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
Cars from the 70’s had a much shorter life, overall. Anti-corrosion coatings, improved machining tolerances for engine components, computer control (both to alert and prevent bad things from happening), and general advances in materials have all made a big difference. My first car was a ’75 I got in 85 with pretty low miles, and it already was well on it’s way to terminal rust. They were simpler to work on, however.
its because the big industries played to the cool crowd in the 60’s n 70’s
the cars were bad ass
then the bean counters got onboard in the 80’s
then you get civics and pinto’s
in short
from the imortal mouth of homer simpson
Rock n roll was perfected in 1973
You absolutely cannot overstate the importance of the Ford Taurus in the epic transformation of the entire auto industry. This first part of this video is fantastic and really gets into why. (The latter part of the video is about a quirky, rare version of the Taurus called the SHO)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VTRhCC3gZI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VTRhCC3gZI)
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….
The diode. It changed everything. The addition of basic electronics for controlling fuel, spark, and transmission operations resulted in vastly more reliable vehicles that last much much longer.
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