Have you ever walked around the parking lot of your grocery store, and saw that all the cars looked shockingly similar? Hundreds of SUVs, sedans, and minivans; painted in the same set of colors, silver, white, and black. Sometimes, you catch a couple luxury cars in flashy, vibrant colors. However, the average consumer wouldn’t be able to afford anything like that.
If your answer is yes, you wouldn’t be the only person to think so. The cars that are seen nowadays follow a conformed trend in styling, but they were not always the case. During the 1950s, especially in the United States, vehicle appearances differed drastically. Older vehicles were often long, commonly compared to boats. To compensate for the large size, they were often equipped with large, heavy engines, which would provide the power needed to drive them. They also came in bright colors. Vehicles such as the Dodge Charger or the Chevrolet Bel-Air had bright orange, green and light blue as a factory color option. These bright colors would stand out themselves in traffic, making them appear as pieces of art. This provides sentimental value to the drivers, giving more value and meaning when owning a vehicle.
Unfortunately, this would abruptly halt in the 1970s, with the tragic Oil Crisis. Due to a huge shortage in fossil fuels, gasoline became very scarce. Considering that the engines inside the vehicles at the time needed ample amounts of gasoline to fuel the vehicles, it was obvious that changes needed to be made in favor of fuel efficiency. The answer to this problem was the humble Honda Civic: a small, subcompact Japanese vehicle that used a smaller, more efficient engine, in favor of city commuting. When it arrived in American markets, it was extremely successful. Not only was it efficient, it was also much cheaper than the average American-made vehicle at the time.
Additionally during this time, vehicles were also extremely unsafe. Vehicles made by General Motors during the 1970s resisted adding any safety features, with poor production quality. This issue was written in a book by Ralph Nader, titled “Unsafe at Any Speed.”
Consumers opted for more fuel-efficient vehicles from that point on; car companies would try to maximize fuel efficiency by designing their vehicles in favor of good aerodynamics, compromising unique body shaping. This prioritization of functionality would mean that companies would become lazier with the appearance of their vehicles. Take the Ferrari F80, a vehicle that struck controversy from the car community for lazier design from its predecessor, the LaFerrari.
However, these companies would also try to cut costs on paint. Colorful paint seen in older vehicles was expensive to produce, so cars would be offered in cheaper, more simple colors. This is where you would see all the silver, white, and black paint from. Other companies would follow suit, where gradually, vehicles would appear like one another. As cars look more of the same, their once unique presences become the norm in our everyday lives.
To this day, this debate is still stirred in the conversations of many. Though this topic isn’t particularly noteworthy to some, it is still fascinating to see how us humans are able to evolve arguably one of mankind’s greatest inventions.
