Quote:
Originally Posted by
jinsoku3g
i didnt know that bout the older chevy's.. thats cool that theydid little stuff every year, i used to have a 2001 eclipse, you could tell the 03's or newer by a more rounded front bumper and grey(vs red) taillights.. that little stuff makes a big difference tho!!
That was back when the USA and Detroit were rolling in dough, imported autos sales were miniscule and "what is good for GM is good for America." The Big 3 could afford to change entire fender designs from one year to the next.
Even as late as the late 60s, they were changing designs every couple of years. Look at the 1965 Mustang. It only went 2 model years before they did a complete redesign, changing every body panel on the car.
But back in the 50s, they were still making wholesale changes to the cars each and every year. Back then, not only could you tell the new years cars by these changes, but you could tell one car from the next and one brand from the next. It wasn't so cookie cutter everything looks the same back then.
Anyway, here are the fender changes on those Chevys.
1955 Chevy with flat rear fenders
1956 Chevy, rear fenders rise slightly
1957 Chevy, full elongated tail fins now
Funny, but if you put tail fins on a car today, you would be laughed out of town, and maybe rightly so. Yet the 1957 is widely accepted at the best looking and most popular of the 55, 56, 57 BelAir set, and the tail fins have a lot to do with that elegant and classic look.
Thte 1957 Chevy BelAir also had these rocket details on the hood, which I just love.
For the life of me, these chrome rocket details shouldn't work, but I think they work fabulously. The point is back to these year to year changes... The 55 has a plain hood. The 56 has a plain hood with this HUGE jet for a hood ornament. And then the 57 has these huge chrome jet intakes on the hood. Massive year to year changes when America and the Big 3 were rolling in dough and competition was fierce but not cut-throat edge-of-bankruptcy like it is today...
Also funny how I read posts on the Miata Forums and others that the look of the Solstice won't hold up over time, and yet the look of the 1957 Chevy BelAir still does, rocket hood, tail fins and all.
The Solstice has a classic look that will look just as good in 2050 as it does today. What some haven't figured out -- or can't admit due to their bias -- is that good is good. If a 240z looked good in 1970, it will still look good in 2070. Good is good. Fads come and go. That is what gets dated. But the classic, coke bottle, long nose short deck look will look as good in the year 5000 as it does today. That is why it's classic.