Copycat automotive design.

Fabrux · April 5, 2022

1966 Studebaker

1967 Chevy trucks

Bedford CF

Edited April 5, 2022 by Fabrux

sfhess · April 5, 2022

11 hours ago, Oldcarfan27 said:

Nova and Rambler?

In fact, I've thought about buying a Rambler and taking it to shows to see how many people think it is a Nova.

65 Dart/ 65 Rambler American

sfhess · April 5, 2022

70 Pontiac/ current BMW 4-series

Lunajammer · April 5, 2022

Edited April 5, 2022 by Lunajammer

Snake45 · April 5, 2022

Ford stole the late '67 GT350 front end for the '69 Mustang.

AMC stole the '71-'74 Javelin front end from the '69 Shelby.

lordairgtar · April 5, 2022

On 4/3/2022 at 12:11 PM, The Junkman said:

Then there was early '80's chic.

https://blog.consumerguide.com/high-end-haunches-luxury-bustlebacks-1982/

I recall at the time someone noted the resemblance of the bustle back to the classic Rolls Royce design to one of the designers. His response was to the effect that if you're going to steal, steal from the best.

I do currently own a 1980 Seville. I really do like the bustle back styling of it. Mine's a diesel.

keyser · April 5, 2022

Warn us if you post a current BMW 3/4. I threw up in my mouth.

peteski · April 6, 2022

10 hours ago, iamsuperdan said:

A lot of this is just styling tastes at the time.

I mean, we could take the brush and do some broad stroke painting here...

?

I mentioned the same exact thing 18 posts earlier. :blink:

keyser · April 6, 2022

1 minute ago, peteski said:

I mentioned the same exact thing 18 posts earlier.

That never happens here.

iamsuperdan · April 6, 2022

3 minutes ago, peteski said:

I mentioned the same exact thing 18 posts earlier.

2 minutes ago, keyser said:

That never happens here.

Yeah, but I added a pic. ?

tim boyd · April 6, 2022

On 4/4/2022 at 5:38 AM, peteski said:

While I'm sure there is a lot of industrial spying and copycatting happening in the automotive industry, I'm pretty sure that some of the similar designs happen independently, just following the general design trends of the time. Also, some of the similarities shown here, are in the eye of the beholder. Yes, they are similar, but IMO not close enough to be considered as a copycat designs,

To add and build on Pete's comments....most people do not realize that most future car designs are locked in about three years before the car hits the market. Thus, the 1979 Mustang design studio work was done and complete at least a year or more before the 1978 Dodge/Mitsuibishi Challenger hit the market. Same thing with the 1981 Chrysler Imperial vs. 1980 Cadillac Seville. Sure, there was some industrial spying going on, and competitors probably knew to some extent what the other manufacturers had planned as the production dates grew near, but not soon enough to influence the designs of their own products that would debut around the same time as their competitors' offerings.

BTW, the example at the begining of this thread of the 1970 Chevelle front end being better matched to the 1971 rear end, and vice versa, is spot in in my book. And also, keep in mind that Bill Mitchell often mixed and matched work from all his studios into the final designs of his cars, meaning that one studio's theme could end up on another brand's production cars. Still, he had very good taste in design (at least into the very early 1970's), so some of the examples cited in this thread are a bit of a head scratcher...

TB

sfhess · April 6, 2022

34 minutes ago, tim boyd said:

Thus, the 1979 Mustang design studio work was done and complete at least a year or more before the 1978 Dodge/Mitsuibishi Challenger hit the market.

The 79 Celica was facelifted in the same genre, adapting to the rectangular headlights.

GLMFAA1 · April 6, 2022

One that looks like a stolen clone: Lotus Elan and Mazda Miata

Years ago, when I was in college, I had an Industrial designer instructor that worked in various Detroit automotive design centers that said the designers went back and forth between the companies. He made his point by showing the 'Coke' bottle sides of the 60's Ford and Pontiacs. He stated that a lot of them experimented with drugs to get ideas.

greg