My favorite car commercials are the ones like "SUVs are boring, that's why we made one that stands out from the crowd" but all they have on screen is 10 almost identical jellybeans and expect you to be able to pick out the one they are talking about lol.
10:00 "Everyone is driving identical crossover SUVs, so we made another slightly different looking crossover SUV, so you can think you're standing out from the crowd while still conforming to that crowd. You should prefer our crossover SUV although the competition will offer you pretty much the same experience. At Wilkins Hyundai and Subaru, we got Hyundais and Subarus"
As someone who loves taking photos of cityscapes, it’s quite upsetting seeing all these bland cars. I always have to remind myself that I’m living in the era of the lease interesting design.
I've always been a car guy, but it's weird. Is that starting 2015, give or take? Basically, I lost track of cars, and I think it's to do with that they all look the same, and you just can't distinguish them from each other.
I realize that too now, used to be good at distinguishing brand, model and sometimes version of a car by just spending a few hours a week in traffic. I slowly stopped keeping track too, it hurts my brain to try and memorize any design these last 10 years.
The cars started looking like a helmet a star wars stormtrooper would wear , the front ends look like a cats face if you pulled their ears back until their eyes squinted. Ugly cars nowadays, too many black, silver and white, they only just now started bringing back cool colors.
I am 46 and for me this happened in the early 2000s when we are talking about most makes and models. It is hard to be excited when everything looks pretty much the same. Most new cars made in the last 10 or 15 years have excellent acceleration numbers and realistically is more power than most people will ever need and All cars made from around 2000 on up are pretty safe their occupants which is also good but outside of a couple of cars that are mimicking cars of the past like the Camaro the Mustang and the Challenger All the new cars look pretty much the same and it's hard to be excited about an infotainment center LED headlight and taillight shapes.
Cars were always going to become "raindrop" shaped. Back in 1999 I remember sketching raindrop cars in my notebook in elementary school. Back then I figured it would be because of aerodynamic efficiency. Nowadays I know it's both because of that AND pedestrian impact safety. Either way I hate it. Also, bring back pop-up headlights.
tbf it's one stupid demographic that can be scared and panicked into anything. plus it's their husbands that are paying... They're just making decisions.
Well yeah, interesting isn't safe and when you're being run by a bunch of business managers who don't have much experience or knowledge, safety is key. You only take risks when you know what you're doing and are good at it.
Everybody with a lot of talent and expertise has left major oems except for tech sector automakers like Lucid or Rivian. They've mostly moved to more profitable industries like aerospace, or bleeding edge EV companies. The really passionate few moved to companies like Singer. Nobody who cares works at these companies anymore.@Stealth86651
They have massively lost market share, and it's not rare to see a line of excluively CUVs at red lights even here. So while wagons are present, they sure aren't doing well.
If all you've ever eaten is trash, you'll think it's normal. This is the danger of a truly captive audience and market, which is what massive conglomerates want. Please check your tastes and opinions at the door and simply consume.
I got a 1986 F-150. 0-60 is double digits, mpg is nearly single digits and it handles in a terribly unpredictable way at speeds over 55, but driving it is bliss and it turns more heads than a new 100,000 dollar truck. My friends are confused by the concept of me going for a drive to relax… nobody has a car with soul anymore or even likes driving, it’s sad.
This is an excellent topic, I discussed this exact thing with a friend a few days ago. Cars today not only aren't pretty, but they LOOK THE SAME! Anyhow. Very happy to have found your channel, cheers.
@TheRealPOTUSDavidByrd that's literally mentioned in the video, captain obvious. It still doesn't prohibit cars from having any design innovation or interesting ideas. OR COLORS.
10:33 what makes this ironic is that the hoods being higher and the fronts being flatter makes it more dangerous for pedestrians because now they get knocked under the car rather than onto the hood
right?! I'm a bit above average height and I walked in front of a parked pickup the other day and noticed the top of the hood was just below my chin. If that thing hits me I've got no chance of going up over the hood.
I bought a car a few months ago that was covered in cladding and bulges and bits and bobs, three months later I had to sell it. I couldn’t deal with how in your face it was, the extra pieces all over it was doing my head in, not to mention the chimes and driver assist things. I went back to my old car which was essentially the same car, just way more understated and less stressful to drive. My god I hate new car designs, BRING BACK WAGONS
I am a car guy. In my garage, I have 2 '69 Camaros. an '80 K5 Blazer and a '00 Camaro SS convertible. Every one of those has Character and it is a pleasure to drive each of those and they all require driver input, when I get behind the wheel. In my driveway, I have a '22 Ram 1500 Classic Regular Cab Shortbox. As much as like the styling, it is basically a laptop on wheels and I "ride" in it rather than drive it.
The obsession with Huge rims! They serve no real funtional purpose. They look absolutely ridiculous! Course, hey accompany the rediculous cars their attached to.
I see where you are coming from, yet I do genuinely like monotone colours, in particularly grey. Grey / silver cars with striking lines are my favourite. With all that said, I did own a viper green scirocco, I don’t know why.
No you’re not crazy at all. Cars today are like you said, they all look alike. I was a young boy back in the 1960’s and I thought cars like the 1965 Chevy Impala Super Sport, the Pontiac Bonneville coupe and of course the Grand Prix were beautiful cars and of course there were many other American and British cars that looked so good compared to the blobs of today. Even station wagons looked good back then. Cars today look like rolling piles of plastic and I don’t care how cool these companies are trying to make them look today. Look at the new Prius, what the hell is that? Looks like a scraper and or a miniature dust buster like those old GM mini van’s from the early 1990’s. Nope, no new cars for me I’ll just hold on to what I have.
Wait - are people actually nostalgic about the boxes of the 80s? I'm not a big fan of the blob, and I hate the lack of non-suv options nowadays, but were the boxes really better?
80s cars came in one of two varieties: boxy family cars and wedge shaped sports cars. At the very least, the boxes were simple and weren't trying to be overly busy with the design of their family cars.
@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt I started channel for a hobby after watching TH-cam for 13 years. I have 45 videos and only 71 subs. Mind you, I'm not doing ths work that amazing channels like these do. But for sure, it takes awhile to grow, and 60k subs is great progress. I think over time, this channel will do very good. He's a good story teller and compiles the video just nice.
Ugly is a big call. Subjective. Take BMW's huge grills, most in the west hate it but most in the east love it. And then there's the Gen3 Taurus... OK, maybe ugly isn't such a big call after all.
Everyone who likes those beaver grills on new BMW has something not right in their head lmao. Also by east you mean balkans only because bmw cult there is stronger than sense of taste
In the 80s when I was a kid I said why are all the cars ugly boxes with wheels? Now theyre blobs with wheels. In rhe 50s they were blingboats with wheels. Cars will always resemble each other cuz its fashon and fashion goes through trends. The 60s and early 70s were unique as you had the most trends.
The Lucid Air is actually really nice looking, it's at least developed from the ground up as a new unique vehicle. So are Tesla's, but they fit the blob car label more so than many others(hence the thumbnail).
