Among the many skills my Dad had, one that most impressed kid-me was his ability to identify any car on the road. Though not as impressive as karate-chopping an apple in half or lifting me over his head with one arm, effortlessly calling out makes and models as cars passed seemed like a magic trick to me. I got hip to the car-spotting game soon enough, and calling out cars by their signature features felt something like accessing a secret car-code.
Inevitably, certain cars and specific features became favorites, and I’m sure the same goes for many of you – hence, today’s Autopian Ask. As for me, I’ve always been partial to the mouth-agape look of the Shelby Cobra, and second-gen Camaro among others, but I especially like the smiling fish-face of the Austin Healey Sprite, bugeye edition, as seen in the top graphic.
I’ve always had a big soft spot for kitsch, which is why I’m a big, unironic fan of Pontiac’s infamous screaming chicken. The cars may be hot messes, but the goofball charm of the second-gen Firebird is as irresistible as its most famous driver (no, not Joe Biden, I’m talking about The Bandit).
Now, just because I have a taste for the automotive equivalent of cotton candy does not mean I am a stranger to the more subtle and refined iconic-feature flavors such as the well-known Hofmeister kink. I like the C-pillar’s jaunty little kick-out based on its own merits, but I also appreciate it as a slightly-snobbish, gate-keepy, secret-handshake thing. “Oh, you’re a big BMW fan? What’s a Hofmeister Kink?” Not that I would ever be a gate-keepy snob, but I’m prepared should I ever encounter one of the BMW variety.
Your turn: What Are Your Favorite Iconic Styling Features? The Autopian is asking!
Top graphic image: Bring a Trailer
Just to go a bit counter to this… the one thing I despise the most is alloy wheels that only look “correct” on one side of the car. The ones on my Accord are particularly bad.
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I had an SVX. Subaru actually made different wheels for the left and right. Now I have a 911, and Porsche didn’t see fit to do that. So I have a lot of respect for Subaru’s attention to detail there.
Surprisingly, my 1996 T-Bird had both LH and RH alloys (stolen from the SuperCoupe).
Porsche option? Lol
The asymmetry of the wheels is my biggest pet peeve with my Boxster. Oh, how I lust after a set of 964 Cup wheels to put on it. Price-wise, 993 Cup 2’s are more realistic.
The Mk 7.5 GTI wheels are a close 2nd. I had a 77 Accord with a set of what I called Cuisinart wheels that were curved for left and right.
I am less interested in styling, more interested in function. But there were a number of good comments here, people mentioned a lots of styling cues that I like too.
One feature that wasn’t mentioned: sequential taillights. I fell in love with those on the late 60’s Mercury Cougar, as depicted here:
https://i.makeagif.com/media/12-28-2016/5CPeQu.gif
A few other cars have that feature, and I can’t remember disliking the feature on any car I’ve seen.
Audi does it really well these days. Current Mustangs too. Toyota trucks, less so.
To me the sexiest shape in auto design is the contour of the C-pillar on air-cooled Porsche 911s and the way it blends into the fenders.
That really was a deft bit of sculpting.
Yes, I’m a sucker for air cooled 911 rear haunches – particularly on the early turbo models. Also, the ducktail. I love those air cooled Cup and RS ducktails (they can still be done well on the modern models as well).
I particularly love bubble-back windows. They haven’t been gone for that long (arguably, not at all), but the 924/180SX/RX-7/Firebird/Corvette liftback coupes were a wonderful shape. Besides the 80s/90s cars I love, there’s also older, non-liftback beauties like the Barracuda, A110, Riviera, XK13 and the like.
Fortunately they still exist in some flavors, like the 911 Targa and the A-110 that we can’t get in America, it’s just mostly fallen out of fashion.
The taillights on the 1970 Chevelle SS were so cool that I still remember them from a high school classmate’s 396.
And I’ll always have a soft spot for the traditional Mercedes grill and star hood ornament.
“The taillights on the 1970 Chevelle SS…”
Ah, back in the taillight-in-bumpers era of Detroit design.
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Gorgeous!!!
