRex]

Europe, 60s.
Japan, 70s.
United States, 40s.

Voted 60s and 70s.

 

[Bo]

My main vote is the 90s. When technology was making ts way into cars, the basis for the "modern" cars we now know. Simplistic, distinctive designs, not overweight, fantastic design languages, 1990s curves.

 

[Wiegert]

A toss-up between the 1930s and '50s. The era that spawned the art deco boom and the tail end of the streamliners prior to the sharper styling of the '60s.

Alfa Romeo 8C 2900Bs are among my favourite examples of '30s streamlining. Not as OTT as some of the other coachbuilds of that decade while looking the absolute business from virtually any angle. It really typifies the decade as far as dedicated styling goes.

Spoiler: Alfa porn

Early '50s cars like the XK140 and Citroen Traction Avant held onto most of that pre-war elegance while many designs conceived during the middle and into the last half of the decade from the likes of Austin-Healey really set the blueprint for other equally elegant vehicles during the next decade. While the US were churning out their best designs from the late '40s right through to the mid-'50s.

 

[TexRex]

Later Euro and Japanese cars are much more approachable, which I must confess factored into my vote. There's no way I'm ever owning a Daimler Double Six by Corsica.

 

[GTRacer22]

30s, because above post. And 60s, because 60s.

 

[Beeblebrox237]

Hard question. I went for the '30s and '60s, but I could easily make arguments for the '50s and '10s.

Spoiler: Why the '60s were amazing

 

[Adamgp]

Tough choice, but went with the 30's & 60's. Many great looking cars came out of the depression era, and the 60's.

Really any decade pre 1970 could have gotten my vote. Back when looking great and going fast took precedence over gas mileage, emissions, or surviving a collision.

 

[homeforsummer]

Just went for one decade, the 1960s. A huge number of the cars I lust after originated in that decade. Globally, it seems like car companies really hit their stride then - I think culturally, that decade was huge wherever you were in the world, and food, fashion, cars, music, and so much else seemed to be at some kind of zenith that decade.

I'm not really familiar enough with pre-30s stuff to vote for anything from then, and in my opinion the 40s was a bit of a low-point in the early part of the 20th century as the war rather took precedent over automobile design. The American stuff from the 1950s is fabulous though, and Germany and Japan really started nailing their designs in the 1970s.

I like several 80s cars but I can't say it was a high point for automotive design - it's a kind of transitional period between the 70s and 90s for design, where several shapes from the former were butchered with plastic bumpers or harsh surfaces. Plenty of great cars from that decade, but uninspiring aesthetically.

The 90s were great for innovation but truly beautiful designs are a little hard to come by, and the 00s currently suffers in comparison to the current decade, as design and engineering are progressing so quickly that vehicles from a decade ago already look outdated. I'm personally a fan of the stuff around at the moment - there are low points for sure, but modern technology means we've never been in a better time for intricate detailing and complex surfacing. Even some pretty humble cars have some great touches.

 

[TexRex]

I could easily make arguments for the '50s and '10s.

Oughts, even--particularly where racing is concerned. Gotta love mechanics riding shotgun while both occupants in their leather helmets get bathed in grease and buried in smoke.

Spoiler

 

[Beeblebrox237]

Oughts, even--particularly where racing is concerned. Gotta love mechanics riding shotgun while both occupants in their leather helmets get bathed in grease and buried in smoke.

Spoiler

Actually, I was referring to the 2010s, I don't rate the early days of motoring from a design standpoint.

 

[TexRex]

I don't rate the early days of motoring from a design standpoint.

I probably shouldn't either, but the cars were designed the way they were and may not have behaved the way they did if designed differently.

 

[Joey D]

I went with the 30's and 40's. I'm a sucker for almost anything Art Deco and the streamliners back then were just beautiful. Sure there was some awful looking cars back then, but when I think of cars as art these are the two decades I immediately go to with the 20's being a really close 3rd.

Weirdly I think designs vary from country to country too. To me the Americans fell flat with most of their designs from the 50's through the early 2000's with only a smattering of cars I would considering good from a design standpoint. I do think the Japanese hit their stride in the 60's and it continued into the early 80's before falling off into lots of generic shapes, then in the late 90's they picked back up only to fall back into conservative designs that weren't terribly exciting. The Europeans were roughly the same, but I feel they had several good designs right up until the late 2000's, when everything started looking the same and was rather dull, now if you lined up a bunch of Mercedes I couldn't begin to even remotely tell you which model is which since they all look about the same.

 

[Bo]

When we start going back to more minimalist designs, mid-00's cars are going to look fantastic.

 

[GranTurismo916]

Not really a decade, but 1965-1975.

Spoiler: Reason why

And more.

 

[Slash]

1960-1985 for me. I know a lot of people don't really late mid to late 70s American car designs but the roots are still in the 60s and still have a classic look to me, versus some of the 80s models which slowly started to modernize.

 

[Zenith]

Design reflects the ideas, realities, and aspirations from the time. There's so much to learn about both the culture and engineering of a particular period from examining the design.

The 60's are a great time to examine the USA starting to branch out to Europe and flex its muscle (no pun intended) as the new global economic superpower. It's really interesting to see the strong American pride "Back to back world war champions WHOO!" mix and fight the new fascination with European style.

Honestly the Japanese designs in the 60's and 70's is really hit or miss for me. It's well established that the Japanese were heavily borrowing/ripping off existing designs. Some of them turned out great. Some look like cheap rip offs. Why? Why weren't the Japanese making new designs? Well part of it was that the culture was stuck in a traditional hierarchy which discouraged originality and experimentation, and another reason is that many of the young, artistic potential designers were killed in WWII.

Every decade, every country, every artistic movement in car design has a story like this. It's fascinating.

 

[ClydeYellow]

Really hard to choose. I am not one to have a "favorite decade". A car built in the 30s can be as beautiful as one built yesterday, and vice versa; but it would truly be like comparing apples to oranges. As @Zenith said, designs are the product of the world they evolve in.

Still, I believe it was the 30s and the 60s that gave us the highest number of timeless classics.

 

[Aesthetics]

As many people have said, the 30s and 60s. The 2010's aren't even finished yet, but lately some absolutely stunning cars have been produced, and that gives me hope that the styling of the second half of the decade will be better than the first half.

 

[homeforsummer]

The 60's are a great time to examine the USA starting to branch out to Europe and flex its muscle (no pun intended) as the new global economic superpower. It's really interesting to see the strong American pride "Back to back world war champions WHOO!" mix and fight the new fascination with European style.

Worth noting too that America started to influence design worldwide during the 50s into the 60s. In the UK at least, several cars released during that time were deliberately given an American flavour - the Capri is most notable, following the Mustang's success overseas (and Ford had already been Americanizing cars in Europe since the 50s - see Anglia, Consul). And many companies were designing cars to appeal to American tastes, not least VW (with auto-transmission Beetles and Karmann-Ghias - the latter again a 50s model). Design as a whole took a massive turn in the middle of last century, but the sheer success of domestic products in America was an influence on the car industry as a whole.

 

[LivingWithGames]

The 60's, obviously, great examples are such the Impalaa nd ither relics mentioned above. I'm also going for the 40's, rather than the 30's. While 30's introduced hot-rods, the 40's brought great cars...The buick special, the Chevy 40's...that great looking coupés.

 

[Cano]

While 30's introduced hot-rods

Hot rods weren't introduced in the 30s; the cars used for hot rodding were, but hot rodding as a culture was a good 10-15 years from happening.

 

[Leadfoot530]

Definatly the '60's. Why? Take a look at a Ford GT40 MK1 in Gulf and ask yourself that question again.

Also a big fan of the '60's Mustangs, Ferrari 250 GTO and so many more.

 

[Omnis]

Cars today look far and away better than anything else. The 60s brought iconic designs, but look at the average car today and then go look at the average car in the 60s. No supercars or sports cars.

 

[CyborgGT]

Europe, 60s.
Japan, 70s.
United States, 40s.

Voted 60s and 70s.

The regional thinking is good to bring up, as they each had high points in history. Japan and Europe had so many beautifully designed cars all over the 60s through 90s. America had some great styling in the '60s... and then only a handful of beauties since then.

I voted the same, although thinking Europe 60s/Japan 70s/US 60s.

Anything older and it all looks the same to me.

 

[homeforsummer]

Cars today look far and away better than anything else. The 60s brought iconic designs, but look at the average car today and then go look at the average car in the 60s. No supercars or sports cars.

That's definitely worth pointing out, actually. I do quite like some cheap cars from the 50s and 60s, but as a rule automakers put far more effort into designing small, cheap cars today than they used to. Some might say form over function, but since modern small cars are more spacious, comfortable, safe, faster, better equipped etc than ever, that's a hard argument to make...

 

[Stotty]

Cars today look far and away better than anything else. The 60s brought iconic designs, but look at the average car today and then go look at the average car in the 60s. No supercars or sports cars.

Can't disagree with that for the most part, but in Britain at least, some 'everyday' cars were decent... MkI Cortina & MkII Jag for example.

As @homeforsummer says, modern cars are a much higher quality, but then they are also massive compared to cars 40-50 years ago - a modern Fiesta must be as big as a MkI Cortina!

 

[LivingWithGames]

Hot rods weren't introduced in the 30s; the cars used for hot rodding were, but hot rodding as a culture was a good 10-15 years from happening.

Ah, I see.