While you make some good points, I also think you go way off the rails in some ways. Your comment about paints, for example. You probably don't remember when there were no metallic paints, unless you went to George Barris or Darryl Starbird. And you glossed over the first post war American sedans, many of which were hardly works of art. 1947 Plymouth business coupe, anyone? As I said at the start, you make many good points. But I think you stretch your thesis further than it deserves.
I have a 2017 challenger scatpack. Main reason I like it is that it has an actual distinctive style. Not a style everyone likes necessarily, but at least it has one.
They did a beautiful job with the Challenger....really succeeding in making a new, old car. Part of why it looks so good is because it's based on a vintage car that also looked great, and they modernized it without selling its soul or making it cartoonish (with no insult to cartoons, honestly) as sometimes happens when people do such things.
I always hear people asking why I don't wanna buy a newer car, and this is probably one of the biggest reasons why. Modern car design has become so bland that the cheaper old models are vastly more appealing to me. Many of them ooze so much more personality and style compared to what we have today.
I belive the different regulations between trucks and cars make the real difference in design. If you make a vehical based on truck regulations the manufacature gets lighter restictions and greater profits while cars/minivans/wagons have more regulations which require greater regulations and less profits.
It is so sad that my 93 Thunderbird is now a car that can actually be called an "eye catcher" considering it is a base model with no spoiler or anything(so very much just a bland "90's shaped" coupe). I can't wait to see how people react once I swap the hood and engine and add a factory style spoiler seeing as in not quite 2 months of ownership I've noticed and been told about quite a few people admiring it in all it's current blandness. lol
Lol even my 97 Maxima occasionally turns a head or two. What was once just a commuter sedan seen everywhere now gets comments like “did you have to import that?” Also interesting how it was considered a “large” car in its day but is tiny compared to anything made in the last 10 years.
Plenty of young people know they're ugly too, and do appreciate the beauty of vintage cars. I have a '77 Mark V Cartier, which that year was a very pretty light creamy grey called Dove Grey throughout, with a dark red single pinstripe. I've had the car since 2006, and grew up in the car's twin my Dad bought new in 1977, and I came the next year. It's always attracted a nice amount of attention, but this past year has been the most since I bought it, especially when parked outside while I'm cleaning it. So much of the attention is from younger people, male and female. The car makes friends. I had a couple walk past that asked to take pictures of it, and as they did so, she began to pose with it like a model as he shot the pictures. They just loved it and were so taken by it. Although its among the longest cars ever made, it doesn't look big in a bad way like so many current larger vehicles do, which are like unstylish refrigerators on wheels that appear bigger than my Lincoln, even if they're not. It's sad current state of new vehicles overall. Even my daily car, a 2008 Mercedes CLK 350 Sport Cabriolet in Majestic Black that Mom bought new, appears like a classic at this point. It looks better every day with age. Though I do like the G Wagon and the GT convertible Mercedes of what they currently produce, most of their vehicles at this point don't compare looks wise to my 2008. It too is sad. Of course people aren't enthused about new vehicles...why should they when they're so uninspired and homogenized, lacking so much in personality and soul. This could be said for architecture for many years as well, but that's a whole other topic.
You are correct!!! Everything is a blob with slits right now. I hate the Cybertruck (judged by appearance only) but at the same time I give them credit for building something different and original. I was hoping it might catch on elsewhere and we'd get some more exciting or edgy designs based on Tesla's 1 example (the rest of their cars are blobs, lol).
I actually like the cybertruck's design, they gave it an even more unique touch not only by using no rounded corners at all, there's tilt angles, the way the windshield makes an A-shape with the hood. But I feel like it's just too long and that makes it ugly again, it feels to me like it's supposed to be a limousine, also that it has that prominent line on it's side that is tilted downwards. As if it's supposed to be a race car.
@CyberUtilia I'll definitely give them more points for originality and doing something different than I take away for the parts I don't like... It's some version of a cool future truck for sure 😆
So, to summarize, cars went from collectibles to consumables. And not only has the shape become homogenized, the color palette has as well. I swear, 90% of vehicles made today are one of the following: A. Hearse Black B. Appliance White C. Asphalt Gray All the while, people are dropping big money on these forgettable computers with wheels. Boring AF.
in order for consumers to "change their taste", first you have to offer consumers a choice! and there is on choice!!! So if all you can buy is the same, how can consumers "change their taste"? they only thing they can do is not buy new cars! That's perhaps the closest thing to "change of taste" sticking to older cars! In fact, i'd wager than in last 10 years perceptions of that part of population that drives older cars (i mean 20+ years old) has evolved to view older cars as not just a pragmatic and cheap vehicle to run, but to see them in many ways equal if not empirically better than what's produced today!
People will wonder why they're so depressed. Look at your surroundings. Nothing is beautiful anymore. Your buildings are shit. Your art is shit. Your media is shit. Your museums are shit. Your streets are shit. Your electronics are shit. And your cars are shit. You spared all the beauty in the world for a sense of safety and convenience. You deserve it.
I don't like old fashioned stuff like suburban houses in Canada. They look similar but one colour. Some museums like the space museum in Belgium are unique. I love the gothic style of buildings or the futuristic style of buildings, not the brutalism from the 70s. Beauty has stagnated, same with cars. I would rather take concept cars than old cars mentioned in the video. I'm young anyway
the one design I hate the most is what Jeremy Clarkson once said about the BMW X3, the bottom line of the rear window suddenly goes up for no reason like the designer sneezed so many suvs do that and the line just doesnt go anywhere
The problem is some people even equates the extremely low drag tear drop blob (Tesla SUVs, for example) as 'technologically advanced' thus 'cool'. Oh, and you know what can make driving more pleasurable? More public transit options, good bike lanes, and more walkable cities.
About the safety regulation affecting the hood height and bumper, its more dangerous by a lot to have such a high hood and steep bumper, the only reason is that car companies want better safety against other cars but not by a huge margine, the style and pressance is the main reason
I wanted a new car but I didn’t want a boring suv or whaterver. So I got a Hyundai i30 N Fastback, which is a pretty affordable small sporty car with a manual. You can’t get them in America. I wasn’t sure if I made the right choice and should have gotten something more practical. I’m happy I did get it. It’s very fun to drive and although it wasn’t brand new, it supports that type of car and I might have encouraged a few people around me to get similar cars.
I miss wagons for the space and the simple virtue of being able to drive something with the capacity of an SUV in the tight spaces of an old city. cars are just too big for legacy infrastructure. They are also getting heavier, especially with EVs, some encroaching on commercial vehicle weight. These factors have made for secondary problems like crash barriers needing to be bigger and taller, and accelerated wear on existing infrastructure like parking garages, bridges, and road surfaces alone. This also brings accelerated wear on tires and brakes which recent studies have shown to be the highest contributor to microplastics in the environment. There's also the fact that with all the safety systems and general removal of feedback of the driving experience has led to inattentive driving, viewing the car as an appliance has brought about a mindset of trying to make drivers fee oblivious to the grind of modern driving, this makes some people pretty much believe that they can be on their phones and the car will take care of itself and if you do so happen to crash that it's expected you can go walk away from it into the dealer and just get another. Growing sizes have also coincided with how BRIGHT led headlights are. Standard lighting is what high beams used to be so it makes other drivers turn their highbeams on or buy aftermarket bulbs that are not DOT certified and pointed wrong, making it impossible for people with even good vision to drive safely at night. An added side effect of this is the world is so illuminated that some people dont even notice they are driving without ANY of their own lights on. "Safer" cars has bred a whole generation of bad drivers, it makes me wish some days that cars were still deadly to their occupants to sober people into being more active and considerate motorists.
