Automotive designs in 2033? What to expect?

I'm wondering what anyone here might think styling will be like in 20 years? If you look 20 years ago designers were really stepping up the aero look. But compare a 1993 Civic with today's and you should see the aero-improvement. Comparing the 1993 Civic with a 1983 Civic and you can see the big aerodynamic jump in just 10 years.

My rambling is really a rant. In my commute the cars I see are all starting to look the same. I can't tell a Honda from a Toyota from a Mazda from...

I'm hoping that in 20 more years my commute won't consist of the occasional ancient car (like a 1987 CRX I might be driving) and then a bunch of Eggs with stickers on them to let everyone know which brand it is. Look at NASCAR today.

Excuse the rambling rant...I just got to work and need more coffee...

stan wrote: My rambling is really a rant. In my commute the cars I see are all starting to look the same. I can't tell a Honda from a Toyota from a Mazda from...

See, I don't think that at all. I think styling hit a high point between about 1998-2003. Then people started to complain that "all cars looked the same", which provoked the outburst of hideousness that plagued most cars in the second half of the aughties. We're just now starting to recover from the devastation wreaked in the name of making cars look "different" at all costs.

Like this except it will fold up into a wallet like George Jetson's did.

Who knows, it's all up to fashion, there's no way to tell. The only thing you might be able to plot is the future size of cars based on materials. The size of cars changes depending on the rate of advancement of cheap high-strength materials vs. ever-increasing safety regulations. The materials have been losing over the last couple of decades.

Watch for a big change in batteries/power supplies. I don't know if it will happen in 5 years or 500 years, but when it does, E36 M3 is gonna start looking like Star Wars. In my mind, that's what is keeping us from making crazy space aged things, is the lack of a very powerful, yet very small power supply. It'll make things like mag lifts and other far fetched ideas reasonable for cars/aircrafts. (I know mag lifts are used in trains, but they are connected to the grid, I'm talking about non-tethered power supplies.)

I expect to see more and more safety added to the car. Both for the occupants, but also for those the car could run into. EU is currently leading the charge on this, which is already greatly influencing body lines.

This will push more bulbus lines and reduce sharp edges.

Fuel economy demands will continue to increase, so I expect this will cause further streamlining.

I also expect to see stronger push for a car that goes for years without service. So I expect to see less accessability and repairability.

So I rather expect cars to look more and more Ford Taurus like by then. Styling wise, I suspect that car was decades ahead of its time.

Lets see if this helps, take the history of any car that has been made for a while and extrapolate the curve. Here is a series of ten year jumps for one model.

Based on this set of data points not a lot is going to be different in 20 years.

In reply to NOHOME:

One of those is not like the other...

Javelin wrote: In reply to NOHOME: One of those is not like the other...

I don't claim to be a Mustang expert

RossD wrote: Watch for a big change in batteries/power supplies... In my mind, that's what is keeping us from making crazy space aged things, is the lack of a very powerful, yet very small power supply...

I agree 100% If we can solve that problem there's almost no limit to what is achievable. However, I have this nagging feeling that cars are going to get a whole lot smaller on average. I predict more bicycles in major cities to combat "peak car". What will they look like? No idea.

stan wrote: I'm wondering what anyone here might think styling will be like in 20 years? If you look 20 years ago designers were really stepping up the aero look. But compare a 1993 Civic with today's and you should see the aero-improvement. Comparing the 1993 Civic with a 1983 Civic and you can see the big aerodynamic jump in just 10 years. My rambling is really a rant. In my commute the cars I see are all starting to look the same. I can't tell a Honda from a Toyota from a Mazda from... I'm hoping that in 20 more years my commute won't consist of the occasional ancient car (like a 1987 CRX I might be driving) and then a bunch of Eggs with stickers on them to let everyone know which brand it is. Look at NASCAR today. Excuse the rambling rant...I just got to work and need more coffee...

Looking at it through the right set of eyes, any group of cars from any era all kind of look the same. Welcome to the future. We've always been here.

stan wrote: My rambling is really a rant. In my commute the cars I see are all starting to look the same.

Cars have always looked like other cars of their era. There was less difference between a '30 Ford and '30 Chevy than there are between even two Fords today.

Shared styling cues are what lests us tell what era a car is from, even if we dont' know the car in question. '30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s doesnt' matter. With few exceptions, the cars of each era shared styling cues. I could posta picture of a part of a car and you'd know what era it was from even if you couldn't identify the car itself, be it a GM, Ford, Mopar, AMC, Mercedes, BMW, Toyota, etc.

