Although I have only owned one Saturn, I find it to be a great car. I find it hard to believe they would drop them. Now I am even more confused. Have you seen the release of the 2014 C7 Corvette? I want your honest opinion. I have a couple of Corvettes now and was looking at adding a C7. My wife even sold her Shelby GT500 recently so we could afford a new Vette. True is has an estimated 450 hp and 450lbs tq. The suspension has Mag control etc. The performance is great. With that said, the estimated cost will be around 60K for the base unit. For this 60K I would get 14 more hp. (whoopy) It appears that the rear end is a basic Camaro rear end (modified yes but still square tail lights etc.) The hood is farrari and on and on. Has GM lost all its talented designers? Everything on cars now days is copied, adapted or retro. The Corvette use to be the flag ship of Chevrolet. It always had the newest suspensions, electronics etc. Now it seems they are copying the lesser Camaro and others. I haven't made up my mind yet and am always interested in others opinions.

 

Camaro, Corvette, could care less. Had a couple don't want another.

 

Thats not the point at all. I was asking if anyone felt our auto makers have lost the ability to come up with original ideas not copies. I don't personally care if you like chevy, ford, Chrysler etc. But you must admit, all autos are very much alike. Thats one reason I bought the Aura, it was a little differant and now its gone.

 

To answer your question on the design of the Corvette. Frankly I think it is one of the prettiest cars I have seen in years. But remember beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
It is an intangible reaction to an emotion.
And frankly possibly with the exception of a couple of the recent ones, in my opinion there has not been a pretty Corvette since the original package and many of the later ones were just flat butt ugly.
Beauty can be determined based on comparison of what is around it also. In 1953 many of the automobiles designed were not all that good looking so the 1953/4 body was not only timeless but by comparison stylish.
Fast forward to today and what is being sold is some form of a Taxi or Cop car or something that is trying very hard to be truck.
If I want a truck GMC has been making them for years. I don't need or want Cadillac's version of one.
What I need is a station wagon or possibly a VAN where the seats fold into the floor.
My Chrysler Town and Country works for that and in my opinion is not a bad looking design, for a two (2) box design. A 2007. And my concession to cosmetics was to get rid of the 15 inch wheels with the painted plastic hub caps which to me reek of being 1958 Studebaker Scotsman:

https://www.google.com/search?num=10....1.CnbUEzFg4Cc

and replace them with 17 inch wheels and properly sized tires to make the computer happy from a Chrysler 300, a car to me which is another variation of a cop car with styling that is reminiscent to me of a 1950 Hudson;

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&....1.PdsOkiFndJY

With it's little short cabin windows.

The difference? The Hudson was at least styled. The Chrysler is dumpy. And only has 4 doors.
So yes with rare exception I do not think Detroit or any other location in the U.S. that assembles American (oh yuh, Quote Quote) cars has styling department any more.
I was some what surprised to see how good looking the Corvette is and while I can see some Camero in it, as retro throw back to the Pony car era I think they did the best job of it. And I don't even like a Chevrolet. It left me with the impression the styling department was still there in GM buried some where.
I will never have a Corvette, I have never been in the position to afford one. And from what I hear, the used ones are such a poor buy due to maintenance difficulties I probably will pass if the opportunity arrives.
SO
I still need a station wagon and I am racing the miles up on the Chrysler. The solution is not to buy a new Chrysler, not only is the tow (2) box designed squared off to emphasize well? Two Boxes but I no longer can afford to buy it either.
So my solution to the total lack of a styling department almost anywhere and the lack of imagination in offering anything other than something with 4 doors while not offering a station wagon, I am building one to take the load off the Chrysler;

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=827fe42953

An old mans street racer with a concession to a Corvette, my version of a Corvette engine. I just got the Carter Thermo-quad on it yesterday and hooked up to the accelerator and the TV/Kick down cable. I should have it painted and on the Road by summer.

So my answer to your next question, where are the styling departments? Either on a permanent leave of absence leaving nothing but the secretary around to take messages and do something about doodling out another variation of a pretend truck or they have all been fired.

The Cadillac coupe is another gorgeous car, and in no way can it be taken as a cop car or a taxi.

 

Well stated! I cannot afford the Vette either but I am going through my second childhood. I live where I can only get them out on limited occasions. If I lived where you do I would probably retire and live in the car!!!!

Thanks for your input, makes a lot of sense.

 

Cars look much the same because of aerodynamics. You can only do so much within the same aero silhouette. Now an ugly Vette is the 74 5mph bumper cars.

 

The middle 70's certainly heralded the introduction of a chrome plated or polished aluminum battering ram hung out the front and back of a car with no concession to style at all and Detroit proudly proclaimed their achievements of beauty which paralleled the lack of performance as the poorly implemented smog engine was introduced. Thus allowing those dedicated folks from the lands of the rising sun to introduce and market alternatives that ran well, looked good and were reliable. Detroit countered with the we can't make money doing that by introducing family oriented trucks that in part at the time were exempt from smog and safety standards. The buying public then flocked (is that the right word or would "Be dragged kicking and screaming" to the show rooms to buy?
Yup, you got it. Trucks which morphed in to SUV's something I have yet to determine how a behemoth Cadillac truck is either Sporty or Utilitarian or maybe even questionably is a vehicle or Cross Overs. A class of transportation that makes no sense to me. Why can't it be a happy over?
Now you can by something that might be a truck or is pretending to be a truck or looks like a poorly styled cow pie or possibly a stylish taxi cab or police car. No thanks, I am old school and have to ask if something made in Korea is that much better than something made in Detroit than the fault is the automobile companies have lost complete track of what it is they are in business to do and have stopped being run by people who build cars but instead run by accounts who have no idea how to run a company. 'Specially one that builds cars. Or used to anyway if any of them are left.

 

American car makers were caught with their pants down in the 70's we all know that. By the time they got it right they were bankrupt. All the while cars coming out of Japan were getting post war government backing. Oh and most of that money came from the US in the 50's and 60's to rebuild Japan.

 

Man for $60k look for a classic chevelle or a older camero, say 1967 for the camero and a 1969-1970 chevelle.