It's not the safety that made manufacturers to have the same look, it's the time of development, they can literally copy a design from competitors that has good designing features and make it their own. I'm pretty sure tall flat front end is not safe for pedestrians.
Modern vehicles have lost thei identity. SUVs shaped like bricks with a spoiler & graphics pretending to be a sports car, sports cars like Subaru Crosstrek with truck tires & minor suspension tweaks pretending to be an SUV, pickup trucks with big wheels & skinny tires paired with heated leather seats pretending to be a luxury vehicle. It's absolutely nuts.
I would say that there's a lot of truth in what Bart is saying. I've seen a few recent vehicles that are interesting. The Mazda Miata has remained interesting, with the latest iteration giving the first one a good run for its money stylewise. I am also intrigued by the Hyundai Ioniq 5. It kind of looks like a 5/4 scale 80s econobox and feels refreshing compared to recent SUVs. I also believe that the different iterations of the Kia Soul looks cute and it does have a definite identity. So while I agree that cars as a whole are looking less and less interesting all the time, there are a few bright spots.
An appliance that is easy, both financially and emotionally, to replace is exactly what I want. Car wrecks happen. Car theft happens. If I had something cool that I was sentimental about, I would be afraid to drive it anywhere given how crazy people are on the road today. The souless appliance that makes me invisible to vandals and delivers me to work is what I need- not a fashion statement.
The "appliance-fication" of cars while stuffing as much useless tech into it as possible to jack up prices is the bane of modern cars. Governments, manufacturers and the vast majority of consumers are to blame for how cars have become luxury fridges on wheels. Some markets don't even offer popular models in manual transmission anymore even though it comes in MT in other markets simply because the domestic consumers are too damn lazy to shift through gears now.
I don't mind the teardrop (and am aggressively excited about....Aptera....) but I think the entire design language is trying to be in the 1980s with 2020s materials. Hence the weird grills and "aggressive" lighting. This is car language doesn't suit the incredibly-connected world in which we currently live. Now, as a hatchback guy ofc I'm never going to hate the blob -- the SUV trend is just "take a hatchback, make it six times too large." But you're right about the designs having often become soulless.
Its like every manufacturer from budget to supercar, family car to "offroader" (if that's even a thing now) has been barfing up up identical horrible design cues for years now. The wonderful diversity of approaches to styling that would distinguish American, German, Italian, Japanese, French have evapourated. So much immense bulk and weight at time when fuel consumption and emissions should be stripped back. Also no more cute little budget cars with character - constantly being upsold :(
Sorry to be that guy but it was syndrome that said that, not dash. Good video 🙂 honestly nardo grey and it’s posse of chalk paints are the biggest crime of modern cars
Definitely a mixed bag out there, but trending towards the Chicago Bean on wheels. Outside of performance and handling, on higher end cars, there really isn’t all that much cool factor anymore. They look the same, drive the same, and practically cost the same.
I absolutely agree that modem SUVs and crossovers all look nearly identical. And that look might be interesting if it were unique, but it is not, and so we are bored with it. Every now and then I see something I really like. But it is only a detail, rarely the whole car.
To be honest as a former engineer (not automotive), I think it's because people like me just don't give a damn anymore because everything is down to the cheapest, fastest to produce, lowest acceptable quality rubbish, and so there's no will or drive to make anything right anymore. Just my opinion.
I have two early 90s Volvo 940 wagons, and while we blew them off when they were new, they look so trim, purposeful and car-like compared to a typical vehicle today. I think the fat shapeless blobs festooned seemingly randomly with fake plastic vents and grilles, is just a reflection of our general culture today. Phony colorless, characterless blobs with no class and no passion.
I’ll never get over what we lost after the boxy 60s-80s. Once computer simulations started designing everything for aerodynamics and safety all the soul left car design. Those jellybeans were the end of good looking and unique vehicles. My 1986 f-150 looks infinitely better than the new ones because it isn’t trying so damn hard to look like a transformer or some shit. Just a perfect brick with tasteful chrome. If Cali bans classics we should kick them out of the union and make Canada the 50th state.
Until We develop tech to make any type of car safer for occupants and public we will be stuck with whatever works. I am confident that future digital tech cars will be not at all boring.
The good news is that there are 50 years worth of interesting cars behind us you can pick anything you want from there.. and none of then will have screens in them or GPS trackers.
I get they're your sponsor, but Grant Stone is made in China crap. They are NOT "THE" company. They are crap. But you are right, the quality is unmatched... Every real shoe company does better. Grant Stone is the ugly, corporate blob of boots you're criticizing here in car design. Buy something actually good and made in the US, like Allen Edmonds, Oak St, Thursday, or Red Wing.
@AuX23A Great question. First, I forgot to add Alden. My simple answer is: not really. So Alden are world class and you'll pay for that. Thursday are cheap, with some made in US and Italy, most in Mexico. I added them only because they're about half the price and still not made in China. I personally don't like Oak St. because they're not my style. But they're high quality and ha I didn't add other American companies like Quoddy, Sebago, or Rancourt because they're more about oxfords, boats, mocs, etc. Then there's the legendary Allen Edmonds. The best shoes someone with a reasonable budget could afford for a century. Some of the best shoes ever made, they can last for decades. I have many pairs. Still made in Wisconsin. There's lots of talk on forums about declining quality now that they're owned by private equity, and that's true. It bothers me. But we're talking about things like a stitch doesn't look so good, the color is a little off in a place. Even frustrating things like on a pair of boots the leather was sewn crooked and one side was a cm taller than the other. Well, that $500 pair of boots I bought on sale for $100 so, all things considered, great buy. It's true, QC is off at their plant -- corporate is allowing more throwaways and F2s to go into the mix. But for anything serious, their returns are easy, and if you get it shipped to store, a rep will check it for you and take care of it if hmthetr is a quality issue. Most people who know AE buy during sales, so I have never paid full price. Sometimes I'll gamble on F2s and I've never been disappointed. I get dress shoes and boots for $100 - $300 a pair, depending. So, to me, anyone who would pay upwards of $400 on shit made in China, when there's a really good American market they could support -- which is often cheaper -- I'm sorry, but, is stupid and frankly unpatriotic. Buy American. If they're a company big enough to sponsor clickbait TH-cam content, are they really legit? Sorry, channel, for putting you down, btw! I don't mean to ascribe any intent, you're just making money and I support that. But I do want to raise awareness, as big supporter of American made goods, to learn more about the boot market, and Grant Stone's place in it. Edit: I forgot to add Justin boots, if you want real work boots. Even Ariat has some made in US. There are 1 or 2 great companies that make legit work boots (like labor, trades, etc. With various certs like flame resistant, waterproof, electric shock insulated etc which I'll post if I remember their names). But their prices are competitive with big name foreign made brands.
