The General Car Thread - The Facelift.

[Cannot think of a name]

The only car design that would qualify as 'googie' would be the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile.

That would be an extreme example, but I think you could fairly call a 59 Cadillac Googie too.

Of course cars and building architecture are not the same thing, so directly trying to complare the two has difficulties. Regardless late 50s to early 60s cars are no way brutalist at all.

Googie isn't about influenced by designs, it's literally buildings that look like hats and dogs. It's poorly applied to cars unless it's about things like the Wienermobile.

Jet and space age are fine descriptors of the design influence of the cars at the time. Brutalism, if we're applying it to cars, I would guess would be malaise era American cars, but I don't really know that much about Brutalism.

This is a weird conversation.

[Green October Z]

Yes, late 50s cars would be properly called “Mid Century Neo Futurist” or “Googie”, definitely not brutalist. Brutalism is big concrete blocks.
Calling late 50s cars Brutalist is like calling the Seattle Space Needle Brutalist.

The only car design that would qualify as 'googie' would be the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile.

Once my dad threatened to rent a Wienermobile and drop me and my sister off at school in it because we were misbehaving

[Cannot think of a name]

The only car design that would qualify as 'googie' would be the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile.

Once my dad threatened to rent a Wienermobile and drop me and my sister off at school in it because we were misbehaving

Pff, that would be awesome. That's a terrible threat.

[Green October Z]

Once my dad threatened to rent a Wienermobile and drop me and my sister off at school in it because we were misbehaving

Pff, that would be awesome. That's a terrible threat.

It terrified my sister, but I actually laughed and thought it would have been funny if he really did

[Cannot think of a name]

Pff, that would be awesome. That's a terrible threat.

It terrified my sister, but I actually laughed and thought it would have been funny if he really did

My nephew was trying to give me grief about driving him to the community pool in my beat up VW split window Bus and I was trying to tell him I was hooking him up.

We drove in and three girls his age at the gate tracked him the entire time. When I picked him up later I asked, "The Bus hooked you up, didn't it?" and he sheepishly went, "Yeah..."

[Novus America]

That would be an extreme example, but I think you could fairly call a 59 Cadillac Googie too.

Of course cars and building architecture are not the same thing, so directly trying to complare the two has difficulties. Regardless late 50s to early 60s cars are no way brutalist at all.

Googie isn't about influenced by designs, it's literally buildings that look like hats and dogs. It's poorly applied to cars unless it's about things like the Wienermobile.

Jet and space age are fine descriptors of the design influence of the cars at the time. Brutalism, if we're applying it to cars, I would guess would be malaise era American cars, but I don't really know that much about Brutalism.

This is a weird conversation.

The problem is your definition of Googie is incorrect:
“Features of Googie include upswept roofs, curvaceous, geometric shapes, and bold use of glass, steel and neon. Googie was also characterized by Space Age designs symbolic of motion, such as boomerangs, flying saucers, diagrammatic atoms and parabolas, and free-form designs such as "soft" parallelograms and an artist's palette motif. These stylistic conventions represented American society's fascination with Space Age themes and marketing emphasis on futuristic designs.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Googie_architecture

So you can see similar themes in car designs from the same time.

Yes malaise era boxes would be cars closest to brutalism, but brutalism is by default about unfinished concrete. Which does not translate well to car design, this would be the closet thing to a brutalist “car”:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison_c ... ured_lorry

[The Two Jerseys]

We call it "Doo-wop" around here.

New Jersey I suppose?
Doo-wop architecture (Doo-wop actually is originally a type of music very popular in the late 50s to early 60s), Googie and Mid Century Neo-Futurism are for all intents and purposes interchangeable terms. Raygun Gothic is another term you can use.
Atompunk is also possible but more for a general retro future aesthetic, not just the specific architecture.

Mid Century Neo Futurism the more “proper” with Doo-wop being the common or slang term in the New Jersey area and Northeast. Googie more the term in the West.

But it is of course as noted really in many ways the opposite of brutalism.

Somebody's done their homework...

[Cannot think of a name]

Dammit, I found one of these in the 90s for $8000.

[Pax Nerdvana]

Dammit, I found one of these in the 90s for $8000.

You should have bought one when you had the chance.