And not specific to the SS, that package didn’t include anything special for them that every other ’70 Chevelle except the wagons had.
Two things: Color matched wheel spokes with a polished lip, and basketweaves/Crossspokes.
https://www.theautopian.com/another-perfect-two-car-solution-1979-ford-ranchero-gt-vs-1985-tvr-tasmin-280i/
20% of the british roadster hotness comes from the fact it had meshies in the body color with a polished lip.
The reason why Grand Marquis meshies are sought after are: 16″ is the perfect sidewall to rim ratio, a very easily adaptable fitment and bolt pattern, and finally: Actually manufactured by BBS.
Soft huddle:
“We all know the wheels would look horrible all red, and yeah the Tasmin MAY not match the primariy colors.Red is still a primary color.
Gold would look great against a silver lip. And we all know we dislike them stupid cigarette pack memes, but we know it is a nod to good rim-whore goodness.”
You can obviously tell by my profile picture that I’m tickled that you mentioned the “screaming chicken” in the article as one of your favorites, but there are several other design cues on my very favorite American automobile that deserve attention:
The engine-turned aluminum dash panel with Rally gauges – especially the genius combination water temp/oil pressure gauge front and center, and the Pontiac “Tic-Toc Tach” with integrated clock – and the iconic Formula steering wheel. Best dash/wheel combo in American motoring history, don’t @me.
https://hagerty-media-prod.imgix.net/2024/06/Pontiac-Firebird-Buyers-Guide-23.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&ixlib=php-3.3.0
The exhaust splitters out back. Bonus: snowflake wheels.
https://oldcarmemories.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/2nd-gen-trans-am-5.jpg
And the 1970-73 “split nose” Firebirds not only have my favorite F-body front end, but the best rear view as well.
https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/1973-pontiac-firebird-rear-34-661aa0831147b.jpg?crop=0.943758067490319xw:1xh;center,top&resize=980:*
Oh, I almost forgot: the fender-top flares on the C3 Corvette, which is still the very sexiest body style ever made by an American automaker –
(draws sword with an overdone post-production “shing” sound)
– AND ANY MAN WHO SAYS OTHERWISE MAY COME AND CONTEND HIS ASSERTION ON THE FIELD OF HONOR.
Unpainted bumpers. Plastic or metal varieties are both fine.
Mine are more like anti-features I guess… round headlights (preferably standard sealed beams), naked steelies (no hubcaps, preferably unpainted) and non-integrated bumpers. I also love the perceived rugged looks of plastic cladding. I know I’m stuck in the past in terms of automotive design, but I can’t help it. There are so very few cars designed after the 1980s that I find truly beautiful. The only “modern” car I truly love may be the pre-2014 Toyota Probox (what an adequately named car!)
Oh shit I forgot the heckblende! And louvers!
I love the Alfa Montreal hood and headlights combination.
I still can’t get over the name. It should’ve included a period-correct CHOM Radio front plate and Parc Safari bumper sticker on every one.
The styling cue that changed forever how I look at an exterior was the Mako Shark II. There was just something visceral about it that hit my child brain as non-verbal FEELINGS.
Some cars just sort of make me point and smile and grunt. It’s all I can manage.
Hideaway headlites. My favorite …65 Buick Riviera. Close 2nd NA Miata.
* Mud-friendly ribbed taillights on 1970s-1980s Benzes
* Gullwings except Tesla’s
* A wing big enough to double as a picnic table (Plymouth, NSX)
* Popup headlights
* Citroen flagships (SM, CX, XM)
* 1970s-1980s shark face BMW grilles (5, 6, and 7 series)
* Fancy hood ornaments
* Two-tone paint
* A very long hood with the cabin set far back (I.e. the roadster look, like the R107 or the BMW shoe)
I can second every single one of these. Two-tone paint schemes have made something of a comeback for some European brands, but it’s not the same thing as the old stuff.
Round tail lights. Just like God intended.