@@trance9158 yeah, work boot? Not really haha if we're talking trade work, labor etc. Which can vary wildly depending on the trade. There are still great made in US options that are affordable. I'm forgetting the boot company but Big Bill, for example, makes work wear, union made in US and Canada. But something like the AE Higgins Mill can go years of daily use, and even a decade or two depending on your rotation, before you'd need to re-sole them. This being white collar work, or weekend wear, etc. For me, anytime it rains the boots come on. $250 for boots I still wear almost 10 years on? That look new still because of condition and polish? Made in America by Americans, whose lives and families I was able to support, keeping an American factory open and a Wisconsin town afloat? Hell yeah.
Current cars are a reason car culture is dying. We in Europe get different cars but they are just as bland an uninspiring. On top of that Americans had the sense of slapping tarifs on those horrid Chinese cars, but in Europe we have a mix of boring and ugly domestic compact SUVs and ever more chinese stuff. This is a consequence of poor regulation (ever more demanding emission norms), bad managment (stellantis, you take the cake) and nonsensical push for large SUVs. Pretty soon Europe won't have a car industry, and we petrolheds will be left with ever fewer cars from the golden era of 80s and 90s. And bans on driving them anywhere in urban areas.
Bart, is too crazy to think that we are living a second malaise era? Instead of giant sedans we now got suv's with extremely generic desings made to follow more strict safety and pollution laws..just like those land barges from the 70's.
Cars today aren’t even cars anymore, computers on wheels instead. Boring, ugly, soulless, and the lack of color is horrible. Come out of Target the other day and all the cars were black, grey, or white. And all the people were wearing black. Incredibly depressing.
I always find it fascinating how it is religious gospel to Americans that everything is due to supply and demand. Like at the end "nothing will change until consumers change their tastes" when that's just not true. You yourself have listed a boatload of reasons outside of consumer taste that mandated these desings. Also companies influence market decisions through marketing, lobbying and monopolizing. When then the products get worse the companies tell the consumer it's their fault as "they only make what we want to buy" and I find it somewhat ridiculous. Americans seem a bit naive in that sense or it's just a meaningless phrase everyone just uses I can't tell.
There are lots of quirky cars available in europe though. The fiat 500 is hugely popular, it is basicly the original mini of today. They are everywhere because they are so cheap.
My guy, you're just becoming a grumpy old man. Embrace it. Cars have always looked the same since their inceptions. It's just because the old cars stand out in against a modern backdrop. But there are some horrible looking cars from the past too. It's just we remember them favourably. It's a weird phenomenon with cars.
You should really look at some of the new ev's coming out in 2025. Manufacturers have finally managed to make electric cars that are small and sort of affordable again (affordable for me is more around 15k, not 20-25k). And they actually look unique and beautiful again. Theres still some leftovers from the SUV craze in their design, but its a big step in the right direction. And its both the interior and exterior designs. Look at the Renault 4 & 5 e-tech, the electric Twingo concept, the Hyundai Inster, and the Fiat Grande Panda. Even the VW ID line is sort of... okay. And then there's designs that have been translated from combustion cars, like the Fiat 500. That one looks way uglier as an EV in my opinion, but it still beats every SUV. And there's the Citroen EC3's current version, which is still too SUV, but even that is an improvement. The point is, things could be looking up if these cars succeed and people actually buy them.
The cheaper the car, the more it insists on being "Of The Moment". Expensive cars, like Rolls, Bentley. Porsche and Mercedes, - these prefer evolutionary designs that build from previous ones. The lineage is traceable from generation to generation. These cars also exhibit PROPORTION. The tail and headlights are generally smaller and less styled; less gratuitous lines and accents/add-ons; generally a cleaner over-all appearance.
Mouse-balls beige took over the world starting 25 years ago. Badge engineering/styling sharing is over 60 years old. Cars are objectively better but they're same-ol' same-ol' because it keeps assembly quality up, costs down, and looks boring.
![ค้าง (STILL) - GEMINI [ OFFICIAL MV ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ftxx3hk5vkU/mqdefault.jpg)
My favorite car commercials are the ones like "SUVs are boring, that's why we made one that stands out from the crowd" but all they have on screen is 10 almost identical jellybeans and expect you to be able to pick out the one they are talking about lol.
10:00 "Everyone is driving identical crossover SUVs, so we made another slightly different looking crossover SUV, so you can think you're standing out from the crowd while still conforming to that crowd. You should prefer our crossover SUV although the competition will offer you pretty much the same experience.
At Wilkins Hyundai and Subaru, we got Hyundais and Subarus"
The station wagon is BY FAR the most under appreciated config for a vehicle in America. Bring them back!
Minivans are also great and serve the same purpose as a crossover while being way more efficient
hence the rs6 jawdrop🤗
Don't forget the Australian ute!
As someone who loves taking photos of cityscapes, it’s quite upsetting seeing all these bland cars. I always have to remind myself that I’m living in the era of the lease interesting design.
I couldn't agree more and same thing.
Malaise era reborn.
It's the reason I stopped street photography. These cars are visual noise/garbage and disturb any eye-level frame I'm trying to photograph.
this
The vintage black and white pics of the Cities with the cars and the clothes are just fabulous. You have a greater challenge.
I've always been a car guy, but it's weird. Is that starting 2015, give or take? Basically, I lost track of cars, and I think it's to do with that they all look the same, and you just can't distinguish them from each other.
I realize that too now, used to be good at distinguishing brand, model and sometimes version of a car by just spending a few hours a week in traffic. I slowly stopped keeping track too, it hurts my brain to try and memorize any design these last 10 years.
The cars started looking like a helmet a star wars stormtrooper would wear , the front ends look like a cats face if you pulled their ears back until their eyes squinted. Ugly cars nowadays, too many black, silver and white, they only just now started bringing back cool colors.
I am 46 and for me this happened in the early 2000s when we are talking about most makes and models.
It is hard to be excited when everything looks pretty much the same.
Most new cars made in the last 10 or 15 years have excellent acceleration numbers and realistically is more power than most people will ever need and All cars made from around 2000 on up are pretty safe their occupants which is also good but outside of a couple of cars that are mimicking cars of the past like the Camaro the Mustang and the Challenger All the new cars look pretty much the same and it's hard to be excited about an infotainment center LED headlight and taillight shapes.
Cars were always going to become "raindrop" shaped. Back in 1999 I remember sketching raindrop cars in my notebook in elementary school.
Back then I figured it would be because of aerodynamic efficiency. Nowadays I know it's both because of that AND pedestrian impact safety.
Either way I hate it. Also, bring back pop-up headlights.
The best and worst thing these marketers did was convince suburban white women they DESERVED a $100,000 Tahoe.
The second craziest part is that a Tahoe is $100,000. Practicality be damned, give me a Porsche for that price.
@@VanquishR man the Porsche is $120k now!
Or a redneck with his over priced gas guzzling truck
tbf it's one stupid demographic that can be scared and panicked into anything. plus it's their husbands that are paying... They're just making decisions.
@@raymond_sycamore and worth every penny of it.
Todays cars ain't got no soul.
Kia and Hyundai got Soul factories. 😁
Well yeah, interesting isn't safe and when you're being run by a bunch of business managers who don't have much experience or knowledge, safety is key. You only take risks when you know what you're doing and are good at it.
