Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) When the ordinary turns into something beautiful.

It's always the cars that you don't think about that suddenly trigger such a WoW effect later on. The auction of the Aero S1 motivated me to start this thread. Because the S1 is absolutely also such a case of transformation in my eyes.
Another quick example: Yesterday, a Porsche 996 Coupe came towards me, driven very sharply. At first I thought, what a cool car that was. The silver colour was shining with the fried egg lamps. It looked absolutely great. I know I always thought the 996 was ugly and I hated the car for 25 years. But lately, with the good turbo engine, very nice and so compact when in comparison the 911 series get fatter and fatter and get a wider and wider a***. The craziest thing was that I always hated the fried egg lamps (also as a cheap "equal part and money saving part" with the first Boxter). Of all things, I saw these lamps in a whole new light. It seemed futuristic and just cool, and maybe the designer's intention from back then is only now reaching me. The overall proportions and the relatively compact size of the 996 were very appealing to me. Something I hadn't noticed until recently. I would even go so far as to say that the 996 is the only 911 that very courageously does not play the dead horse of the 911 face that is always quoted in the same way during almost all 911 series.

Another example, I still have our Merc 220CE W124 Coupe 1st series MY 1992 since 2005. The car gets more beautiful every day. I would say it is in its prime to provide an aesthetic counterpoint to today's design. It seems to me that today many models of many brands are screaming for attention with sometimes aggressive sharp edged elements that in 10 years could just look old fashioned. With the 220CE, on the other hand, no line is too much.
Another case could be something like a Morgan or even an old Alfa of the 60s. That is not a counter design to today's design but it looks like it comes from another world. I think there is such a cycle in the life of a car design over the decades. As a counterpoint to today's cars, the 80s until 2000 are very popular at the moment, not only with those who were young then and remember them fondly, but also with the young people of today. Cars like the 80s Toyota Supra, MR2 or Nissan 300Z are very popular with young people. The other day someone came in a small Renault 9...a. car that used to be on every street corner but the first I saw again in 25 years….cool.
Do you also have examples of cars that were meaningless or even hideous to you and today you wonder why you like them?

I have to agree with your assessment Heinz. Especially about the Mercedes. I looked for quite a while to buy a W124 Coupe, but in the end purchased a 1990 260E W124 saloon. With only 49,000 on the clock it drives like a new car without squeaks or rattles from the silky smooth six cylinder engine. I use it as my daily driver and I am astonished by the positive reaction it frequently gets and other drivers leave you out of junctions which I never experienced with the BMW.

I agree with you Heinz. I have a 2004 996 Turbo. Love it, nearly as much as my +8

Heinz I think what you describe is the process where something changes from being dated or unfashionable to becoming 'classic' The same applies to clothing and music which define an era or period of a persons life hence the appeal of 80's to 2000's cars to some people but to me it would be 60's and 70's cars that appeal most.

Interesting point Rob. I guess we all get locked into a rose tinted, age related period early in our lives when we start discovering the world. For me it had to be pre-60's though. After that we had Fablon, chipboard, orange kitchens and avocado bathroom suites. On the auto front a succession of awful BL offerings Mini and convertibles aside. Ford didn't escape this indifferent era either with ugly US inspired bodywork hanging over skinny tyres, thinking Zephyr, Zodiac, Consul Capri etc. Thankfully most big Vauxhall's of the era have rusted into oblivion.

I thought things had reached an all time low though when I first saw a Marina at a classic car rally, carefully restored to all its ex factory ingloriousness.

Richard, for me the bottom of the pit was when I saw a mint restoration of a brown/beige Allegro. I mean, Why?
Now a glorious Triumph Vitesse Convertible, that is another thing. I used to drool over them, always wanted one and eventually I bought a Morgan after I found out just how bad the Herald chassis was...

I've always been a Bentley fan, but with the motto: The older, the better. For a long time I couldn't get excited about the Bentleys of the 80s, 90s and the beginning of the new millennium. Today, for example, I find a Bentley Brooklands or Azure very nice. Not that I could afford one...

Probably my favourite. Maybe not the colour but it was the top of the tree of that period.

Heinz,, Ilve had many examples of the 124 Mercedes coupe and convertible my favourite would be the 220 sportline version, not the smoothness and power of the 320 but much lighter front end so marginally sharper handling (for a Mercedes) than the 320. Seemingly built ffrom granite, well engineered with simple and easy controls that naturally fall to hand. Whilst the engineering has moved on today the current Mercedes seem to lack the same build quality feel of the 124. The same is probaly true when comparing earlier Mercedes from the 60”s with the 124… The coupe and cabriolet lines are so clean when compared with some of todays offerrings………. I suspect its the car that most attracted us in our more formative years. Unfortunately, the high mileage capabilities of the car, leaves very few pristine examples around today.

Yes, I agree about the shape lines of the 124. And it's true, our 220CE W124 is absolutely well balanced and weighs 1,400 kg, which is not much for such a car by today's standards. It has 265,000 km on the clock, of which we have done 120,000 km in 17 years. But you don't notice the high mileage, it is also a rare car, for one thing only built for 1/2 year in the combination series 1 body and 220 engine and with full leather, which mostly only the 6 cylinders had at that time. The engine whirrs as smoothly as on the first day...I also think that with good care, the old naturally aspirated engines can last longer than the downsized turbos of today.