| Feature: The 2000s (Continued) | December 21, 2009 | AUTORIVALS.NET |
| It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times. The 2000s was a rollercoaster decade with everything from
new cars to dead companies, new styling to retro styling, small
cars, large cars, fat cars, and short cars. With all
that's happened recently in the automotive world, it's hard to
remember everything. It wasn't all bad but a lot of it was, all
the more reason to look forward to the new decade. But until
then, let's take a brief moment to look back. |
||
| Retro Styling | ||
 1967 Ford Mustang |
 2005 Ford Mustang |
|
| Ford made a great move when restyling the iconic
Mustang by going back to the classic original. The Mustangs of the
1960s are arguably the best generation so why not design the new
one like them. The retro styling started in 2005 has been redone
to look even better in the current model and caused Chevy and
Dodge to follow with their remakes of the Camaro and Challenger. |
||
| Futuristic Styling | ||
 Decepticons |
 Acura ZDX |
|
|
Acura decided to go with futuristic styling as their new design
direction. Every current Acura is a huge departure from any
previous models with their designs jumping ahead a couple of
centuries rather than decades. |
||
| Headlight Designs | ||
 2004 Nissan Maxima |
 2009 Nissan Maxima |
|
| New design elements were created recently such
as new shapes for headlights. The Nissan Maxima brought one of
the first most distinctive headlight designs with an L-shape
that can now be seen in the
Nissan 370Z. Other automakers are also beginning to realize
that headlights aren't all created equal. |
||
| Bumper Designs | ||
 2003 Infiniti G35 |
 2010 Infiniti G37 |
|
|
A less distinctive design element is the smooth integrated
bumpers seen on nearly all new models. What took them so long
before realizing front and rear bumpers don't have to all be
bland and rectangular? Who knows, but I guess late is better
than never. |
||
| The Bangle Butt | ||
 2002 BMW 7 Series |
 2006 Mercedes S-Class |
|
|
What styling element caused the most controversy in the 2000s? The two-tiered rear trunk design of the 2002 BMW 7 Series that was so hated that it was dubbed the 'Bangle Butt' after designer Chris Bangle. It caused so much controversy and criticism yet was copied by several other automakers including Mercedes and Acura. Interestingly enough, the 2002 7 Series was named one of Time Magazine's 50 Worst Cars of All Time but was the best selling 7 Series in history. |
||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Share | ||