Everybody with a lot of talent and expertise has left major oems except for tech sector automakers like Lucid or Rivian. They've mostly moved to more profitable industries like aerospace, or bleeding edge EV companies. The really passionate few moved to companies like Singer. Nobody who cares works at these companies anymore.@Stealth86651
They sure don’t
No cars have soul. They are just an object. Clever marketing convincing people that cars have soul
9:22 wagons are very much present here in Europe & are very much alove & well in Japan same with Minivans
They have massively lost market share, and it's not rare to see a line of excluively CUVs at red lights even here. So while wagons are present, they sure aren't doing well.
I never thought much of the looks of the Volvo 740/760 cars back in their day, but they sure are a whole lot better looking than what we have today!
If all you've ever eaten is trash, you'll think it's normal. This is the danger of a truly captive audience and market, which is what massive conglomerates want. Please check your tastes and opinions at the door and simply consume.
13:57 syndrome.
na it was dash
I really hate these blobs. The Tesla is good in many ways, both in terms of speed and range. Lots of high tech. But they are sooo ugly!
The Tesla is not good for range. I can fuel my car once a month and travel 500 miles.
@@BongoBaggins500 miles in a month... You must not go anywhere.
@@BongoBagginswhat car are you getting 500 miles on a tank of gas?
I think Teslas are beautiful
@@canieto1 they're bland and boring... And their fit and finish is still dismal let alone all the massive continuous recalls
I own a 1986 Mazda B2000. I still go on Sunday drives. I drive with a smile on my face. It's slow, it can't handle, but it's mine and I love it.
I got a 1986 F-150. 0-60 is double digits, mpg is nearly single digits and it handles in a terribly unpredictable way at speeds over 55, but driving it is bliss and it turns more heads than a new 100,000 dollar truck. My friends are confused by the concept of me going for a drive to relax… nobody has a car with soul anymore or even likes driving, it’s sad.
This is an excellent topic, I discussed this exact thing with a friend a few days ago. Cars today not only aren't pretty, but they LOOK THE SAME!
Anyhow. Very happy to have found your channel, cheers.
The reason they all look the same comes down to aerodynamics and pedestrian impact safety regulations.
@TheRealPOTUSDavidByrd that's literally mentioned in the video, captain obvious. It still doesn't prohibit cars from having any design innovation or interesting ideas. OR COLORS.
10:33 what makes this ironic is that the hoods being higher and the fronts being flatter makes it more dangerous for pedestrians because now they get knocked under the car rather than onto the hood
right?! I'm a bit above average height and I walked in front of a parked pickup the other day and noticed the top of the hood was just below my chin. If that thing hits me I've got no chance of going up over the hood.
I bought a car a few months ago that was covered in cladding and bulges and bits and bobs, three months later I had to sell it. I couldn’t deal with how in your face it was, the extra pieces all over it was doing my head in, not to mention the chimes and driver assist things.
I went back to my old car which was essentially the same car, just way more understated and less stressful to drive. My god I hate new car designs, BRING BACK WAGONS
No pride of ownership. And continued separation of driver from car. More to come. I'll stick to my 90s/early 2000s CARS.
I am a car guy. In my garage, I have 2 '69 Camaros. an '80 K5 Blazer and a '00 Camaro SS convertible. Every one of those has Character and it is a pleasure to drive each of those and they all require driver input, when I get behind the wheel.
In my driveway, I have a '22 Ram 1500 Classic Regular Cab Shortbox. As much as like the styling, it is basically a laptop on wheels and I "ride" in it rather than drive it.
The obsession with Huge rims! They serve no real funtional purpose. They look absolutely ridiculous! Course, hey accompany the rediculous cars their attached to.
The huge rims are to add style to cars that are so devoid of it
From a Conestoga wagon.
13:58 syndrome is actually the one who says that line
actually dash says it too in the beginning of the movie
@@connoreyestone3186not that exact line, he says something more along the lines of "everyones special is just another way to say no one is"
I thought by this time we would all be driving cars that looked like GT40s. Instead everyone's driving a garbage truck.
100% agree with you on this!
One day people will wonder why GRAY is the hottest color(?) of the 2020's
I see where you are coming from, yet I do genuinely like monotone colours, in particularly grey. Grey / silver cars with striking lines are my favourite. With all that said, I did own a viper green scirocco, I don’t know why.
Only in us color is coming back in canada and else where.
This is why I love my 1969 Dodge Chargers!
Like movies the huge investments demand safe bets and creativity and artistry is lost to the detriment of all
Since 2015 for sure
No you’re not crazy at all. Cars today are like you said, they all look alike. I was a young boy back in the 1960’s and I thought cars like the 1965 Chevy Impala Super Sport, the Pontiac Bonneville coupe and of course the Grand Prix were beautiful cars and of course there were many other American and British cars that looked so good compared to the blobs of today. Even station wagons looked good back then. Cars today look like rolling piles of plastic and I don’t care how cool these companies are trying to make them look today. Look at the new Prius, what the hell is that? Looks like a scraper and or a miniature dust buster like those old GM mini van’s from the early 1990’s. Nope, no new cars for me I’ll just hold on to what I have.
Cars looked the same in the mid 70's to early 80's.
Wait - are people actually nostalgic about the boxes of the 80s? I'm not a big fan of the blob, and I hate the lack of non-suv options nowadays, but were the boxes really better?
80s cars came in one of two varieties: boxy family cars and wedge shaped sports cars. At the very least, the boxes were simple and weren't trying to be overly busy with the design of their family cars.
Angry grill faces.... Can't think of a better description of cars now!
why does this channel have so few followers?! These videos are excellent!
60K is actually a lot for a channel that's only done 30 odd vids. Go check out his motorbike channel if you haven't already.
@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt I started channel for a hobby after watching TH-cam for 13 years. I have 45 videos and only 71 subs. Mind you, I'm not doing ths work that amazing channels like these do. But for sure, it takes awhile to grow, and 60k subs is great progress. I think over time, this channel will do very good. He's a good story teller and compiles the video just nice.
@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt yeah 60k subs is really good....I only get around 1 new sub per video i make, so this guy is doing really good!
You nailed it, dude. Excellent work. I love cars, but not these new ones, ugh! 🤮
Those BMW grills🤮
As a proud member of the 90s Volvo cult, this intro made me so happy 😂
Ugly is a big call. Subjective. Take BMW's huge grills, most in the west hate it but most in the east love it.
And then there's the Gen3 Taurus... OK, maybe ugly isn't such a big call after all.
Yeah, they also love to eat dogs and smear cow dung on their bodies.
Look at a picture of a busy city street in the 60s, the cars we have today are refrigerators on wheels in comparison.
@@TheOfficialEmirati That's being disrespectful to refrigerators. 😆
@@AnyoneSeenMikeHunt Indeed, have you seen 1950s refrigerators? Stylish mfers
Everyone who likes those beaver grills on new BMW has something not right in their head lmao. Also by east you mean balkans only because bmw cult there is stronger than sense of taste
In the 80s when I was a kid I said why are all the cars ugly boxes with wheels? Now theyre blobs with wheels. In rhe 50s they were blingboats with wheels. Cars will always resemble each other cuz its fashon and fashion goes through trends. The 60s and early 70s were unique as you had the most trends.
