By most objective standards cars are many times better now than 40 years ago
Well yeah I agree, but what made the older cars better was the pride of working on them yourself. I see a bunch of people around here that have their cars tuned specifically to be loud, not for performance. It’s probably killing the engine; I wouldn’t know because I don’t know cars, but it doesn’t sound good.
The only new muscle cars I’d own are the Mustang and Challenger. Nothing else looks like they used to.
I agree. The old cars are fun but when I'm driving my family around, I want to be driving a new car.
There's a saying. Back in the 50s when there was a car wreck, they towed the car to the body shop and the passengers to the morgue. Today they tow the car to the junk yard and the passengers walk away.
In some ways cars are better, mainly because in the 70’s American cars began a decline.
I had a 65 Olds Delta 88 which was about as good as it was possible to make a car. I got it third hand after my Father, then Brother. I sold it with over 200,000 miles on it and as near as I can recall, it had the water pump replaced and the AC seal replaced. Maybe some other small repairs that I can not remember but nothing major.
It had a 425 Rocket V8 and would cruise the interstate like it was idling. One of the really surprising things about it was how well it handled. Big, comfortable and got pretty decent gas mileage tho it did require premium.
I think some of the improvements in modern cars is due to much better engine oils.
Objective standards are overrated!
Unfortunately, the styling is one of the standards that isn’t better. Cars from the 40s-60s had some of the most evocative styling ever put to sheet metal (and some even did well into the 70s). Real style pretty much evaporated in the 80s and early 90s, with few exceptions, and only by looking back to machines styled for the customer’s eye instead of the wind tunnel have manufacturers injected interest into car-buying again.
You don't even have to go back that far. In 1992, my father bought me a wedding present, a 1992 RS Camaro, last year of the Gen 3 body style.
Soon, with kids coming, and gas going up, the ol' Camaro wasn't cutting it anymore. Dad (now grandpa) wouldn't hear of us selling it outside the family, so he bought it from us. Over the years grandpa kept promising he was going to give the car to my oldest son when he turned 16. Lo and behold, grandpa kept his word, and last year my son got a '92 Camaro in fairly decent shape.
Every once in a while, the boy lets me drive it. Each time, invariably, I start off thinking "what a pile of crap". It has the ergos of a coffin. The driver's door sags and is hard to close, along with poor window sealing. The brakes require a hearty stomp to work. The on-center feel is vague and wandery. And, to the amazement of the boy, there are no cup holders.
Also invariably, by the end of the drive, I have a big smile on my face.