In the 90s, cars from the 70s and 60s were seen as classic, but in 2022 cars from the 90s or 2000s can still be seen in daily use, and in terms of body design, many don’t even look that far off modern cars. What happened around the late 80s?

Question

Edit: great responses, Reddit. People have largely addressed the form factor aspect of my question. But am I wrong in sensing that cars from the late 90s seem to be more reliable and functionally acceptable in 2022, than most cars from the 70s were in the 90s? Was there some engineering breakthrough that made them more long lived?

In: 91

Answer 1

Contributing to other factors stated here I’d also like to add that many are now built with fibreglass bodies. The “Classics” we all know and love have steel bodies. 80s was probably the last of steel bodies.

Wondering why I mention steel? Research ‘post atomic steel’.
Ever ponder the fact that we can dig up steel swords & such from wars long gone but everything now instantly turns to rust….