I genuinely feel like the last remaining fun, cheap, unique car is still the Miata
It's philosophy as been the same with each generation which truly is marvelous.
The current BRZ/GR86 as well.
The Lucid Air is actually really nice looking, it's at least developed from the ground up as a new unique vehicle. So are Tesla's, but they fit the blob car label more so than many others(hence the thumbnail).
While you make some good points, I also think you go way off the rails in some ways. Your comment about paints, for example. You probably don't remember when there were no metallic paints, unless you went to George Barris or Darryl Starbird. And you glossed over the first post war American sedans, many of which were hardly works of art. 1947 Plymouth business coupe, anyone?
As I said at the start, you make many good points. But I think you stretch your thesis further than it deserves.
I have a 2017 challenger scatpack. Main reason I like it is that it has an actual distinctive style. Not a style everyone likes necessarily, but at least it has one.
They did a beautiful job with the Challenger....really succeeding in making a new, old car. Part of why it looks so good is because it's based on a vintage car that also looked great, and they modernized it without selling its soul or making it cartoonish (with no insult to cartoons, honestly) as sometimes happens when people do such things.
I always hear people asking why I don't wanna buy a newer car, and this is probably one of the biggest reasons why. Modern car design has become so bland that the cheaper old models are vastly more appealing to me.
Many of them ooze so much more personality and style compared to what we have today.
I belive the different regulations between trucks and cars make the real difference in design. If you make a vehical based on truck regulations the manufacature gets lighter restictions and greater profits while cars/minivans/wagons have more regulations which require greater regulations and less profits.
It is so sad that my 93 Thunderbird is now a car that can actually be called an "eye catcher" considering it is a base model with no spoiler or anything(so very much just a bland "90's shaped" coupe). I can't wait to see how people react once I swap the hood and engine and add a factory style spoiler seeing as in not quite 2 months of ownership I've noticed and been told about quite a few people admiring it in all it's current blandness. lol
Lol even my 97 Maxima occasionally turns a head or two. What was once just a commuter sedan seen everywhere now gets comments like “did you have to import that?” Also interesting how it was considered a “large” car in its day but is tiny compared to anything made in the last 10 years.
Plenty of young people know they're ugly too, and do appreciate the beauty of vintage cars.
I have a '77 Mark V Cartier, which that year was a very pretty light creamy grey called Dove Grey throughout, with a dark red single pinstripe. I've had the car since 2006, and grew up in the car's twin my Dad bought new in 1977, and I came the next year. It's always attracted a nice amount of attention, but this past year has been the most since I bought it, especially when parked outside while I'm cleaning it. So much of the attention is from younger people, male and female. The car makes friends. I had a couple walk past that asked to take pictures of it, and as they did so, she began to pose with it like a model as he shot the pictures. They just loved it and were so taken by it. Although its among the longest cars ever made, it doesn't look big in a bad way like so many current larger vehicles do, which are like unstylish refrigerators on wheels that appear bigger than my Lincoln, even if they're not. It's sad current state of new vehicles overall.
Even my daily car, a 2008 Mercedes CLK 350 Sport Cabriolet in Majestic Black that Mom bought new, appears like a classic at this point. It looks better every day with age. Though I do like the G Wagon and the GT convertible Mercedes of what they currently produce, most of their vehicles at this point don't compare looks wise to my 2008. It too is sad. Of course people aren't enthused about new vehicles...why should they when they're so uninspired and homogenized, lacking so much in personality and soul. This could be said for architecture for many years as well, but that's a whole other topic.
You are correct!!! Everything is a blob with slits right now.
I hate the Cybertruck (judged by appearance only) but at the same time I give them credit for building something different and original. I was hoping it might catch on elsewhere and we'd get some more exciting or edgy designs based on Tesla's 1 example (the rest of their cars are blobs, lol).
I actually like the cybertruck's design, they gave it an even more unique touch not only by using no rounded corners at all, there's tilt angles, the way the windshield makes an A-shape with the hood. But I feel like it's just too long and that makes it ugly again, it feels to me like it's supposed to be a limousine, also that it has that prominent line on it's side that is tilted downwards. As if it's supposed to be a race car.
@CyberUtilia I'll definitely give them more points for originality and doing something different than I take away for the parts I don't like... It's some version of a cool future truck for sure 😆
@mrWonderphilly Yep, I want change, I might not completely like this one example, but it is change! We love some diversity, right?
Its the peak of corporate mindset cars, movies, games, everything feels like a souless product made to maximize sales and they do not hide it anymore
So, to summarize, cars went from collectibles to consumables. And not only has the shape become homogenized, the color palette has as well. I swear, 90% of vehicles made today are one of the following:
A. Hearse Black
B. Appliance White
C. Asphalt Gray
All the while, people are dropping big money on these forgettable computers with wheels. Boring AF.
in order for consumers to "change their taste", first you have to offer consumers a choice! and there is on choice!!! So if all you can buy is the same, how can consumers "change their taste"? they only thing they can do is not buy new cars! That's perhaps the closest thing to "change of taste" sticking to older cars!
In fact, i'd wager than in last 10 years perceptions of that part of population that drives older cars (i mean 20+ years old) has evolved to view older cars as not just a pragmatic and cheap vehicle to run, but to see them in many ways equal if not empirically better than what's produced today!
I love the look of old square trucks, even my pos 2nd gen s10 looks better than a lot of other things on the road.
Square trucks and square station wagons make me happy 😊
People will wonder why they're so depressed. Look at your surroundings. Nothing is beautiful anymore. Your buildings are shit. Your art is shit. Your media is shit. Your museums are shit. Your streets are shit. Your electronics are shit. And your cars are shit. You spared all the beauty in the world for a sense of safety and convenience. You deserve it.
I don't like old fashioned stuff like suburban houses in Canada. They look similar but one colour. Some museums like the space museum in Belgium are unique. I love the gothic style of buildings or the futuristic style of buildings, not the brutalism from the 70s. Beauty has stagnated, same with cars. I would rather take concept cars than old cars mentioned in the video. I'm young anyway
the one design I hate the most is what Jeremy Clarkson once said about the BMW X3, the bottom line of the rear window suddenly goes up for no reason like the designer sneezed
so many suvs do that and the line just doesnt go anywhere
I'd like to see a video on station wagons!
The problem is some people even equates the extremely low drag tear drop blob (Tesla SUVs, for example) as 'technologically advanced' thus 'cool'. Oh, and you know what can make driving more pleasurable? More public transit options, good bike lanes, and more walkable cities.
About the safety regulation affecting the hood height and bumper, its more dangerous by a lot to have such a high hood and steep bumper, the only reason is that car companies want better safety against other cars but not by a huge margine, the style and pressance is the main reason
I wanted a new car but I didn’t want a boring suv or whaterver. So I got a Hyundai i30 N Fastback, which is a pretty affordable small sporty car with a manual. You can’t get them in America. I wasn’t sure if I made the right choice and should have gotten something more practical. I’m happy I did get it. It’s very fun to drive and although it wasn’t brand new, it supports that type of car and I might have encouraged a few people around me to get similar cars.