You know what era this car is from.

Same with this one:

And this one:

I've been hearing the "all cars are starting to look the same" for the past 40 years. They really are, and they aren't, all at the same time. Whether you can tell them apart at a glance is down to if you are interested in the cars of that era. And it sounds like you are simply not interested in new cars. Nothing wrong with that, but those of us interested in new cars can tell the differences at a glance.

Hehehehe... just a short threadjack... do to all the brands looking alike...

New rules for 2013 have the NASCRAP boys now having different front noses again. Still stickers for the most part... but the actual nose shapes are now different among all the different makes........

threadjack and this NASCRAP moment now over... return your seats to their upright position

This is a concept from 1993. That is really all I have to say.

oldeskewltoy wrote: New rules for 2013 have the NASCRAP boys now having different front noses again. Still stickers for the most part... but the actual nose shapes are now different among all the different makes........

Noses, hoods, tails, and the sides are sculpted, too.

Of course, with the paint jobs and numbers all over them, it's hard to make out the differences even if they were completely stock.

Hmm... at my current driving habits, in 2033 my TDi will be approaching a million miles...

I generally agree cars will probably be more aerodynamic and tear-drop shaped, but in reality who knows where the whims of fashion will take us.

NOHOME wrote:

Javelin wrote: In reply to NOHOME: One of those is not like the other...

I don't claim to be a Mustang expert

I wasn't talking about the car...

(Shirtless MAN!?!?!?! )

In reply to Javelin:

When I first glanced at the front plate of the '74 with the woman on the hood, I thought it said "74 SKANK"...

Alan Cesar wrote:

stan wrote: I'm wondering what anyone here might think styling will be like in 20 years? If you look 20 years ago designers were really stepping up the aero look. But compare a 1993 Civic with today's and you should see the aero-improvement. Comparing the 1993 Civic with a 1983 Civic and you can see the big aerodynamic jump in just 10 years. My rambling is really a rant. In my commute the cars I see are all starting to look the same. I can't tell a Honda from a Toyota from a Mazda from... I'm hoping that in 20 more years my commute won't consist of the occasional ancient car (like a 1987 CRX I might be driving) and then a bunch of Eggs with stickers on them to let everyone know which brand it is. Look at NASCAR today. Excuse the rambling rant...I just got to work and need more coffee...

Looking at it through the right set of eyes, any group of cars from any era all kind of look the same. Welcome to the future. We've always been here.

A CHALLENGER APPEARS!!!

There wasn't much that looked like this unless you looked within the same marque.

Nothing will ever be so beautiful again.

Javelin wrote:

NOHOME wrote:

Javelin wrote: In reply to NOHOME: One of those is not like the other...

I don't claim to be a Mustang expert

I wasn't talking about the car... (Shirtless MAN!?!?!?! )

There's a "One of these things is not like the other" in there with the cars as well.

Except this one is FUNNY AS HELL and is just a joke i tend to tease people with who own stangs of that vintage.

WAY FUNNY to see it in picture form in the middle of this thread.

Hey here's one thing you can expect: Shorter hoods. In the future most cars will be EVs and there will be no need for so much hood length.

Some modern cars like recent Civics are trying to get the short-hood advantages with an ICE by simply not leaving any room whatsoever around the engine.

IMO the biggest deal isn't the styling, its that we won't be driving them. Human-piloted cars will be like manual transmissions now - an artifact of cantankerous luddites. Furthermore the safety nazis will try to make it illegal to drive your own car, citing statistics showing the inherent superiority of the computers. Signs will be seen stating "if drivers are outlawed, only outlaws will drive". And "You can take my steering wheel from my cold, dead hands". Arnold Schwarzenegger clones will prowl the streets looking for Telltale driving shoes......

kreb wrote: IMO the biggest deal isn't the styling, its that we won't be driving them. Human-piloted cars will be like manual transmissions now - an artifact of cantankerous luddites. Furthermore the safety nazis will try to make it illegal to drive your own car, citing statistics showing the inherent superiority of the computers. Signs will be seen stating "if drivers are outlawed, only outlaws will drive". And "You can take my steering wheel from my cold, dead hands". Arnold Schwarzenegger clones will prowl the streets looking for Telltale driving shoes......

"...Commerce is our goal here...More human than human is our motto"

I don't know about '33 but in 2505, clearly, it will be this: