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i think the most shocking comparison was the old mini next to the new. holy crap

Awesome thread!

Those two Minis look very nice together. I think the modern Mini is small enough. Would you really want to putter around in something as tiny as the original?

The issue here is more than just weight gain. Look at the original 240z. It's very tasteful and nicely proportioned. The current one? Yuck!

And that Camry? Geeze, somebody please put that overgrown, bloated lump out of its misery!

Another good candidate for this list:  The Ford Taurus. Not only is it horrendously ugly, but it now weights something like a thousand pounds more than the original!

One note - the Camry has changed types through the years. The first picture was of the sub-compact version, the latter the full sedan version. I believe there was even a third format Camry at some point.

Have you seen the hideous, Camry-based Venza "crossover?" It's like Toyota said, "How can we duplicate the failure of the Chrysler Pacifica?"

And the answer they came up with was to make the Camry even more wallowing and ungainly.

I hadn't even been aware that there ever was a Cougar wagon. Mercury's dilution of a once-proud name is positively GM-like! (Cutlass Ciera, anybody?)

Well at least there was a 442 option...



Of course, I may be making your case for you.

WhirlinGraphics wrote:

You guys do realize new cars have to meet different standards, are safer, more comfortable, and mostly higher performance? I like old cars but I also like technology, you won't catch me driving a stock 60's era car on a daily basis.

For pure (new vs. old) car destruction porn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xwYBBpHg1I

And they are ghastly expensive to repair, often totaled in small fender benders, which is ecologically bad because it results in increased purchase rates which require vehicle production, not a green process.

My Mazda MX-5 is very light; maybe a bit heavier than the NB and NA before; but then again it pretty much sucks on snow, where a heavier (and front wheel drive) car might do better.

It does get some pretty kick ass gas mileage though, even when driven the "zoom zoom" way.

-mark

Yes that is a point not taken is that the components and materials over the last decade that are being used for cars have gotten a lot lighter and stronger.  I for one would rather have my car crumple and absorb the energy instead of me absorbing it all as the engine block squishes me.

I am keeping my eye on that VW that is a convertible and diesel powered -- looks interesting.

-mark

I never much liked ABS anyway.

macnuke wrote:

i blame it on the obesity of humans...
fat people don't fit in the cars of yester year

How long before we see bench seats as an option?

True story: My wife's car is a 1999 Regal. I got it from a small used car dealer, the lot was mostly Buicks, Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, Mercuries, and so on. It was a really good deal and after signing, I asked the dealer why he was letting it go for so low. He said he had trouble moving it because his usual customers didn't fit in the seats as well as in the LeSabres or Eighty-Eights.

I've struggled with obesity for most of my life, and I've never had trouble fitting in a normal sized seat, or in a small car.