Photo: Classic Cars
Every once in a while, when we are faced with cars looking like the one in the gallery below, we can’t help but wonder what happened to car design over the past 50 years. How or when did we lose the imagination that created such simple, yet so attractive lines?
If we were to compare the way in which the cars of the 1950s were designed to the ones on the road today, the visual rift is so great that two vehicles from the said ages might just as well have been built on different planets.
For one, the more utilitarian design of today’s cars means there are slim chances of seeing many of them becoming custom garages’ favorites 50 years from now. Yet this is something that consistently happens with the machines of the post-war years.
One of the car brands that back in the ‘50s were riding the wave was Mercury. The Ford subsidiary, which was closed for economic reasons in 2011, debuted on the market with the Eight, a car supposed to slot between the Ford Deluxe and Lincoln models.
The greatest thing about the Eight was the great number of body styles it was available in, from convertible to wagons. Between them, the coupes, a significant number of which survive, more or less modified, to this day, and are favorites among custom shops.
This chopped coupe we have here is based on a 1950 model year Eight, and is one of the cleanest reinterpretations of the Mercury now available on the open market.
Painted to impress in bright red, the body of the car simply looks massive and, more importantly, lacks the many separation lines that make today’s cars look more like LEGOs. Even the two massive doors, ending in very narrow side windows and with the mirrors on their upper frame, contribute to the feeling that the bodywork is one, continuous piece of metal.
Under the very long hood sits a 350c.i. V8 engine, paired to a 700R4 automatic transmission and tucked away in a “highly detailed engine compartment.”
Alongside the shiny and smooth surfaces of the body, the clean and powerful looking engine is one of the things the car’s owners hope will attract buyers. The vehicle is presently listed as for sale on the Classic Cars website, for $34,995.
For one, the more utilitarian design of today’s cars means there are slim chances of seeing many of them becoming custom garages’ favorites 50 years from now. Yet this is something that consistently happens with the machines of the post-war years.
One of the car brands that back in the ‘50s were riding the wave was Mercury. The Ford subsidiary, which was closed for economic reasons in 2011, debuted on the market with the Eight, a car supposed to slot between the Ford Deluxe and Lincoln models.
The greatest thing about the Eight was the great number of body styles it was available in, from convertible to wagons. Between them, the coupes, a significant number of which survive, more or less modified, to this day, and are favorites among custom shops.
This chopped coupe we have here is based on a 1950 model year Eight, and is one of the cleanest reinterpretations of the Mercury now available on the open market.
Painted to impress in bright red, the body of the car simply looks massive and, more importantly, lacks the many separation lines that make today’s cars look more like LEGOs. Even the two massive doors, ending in very narrow side windows and with the mirrors on their upper frame, contribute to the feeling that the bodywork is one, continuous piece of metal.
Under the very long hood sits a 350c.i. V8 engine, paired to a 700R4 automatic transmission and tucked away in a “highly detailed engine compartment.”
Alongside the shiny and smooth surfaces of the body, the clean and powerful looking engine is one of the things the car’s owners hope will attract buyers. The vehicle is presently listed as for sale on the Classic Cars website, for $34,995.
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