The tail end of the 63-1/2 Galaxy 500 Sport Roof. 2 big round taillights w/ the fender contour that matched them. My neighbor had one in 64’or 65 for a cup of coffee. Champagne Rose w/ white contour bucket seats and 4.11 rear gears behind a triple Duce 390. And an open diff that was a one wheel peel for as long as you held your foot down. He traded the intake for a single 4 BBL from another guy’s similar 427.
Small, but I like it – the vertical headlight area ridges on Mustangs.
Depending on the year, they move around in position, and more current ones are lit up, but they’re a lesser but still sharp bit of classic Mustang styling.
I always have a soft spot for twin round headlights
I’m going with the pop up headlights on 68-82 c3 corvettes.
I love the vestigal tailfin creases on later-60s American and Japanese cars. Just a nice bit of frippery that goes nicely with skinny ties and sharkskin suits.
The gentle downward curves on the Mecedes pagoda-roof vehicles, the early years.
I love fins. Sue me. I also adore the malaise 70s. Everyone hates what I love. Shrug.
Not everybody! Always wanted a 2 door 1959 Cadillac Series 62 convertible, 18+ feet of it.
When I was a bowl-cut little kid in the 70s, our neighbor across the street drove a 1976 Buick Riviera exactly like the one pictured. I don’t care who you are or what you like, that was one damned handsome car.
https://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/1976_buick_riviera_DSC_0005-37606-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C1367
Definitely not everyone!
Fins are the best. From the gorgeous and somewhat subtle P-38 lightning inspired fins on the late 40’s Cadillacs to the kick-ass ginormous rocket-age late 50’s creations of Earl and Exner (and yes, I’m aware of Harley’s distaste for the masterpiece backend of the ’59 Caddy), fins are far and away my favorite iconic feature on an automobile.
I’m also a lifelong fan of big lazy malaise cruisers. There’s nothing quite like the luxurious feeling of sitting on a big plush couch, seeing a road way out in the front of an acre of shiny metal yet not having any real connection to it as one floats through the surrounding environment sucking down 10 or 11 gallons of gasoline every single mile. B’bump… what was that? Squirrel, cat, dog, deer? Only the p235 75R 15 whitewalls know for sure.
I’ll keep it simple, regular sized wheels with reasonable sidewall.
Let’s say 17’s or smaller is ideal.
Speaking of tires: raised white letters. Come on, man, where did white letter tires go? About a decade ago when my 1992 Club Wagon XLT needed new tires, I found out that General made a tire that was not only a good bargain for the category, but it was also available with raised white letters.
I did the right thing.
I salute you sir, I have not seen many white letters in years. Had them on my ’89 Cherokee 2+ decades ago.
There’s always the paint marker approach, if you need white letters sooner than you need new tires. Yellow lettering looks good on some, too – as in, I can dig it.
But I couldn’t be bothered to do so for myself, ever.
I am a big fan of the whole rounded, smooth, bubble fender 50-70s sports car look. From classic Ferraris to my Spitfire, that Italianate style just does it for me. And covered faired-in headlights ala the Series 1 E-type and non-US Datsun 240Z – swoon.
Also, classic, no-bullshit German car styling. Plain and unadorned like the w124 (the most rational car ever designed, IMHO), or with just a little bit of adornment ala the w123. Think 70s-90s BMWs and Mercedes. Or even a MK1-4 VW Golf. Perfection. Then Bangle had to mangle it all, and everybody in the world thought that crap was a GREAT idea for some reason. Sigh. I have to think that the light-up grills and stars and droopy butts on current Mercedes have Bruno Sacco whirling in his grave. Soooo tacky, and a Mercedes should never, ever be tacky.
Sacco tarnished his own legacy by going all Bangle in his final years. Very sad.
I love the coke bottle shape that gm gave the A-bodys in 68-72, and the tunneled rear windows on the 66-67 A-body cars with the flying buttresses.
The little ‘duck tail’ spoilers that BMWs and Audis (and boy racers) had in the 80s
Honorable mention… double blade windshield wipers
Stacked headlights on 1960s Pontiacs.
The coves on Corvettes 1956-1962, and the split window on 1963 models.
Horse collar grill on Edsels. Everytime I see one I can hear Jimmy Durante saying, “Dis is my schnozola!”