Most of todays cars a really dull or is it me?

[delmatt]

Recently I have had an increasing urge to replace my current day to day car which is a Volvo S80 D5, not at all an exciting car by any means of course...Anyway I was passing a well known used car supermarket to the North of London so I thought I would pop in to see if there was anything that looked interesting. I had a good wander around and out of the 5000 or so cars they have in stock there is hardly anything that looks remotely interesting or different....all of todays cars have almost morphed into a small number of shapes and sizes.

So amongst the boring hatches, 3 series and Mercs the only things that caught my eye were the following.

A couple of Alfa Breras...look lovely but not good as a day to day car. Alfas are ornaments not cars.

A metallic blue Honda CRZ coupe....thought that looked kind of interesting but too small for everyday use.

A golf Diesel estate that was interesting because its number plate is so close to a rude word!

http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Volkswagen/Golf/Estate/d...

Made me chuckle anyway!

The most ridiculous Merc CLS350 that was painted in Matt Grey/Silver..... why would someone have paid 50kish for a car still in primer? Looks almost ok in the pics but hilarious in the flesh...Will anyone ever buy it?

http://www.cargiant.co.uk/Mercedes/CLS/details-587...

Maybe this is not the best place to get inspired but I left the place feeling that almost all of the recent cars are very very uninteresting.. and left me to spend the evening scouring the internet for old shiny classic cars.

Apologies for the slightly odd post but do other people feel the same about the majority of the cars of today?

[Noesph]

I quite like the golf for it's number plate as well

But I mostly agree with you.

[delmatt]

I nearly bought the Golf for the plate alone! If it would go on an older car it would be a good plate to have. I wonder if they thought about that one or it was just an accident when it was registered?

[Pablo68]

I don't think it's that todays cars are boring it's just that what would until recently have been supercar performance and/or ultra luxury options are now generally found in mid range affordable cars and thus have become everyday norm and nothing special.

The trouble with having everything is there is nothing left to attain to.

[George7]

The only brand new car (reasonably priced) I'd buy at the moment would have to be the GT86. Nothing else really does it for me at all.

[deltashad]

Mx5, skoda vrs. Whats not to like.......

[rsv696]

Might be age creeping up on you! I do agree TBH. I personally think the 70's was the best decade for cars. But I'm an old b*stard. Modern motorbikes do nothing for me either - bring back the 90's

[delmatt]

Pablo68 said:

I don't think it's that todays cars are boring it's just that what would until recently have been supercar performance and/or ultra luxury options are now generally found in mid range affordable cars and thus have become everyday norm and nothing special.

The trouble with having everything is there is nothing left to attain to.

Yes I agree with that and is possibly why I actually quite like the little Honda Hybrid coupe...because it is different.

[delmatt]

rsv696 said:

Might be age creeping up on you! I do agree TBH. I personally think the 70's was the best decade for cars. But I'm an old b*stard. Modern motorbikes do nothing for me either - bring back the 90's

I am afraid age is not just creeping up on me....its zooming past sadly at quite an alarming rate!!

[okie592]

Normal cars from the 80s where hardly intresting where they

[Hoofy]

okie592 said:

Normal cars from the 80s where hardly intresting where they

Indeed. I think people only go crazy for them because they're different to the norm now but back then, an Escort? An 80s Escort now?

[delmatt]

I think it was the 90s when cars were interesting and impressive from a performance perspective. The most attractive cars to look at for me are normally the good stuff from the 60s.(Alfas and Porsches mainly).

As someone has already posted even dull cars perform incredibly well in comparison to most older things....they are still pretty dull though. There are exceptions to this of course but I suppose there is so much day to day stuff that just keeps on going forever that cars evolve over time now rather than anything radically new appearing very often.

[MissChief]

It's unfortunate but 'we' are in the minority about the way we feel about cars and driving. The masses harp on about wanting cheap to buy, cheap to run and cheap to fix cars that inevitably become wheezing crap boxes on wheels that most buyers simply see as a tool to get from A to B as cheaply as possible with the minimum of fuss, drama, noise and inconvenience. That's why there are so many dull cars out there.

I've driven past about a dozen car dealers today and looking through the lots about the only thing I saw that was in the slightest bit interesting was a Fiesta Zetec S. all the other cars were so dull and boring looking.

[Thin White Duke]

Pablo68 said:

I don't think it's that todays cars are boring it's just that what would until recently have been supercar performance and/or ultra luxury options are now generally found in mid range affordable cars and thus have become everyday norm and nothing special.

The trouble with having everything is there is nothing left to attain to.

I agree. Items such as electric windows and heated seats which used to be something only found on high end marques are now run of the mill.

[0a]

I find they interest me very little. Every 4 pot diesel is more or less the same (which is almost every new car nowadays) - there is little real interesting difference between the Audis, golfs, focuses and Astras I go in and even the owners just talk about equipment or interior quality.

But what do I know I drive a 22 year old cheapo merc and my perfect daily driver is an 80s bmw e28 528i in blue!

[billzeebub]

I prefer 90s cars for character and feel of the drive

[Jimbo.]

They're brilliant, IMO. Graceful XJs, smart E-Classes, funky Fiestas, "budget" Kias will all manner of gadgets, DS-"I'm a racing driver!"-G gearboxes available on everything from diesel hatches to super cars. 1.6 performance from 1.0 engines, fancy weight saving, 8sp autoboxes that feel like something from the Skunk works, the list goes on...

[Jasandjules]

For me it is because many cars all seem to be starting to just look the same. Suspect it is the safety regs etc... But yes they are fairly dull, more like white goods than something to aspire to own.

[EDLT]

Jasandjules said:

For me it is because many cars all seem to be starting to just look the same. Suspect it is the safety regs etc... But yes they are fairly dull, more like white goods than something to aspire to own.

Boring cars have always looked similar.

[PumpkinSteve]

delmatt said:

Recently I have had an increasing urge to replace my current day to day car which is a Volvo S80 D5, not at all an exciting car by any means of course...Anyway I was passing a well known used car supermarket to the North of London so I thought I would pop in to see if there was anything that looked interesting. I had a good wander around and out of the 5000 or so cars they have in stock there is hardly anything that looks remotely interesting or different....all of todays cars have almost morphed into a small number of shapes and sizes.

Cars today are more interesting to me than they've ever been, and cars from the 70s and 80s are the most boring a least inspired designs in my opinion. The square and sharp-edged designs always seems like a backwards step to me, but I suppose you could pick examples from any decade that look boring and similar.

Walking into a car supermarket without a specific interest in anything and then saying everything looks the same is like looking at handbags or football strips or whatever and saying they all look the same IMO.