I miss wagons for the space and the simple virtue of being able to drive something with the capacity of an SUV in the tight spaces of an old city. cars are just too big for legacy infrastructure. They are also getting heavier, especially with EVs, some encroaching on commercial vehicle weight. These factors have made for secondary problems like crash barriers needing to be bigger and taller, and accelerated wear on existing infrastructure like parking garages, bridges, and road surfaces alone. This also brings accelerated wear on tires and brakes which recent studies have shown to be the highest contributor to microplastics in the environment.
There's also the fact that with all the safety systems and general removal of feedback of the driving experience has led to inattentive driving, viewing the car as an appliance has brought about a mindset of trying to make drivers fee oblivious to the grind of modern driving, this makes some people pretty much believe that they can be on their phones and the car will take care of itself and if you do so happen to crash that it's expected you can go walk away from it into the dealer and just get another. Growing sizes have also coincided with how BRIGHT led headlights are. Standard lighting is what high beams used to be so it makes other drivers turn their highbeams on or buy aftermarket bulbs that are not DOT certified and pointed wrong, making it impossible for people with even good vision to drive safely at night. An added side effect of this is the world is so illuminated that some people dont even notice they are driving without ANY of their own lights on.
"Safer" cars has bred a whole generation of bad drivers, it makes me wish some days that cars were still deadly to their occupants to sober people into being more active and considerate motorists.
15:06 ŠKODAAAAAAAAA 🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿
CO DOPIČI ZNAMENÁ ŘÍDIT STŘÍZLIVEJ⁉️⁉️🦁🦁🦁🇨🇿🇨🇿🇨🇿🦁🇨🇿🦁🇨🇿🦁🇨🇿🦁🇨🇿🇨🇿🦁
Cars were built for the consumers or the job required. Now, they are built to meet regulations while trying to be appealing to a customer
It's not the safety that made manufacturers to have the same look, it's the time of development, they can literally copy a design from competitors that has good designing features and make it their own. I'm pretty sure tall flat front end is not safe for pedestrians.
Speak for yourself my Elantra N is Beautiful.
Modern vehicles have lost thei identity. SUVs shaped like bricks with a spoiler & graphics pretending to be a sports car, sports cars like Subaru Crosstrek with truck tires & minor suspension tweaks pretending to be an SUV, pickup trucks with big wheels & skinny tires paired with heated leather seats pretending to be a luxury vehicle. It's absolutely nuts.
I would say that there's a lot of truth in what Bart is saying. I've seen a few recent vehicles that are interesting. The Mazda Miata has remained interesting, with the latest iteration giving the first one a good run for its money stylewise. I am also intrigued by the Hyundai Ioniq 5. It kind of looks like a 5/4 scale 80s econobox and feels refreshing compared to recent SUVs. I also believe that the different iterations of the Kia Soul looks cute and it does have a definite identity. So while I agree that cars as a whole are looking less and less interesting all the time, there are a few bright spots.
An appliance that is easy, both financially and emotionally, to replace is exactly what I want. Car wrecks happen. Car theft happens. If I had something cool that I was sentimental about, I would be afraid to drive it anywhere given how crazy people are on the road today. The souless appliance that makes me invisible to vandals and delivers me to work is what I need- not a fashion statement.
The "appliance-fication" of cars while stuffing as much useless tech into it as possible to jack up prices is the bane of modern cars. Governments, manufacturers and the vast majority of consumers are to blame for how cars have become luxury fridges on wheels. Some markets don't even offer popular models in manual transmission anymore even though it comes in MT in other markets simply because the domestic consumers are too damn lazy to shift through gears now.
I don't mind the teardrop (and am aggressively excited about....Aptera....) but I think the entire design language is trying to be in the 1980s with 2020s materials. Hence the weird grills and "aggressive" lighting. This is car language doesn't suit the incredibly-connected world in which we currently live.
Now, as a hatchback guy ofc I'm never going to hate the blob -- the SUV trend is just "take a hatchback, make it six times too large." But you're right about the designs having often become soulless.
Its like every manufacturer from budget to supercar, family car to "offroader" (if that's even a thing now) has been barfing up up identical horrible design cues for years now. The wonderful diversity of approaches to styling that would distinguish American, German, Italian, Japanese, French have evapourated. So much immense bulk and weight at time when fuel consumption and emissions should be stripped back. Also no more cute little budget cars with character - constantly being upsold :(
Took for granted how good those 850 wagons looked back in the day.
Sorry to be that guy but it was syndrome that said that, not dash.
Good video 🙂 honestly nardo grey and it’s posse of chalk paints are the biggest crime of modern cars
Definitely a mixed bag out there, but trending towards the Chicago Bean on wheels.
Outside of performance and handling, on higher end cars, there really isn’t all that much cool factor anymore. They look the same, drive the same, and practically cost the same.
This video has a ad for my car in it! Although my 37 Plymouth is a coupe
I absolutely agree that modem SUVs and crossovers all look nearly identical. And that look might be interesting if it were unique, but it is not, and so we are bored with it.
Every now and then I see something I really like. But it is only a detail, rarely the whole car.
To be honest as a former engineer (not automotive), I think it's because people like me just don't give a damn anymore because everything is down to the cheapest, fastest to produce, lowest acceptable quality rubbish, and so there's no will or drive to make anything right anymore.
Just my opinion.
I have two early 90s Volvo 940 wagons, and while we blew them off when they were new, they look so trim, purposeful and car-like compared to a typical vehicle today.
I think the fat shapeless blobs festooned seemingly randomly with fake plastic vents and grilles, is just a reflection of our general culture today.
Phony colorless, characterless blobs with no class and no passion.
I’ll never get over what we lost after the boxy 60s-80s. Once computer simulations started designing everything for aerodynamics and safety all the soul left car design. Those jellybeans were the end of good looking and unique vehicles. My 1986 f-150 looks infinitely better than the new ones because it isn’t trying so damn hard to look like a transformer or some shit. Just a perfect brick with tasteful chrome. If Cali bans classics we should kick them out of the union and make Canada the 50th state.
Until We develop tech to make any type of car safer for occupants and public we will be stuck with whatever works.
I am confident that future digital tech cars will be not at all boring.
The good news is that there are 50 years worth of interesting cars behind us you can pick anything you want from there.. and none of then will have screens in them or GPS trackers.
I get they're your sponsor, but Grant Stone is made in China crap. They are NOT "THE" company. They are crap. But you are right, the quality is unmatched... Every real shoe company does better.
Grant Stone is the ugly, corporate blob of boots you're criticizing here in car design.
Buy something actually good and made in the US, like Allen Edmonds, Oak St, Thursday, or Red Wing.
Expensive AF. For those prices I would expect 10 years of service out of a work boot. They won't last that long.
Aren't those brands you listed pretty bad overall too?
@@thejunkman 10 yrs out of a work boot? You must not work much.
@AuX23A Great question. First, I forgot to add Alden. My simple answer is: not really.
So Alden are world class and you'll pay for that. Thursday are cheap, with some made in US and Italy, most in Mexico. I added them only because they're about half the price and still not made in China.
I personally don't like Oak St. because they're not my style. But they're high quality and ha
I didn't add other American companies like Quoddy, Sebago, or Rancourt because they're more about oxfords, boats, mocs, etc.
