Inspired by today's QOTD on Jalopnik.


I'll have to nominate the NSU Ro80:


This car is from fucking 1967.

1971, and it wont make you puke!!!!!
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I remember saying (when I was like 10) that the Ro80 could have passed for a mid 90's car.

I'd say the Porsche 911


Mustang Fastback


'70 Challenger



And of course:

(In ANY condition!)

Posted by cr400 1971, and it wont make you puke!!!!! 1.

YES.

I forgot this- which started production in 1955. I don't care if you don't like it, it was definitely ahead of its time.

I love those things.....
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Hmmm….. guess it depends on what you mean by aging gracefully.

If we’re talking thru its entire life span, I’d have to say the Corvette.
While the late 60s through 70s weren’t my favorite, I don’t hate them, and they’ve always been popular by a large diversity of people.

The T-birds started out well, but blew it and died, tried again with a lame retro …and died again. Mustangs blew it in the 80’s, but I don’t hate the new ones. The new Cadillacs might be a beast, but I think they’re butt ugly. And, YES, I too am glad to see the Challenger back!!

This is my dad in ’62:

I wasn't sure on the aging gracefully part. But I posted the Pantera, as a timless beauty..........you can't tell if that car is a 1971 or 2011 model car.

Checker has aged well, you can't tell them apart year to year. But they certinly look dated.

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I'll bet the car that has aged better than any other on the planet is the '32 Roadster.
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Is it graceful aging if they didn't change much of anything-on the outside anyway.
1983

2010

Posted by wannabeotaku http://upload.wiki..._am_16.07.2006.jpg

Yes! I’ve always liked the Opel, too!

Posted by cr400 I'll bet the car that has aged better than any other on the planet is the '32 Roadster.

Funny you should mention that…
This is my dad in 2006:

all pretty stylin'







z32 is kinda a lame duck though...

i'd say the Chevrolet Camaro. Why not the Firebird as well? I think the Firebird was like a pimp... it was too much show. It screamed "LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME!!!" The Camaro was more workman-like. It was there, it got the job done and got out with minimal fanfare. In 1981, there was an article in Car&Driver about the 81 Camaro and how dated it was becoming. One of the sidebars was about how one gives up a little handling, a little go just to not have the screaming chicken on the hood, the stripes everywhere, the whole Burt Reynolds thing following the car and I think that was spot on. Even into the last generation of the car before production ceased, the Firebird/Trans Am still suffered from the "LOOK AT MEEEEEEE!!!" syndrome. With the Camaro, I think that even now, the designs translate well into the 21st century (although 93-97 still remind me of a stretched Geo Storm). And for it's time, it was an incredible value for what you got. Even the 3.8L cars when equipped with a manual transmission were fun to drive.



Another car that I think should be brought back (maybe as a downsized Mustang chassis to compete with the BMW 1-series) is the Maverick. It was a fun car, small, efficient, looked sporty (was sporty with the 302 under the hood) and was just a low-cost car to own.



and the last car on my list will make you laugh laugh laugh... the lowly 1st Generation (north american) Ford Escort. Staid. Plain. Efficient. Effective. Rugged. Simple.

click to view

click to view

Posted by Samurai ... the lowly 1st Generation (north american) Ford Escort. Staid. Plain. Efficient. Effective. Rugged. Simple.

Tripple threat:

hard to believe this body style is 16 years old

Some may find fault with this, but when creating this thread I was thinking more of cars with definitive styling which has held up over the years, or older...which doesn't fit many of the above, in my opinion. For example, compare the Ro80's design to the 3rd-generation Audi 100/200/5000...when other manufacturers are using the same styling cues 15 years after the design has been introduced, then that's a design that holds up well.

I do agree with some of yours: the original Corvette, the 90s Camaro, and pretty much any Nissan besides the 370Z, which is just butt-ugly.

Edit: Add the Audi to this list also. And these...




...still look like they could be rolled off as concept cars over 15 years after they were introduced.

Posted by TheVicariousVadder all pretty stylin'

Sadly, in their haste, Nissan left big chunks out of the corners of the lights, like in all their current cars.

Posted by Samurai

No.





I like them. But I like them because they're so dated looking and full on 1980's.

Posted by HarvestmanMan Some may find fault with this, but when creating this thread I was thinking more of cars with definitive styling which has held up over the years, or older...which doesn't fit many of the above,

All the cars I posted (except for the DS) are being made now, and still following the original shape and styling to a point. (Although the current generation Mustang is horrible in contrast to the previous)

Or, you could just post every year of Camaro.

Posted by bandi Or, you could just post every year of Camaro.

Sam's owned eight Cavaliers. How sane do you expect him to be?