[Fartsniffage]

I know this forum is PG-13 but this is worth the ban.

[Green October Z]

I wouldn't mind joyriding in this

https://i.redd.it/23865topk4931.jpg

[Cannot think of a name]

I know this forum is PG-13 but this is worth the ban.

(Image)

The designer had to advocate for the cut off butt on that car that helps give it it's distinct look. They didn't have the wind tunnels and models we have now, but an Alfa Romeo designer had theorized that if you cut off the end of a tear drop it would create a bit of a vacuum behind the car that sped air around the it. No one believed or understood it and balked at the design, but eventually Shelby said (essentially), "Well, I hired you to design this part of the car, if you think it works we'll do it." The scene where they tape strips of yarn on the GT40 is actually from the development of the Cobra Daytona to work out its aerodynamics.

Also, the legendary ninth lost Cobra Daytona is one of the great barn find treasures people were looking for. I can't remember if it's been found yet or not.

The GT40 killed the Cobra Daytona because Ford wanted to focus on its in-house Ferrari killer even though the Daytona was already beating Ferrari, just not for the overall.

[Cannot think of a name]

Ferrari is thinking about going to IndyCar

...iiiiiiiiiinteresting.

[Cannot think of a name]

NASCAR is back without fans in the stands. It shouldn't feel different to me at home but it does.

But also, it's NASCAR so...meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhh.

[NeoOasis]

Yes malaise era boxes would be cars closest to brutalism, but brutalism is by default about unfinished concrete. Which does not translate well to car design, this would be the closet thing to a brutalist “car”:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison_c ... ured_lorry

I'd argue that one of the finest examples of Brutalist influences in automotive design would be the DeLorean DMC-12. As with raw unpainted concrete being a major point in buildings, the DMC-12 had an unpainted body and had that bold out there look. Another great example of Brutalism in cars might be a more liberal interpretation.

Brutalism loved to use exposed building materials, "forbidding geometric structures" and is notable for being minimalist with a heavy focus of function over form. Then there's also the exposure of a building's inner workings.

With this in mind I'd argue that the Cybertruck is brutalist as it fits all but function over form. On the other hand a lot of hypercars feature a lot of bare carbon fiber, are absolutely function over form, and whatever styling is included tends to be exaggerated and quite foreboding. A lot of hypercars and the such will show off their inner workings and put a lot of components on display for the world to see.

Mind you I have taken some massive liberties with automotive design here, but still amusing to stretch definitions. Still Cybertruck absolutely fits into Brutalism.

[Cannot think of a name]

Hey all you Corvette fans and bargain seekers...now's your time.

If you have around $60,000 to burn and are a fan of really fast Corvettes that look like giant bumble-bees, we have some good news for you. The used car market is falling, and Hertz is currently managing bankruptcy, so the company has dumped a large chunk of used cars on the market including a bunch of 2019 Z06 Corvettes.

[Cannot think of a name]

The Batmobile via the Fast & Furious franchise.

[Elwher]

The Batmobile via the Fast & Furious franchise.

Cool, but I still like the one from the 60s best.

[Major-Tom]

Acura is beginning to make a return to form and I couldn't be happier, especially because they seem to value large sports sedans.

[Baddo Darklands]

What are your opinions on the Opel Agila A? I personally think it's a really cool car, but I want to hear your opinions.

[La Xinga]

Has anybody seen these car ads, and they somehow have to do with Covid?

[Cannot think of a name]

What are your opinions on the Opel Agila A? I personally think it's a really cool car, but I want to hear your opinions.

Looks like a kei car. Being an American we don't often see tiny ass cars like that, but I dig some of them. I think this one lacks the personality of an Autozam AZ-1 or a Honda 660.

[Elwher]

What are your opinions on the Opel Agila A? I personally think it's a really cool car, but I want to hear your opinions.

Ugly little sucker in my opinion, but chacun à son goût.

[Esteptanskia]

Why buy an unreliable Tesla when you can get a good gas powered car for about 1/3 of the cost? I bought my Isuzu Rodeo back in 1991 and it still works good as new.

[Esteptanskia]

I wouldn't mind joyriding in this

https://i.redd.it/23865topk4931.jpg

The Bananamobile