Then there's the legendary Allen Edmonds. The best shoes someone with a reasonable budget could afford for a century. Some of the best shoes ever made, they can last for decades. I have many pairs. Still made in Wisconsin. There's lots of talk on forums about declining quality now that they're owned by private equity, and that's true. It bothers me. But we're talking about things like a stitch doesn't look so good, the color is a little off in a place. Even frustrating things like on a pair of boots the leather was sewn crooked and one side was a cm taller than the other. Well, that $500 pair of boots I bought on sale for $100 so, all things considered, great buy. It's true, QC is off at their plant -- corporate is allowing more throwaways and F2s to go into the mix. But for anything serious, their returns are easy, and if you get it shipped to store, a rep will check it for you and take care of it if hmthetr is a quality issue.
Most people who know AE buy during sales, so I have never paid full price. Sometimes I'll gamble on F2s and I've never been disappointed. I get dress shoes and boots for $100 - $300 a pair, depending.
So, to me, anyone who would pay upwards of $400 on shit made in China, when there's a really good American market they could support -- which is often cheaper -- I'm sorry, but, is stupid and frankly unpatriotic.
Buy American. If they're a company big enough to sponsor clickbait TH-cam content, are they really legit?
Sorry, channel, for putting you down, btw! I don't mean to ascribe any intent, you're just making money and I support that. But I do want to raise awareness, as big supporter of American made goods, to learn more about the boot market, and Grant Stone's place in it.
Edit: I forgot to add Justin boots, if you want real work boots. Even Ariat has some made in US. There are 1 or 2 great companies that make legit work boots (like labor, trades, etc. With various certs like flame resistant, waterproof, electric shock insulated etc which I'll post if I remember their names). But their prices are competitive with big name foreign made brands.
@@trance9158 yeah, work boot? Not really haha if we're talking trade work, labor etc. Which can vary wildly depending on the trade. There are still great made in US options that are affordable. I'm forgetting the boot company but Big Bill, for example, makes work wear, union made in US and Canada.
But something like the AE Higgins Mill can go years of daily use, and even a decade or two depending on your rotation, before you'd need to re-sole them. This being white collar work, or weekend wear, etc. For me, anytime it rains the boots come on. $250 for boots I still wear almost 10 years on? That look new still because of condition and polish? Made in America by Americans, whose lives and families I was able to support, keeping an American factory open and a Wisconsin town afloat? Hell yeah.
Current cars are a reason car culture is dying. We in Europe get different cars but they are just as bland an uninspiring. On top of that Americans had the sense of slapping tarifs on those horrid Chinese cars, but in Europe we have a mix of boring and ugly domestic compact SUVs and ever more chinese stuff. This is a consequence of poor regulation (ever more demanding emission norms), bad managment (stellantis, you take the cake) and nonsensical push for large SUVs.
Pretty soon Europe won't have a car industry, and we petrolheds will be left with ever fewer cars from the golden era of 80s and 90s. And bans on driving them anywhere in urban areas.
I see what you're saying, but I'll take safe and ugly every time. Exactly as you say, my car is merely an appliance to me.
Bart, is too crazy to think that we are living a second malaise era? Instead of giant sedans we now got suv's with extremely generic desings made to follow more strict safety and pollution laws..just like those land barges from the 70's.
Pretty much, although even the land yachts of the 70s were at least cool looking for as terrible as they were.
19:00 I was kinda iffy on your argument, but then you validated the fiero, so i agree with whatever you say
Cars today aren’t even cars anymore, computers on wheels instead. Boring, ugly, soulless, and the lack of color is horrible. Come out of Target the other day and all the cars were black, grey, or white. And all the people were wearing black. Incredibly depressing.
I always find it fascinating how it is religious gospel to Americans that everything is due to supply and demand.
Like at the end "nothing will change until consumers change their tastes" when that's just not true.
You yourself have listed a boatload of reasons outside of consumer taste that mandated these desings.
Also companies influence market decisions through marketing, lobbying and monopolizing.
When then the products get worse the companies tell the consumer it's their fault as "they only make what we want to buy" and I find it somewhat ridiculous. Americans seem a bit naive in that sense or it's just a meaningless phrase everyone just uses I can't tell.
Those "putty colours" you hate are from the 50's and early 60's which you love. I like non metalic flake colours.
There are lots of quirky cars available in europe though. The fiat 500 is hugely popular, it is basicly the original mini of today. They are everywhere because they are so cheap.
Cheers from the Pacific West Coast of Canada.
Speak of "boxy", I've a 2004 Jeep TJ and it's BOXY! And I love it.
its feels like weve been trapped in 2004 for the last 20 years in terms of car design
My guy, you're just becoming a grumpy old man. Embrace it. Cars have always looked the same since their inceptions. It's just because the old cars stand out in against a modern backdrop. But there are some horrible looking cars from the past too. It's just we remember them favourably. It's a weird phenomenon with cars.
People blinded by nostalgia 😂
I wish there would be better cars again not suvs everywhere. I literally got a stupid suv ad from this. Heck no I'm sticking with my 89 Prelude.
great story telling. Thanks!
You should really look at some of the new ev's coming out in 2025. Manufacturers have finally managed to make electric cars that are small and sort of affordable again (affordable for me is more around 15k, not 20-25k). And they actually look unique and beautiful again. Theres still some leftovers from the SUV craze in their design, but its a big step in the right direction. And its both the interior and exterior designs. Look at the Renault 4 & 5 e-tech, the electric Twingo concept, the Hyundai Inster, and the Fiat Grande Panda. Even the VW ID line is sort of... okay. And then there's designs that have been translated from combustion cars, like the Fiat 500. That one looks way uglier as an EV in my opinion, but it still beats every SUV. And there's the Citroen EC3's current version, which is still too SUV, but even that is an improvement.
The point is, things could be looking up if these cars succeed and people actually buy them.
One company I see heading in the right direction is Hyundai.
Their latest cars are a wonderful breath of simplicity 👍
15:36 Modern crossover SUVs are just lifted hatchbacks with a taller roof line. They are not practical whatsoever.
Im truely starting to question if new and old cars are really the same transport.
The cheaper the car, the more it insists on being "Of The Moment". Expensive cars, like Rolls, Bentley. Porsche and Mercedes, - these prefer evolutionary designs that build from previous ones. The lineage is traceable from generation to generation. These cars also exhibit PROPORTION. The tail and headlights are generally smaller and less styled; less gratuitous lines and accents/add-ons; generally a cleaner over-all appearance.
Mouse-balls beige took over the world starting 25 years ago. Badge engineering/styling sharing is over 60 years old. Cars are objectively better but they're same-ol' same-ol' because it keeps assembly quality up, costs down, and looks boring.
So happy I found this channel.
The ugliest thing I've seen is that fugly "spindle grille" Lexus came up with.
The electrification of vehicles is killing the design language for cars if u ask me.
Soulless, Lifeless, Appliances - NAILED IT!
Like all cars. It's the history you make with the car
Please make a video about station wagons.
No mention of the gawd awful black rims!!?? I get pissed off every time i see those. And yes, the putty colors are horrendous and need to go away.
I've got a Mazda mx5 nd and i think it's one of the last cheap car for passionate people