Copycat automotive design.

[peteski]

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,

[vintagerpm]

22 hours ago, SCRWDRVR said:

That would be exactly why when I was young we always called the Opel a poor mans Corvette....

The Opel GT was supposed to look like the Vette.

[JollySipper]

You can see more than just a little '62 Olds Starfire in the front end of a '68 Thunderbird.....

 

[webestang]

On 4/3/2022 at 11:03 AM, iamsuperdan said:

Opel GT

C3 Corvette.

A friend in high-school (1982) had a Opel GT that had "SM VET" on his personal plates. LOL

[webestang]

On 4/2/2022 at 5:07 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

 

3. Who copied who? 78 Challenger and 79 Mustang. 

 

Did you know the Dodge was based on a Mitsubishi Galant Lambda from 1976. BTW the Dodge was a late response to the Mustang II. First time I have seen it compared to the Fox Mustang, interesting. 

https://www.dodgegarage.com/news/article/heritage/2021/03/the-forgotten-challenger-1978-dodge-challenger.html

[sfhess]

20 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

The 1964- Imperial owes a lot to the 1961 Imperial, but they were designed by the same person.

That's a 65 imperial.  Here is a 64:

[Richard Bartrop]

L-29 Cord

1931 Imperial

[Richard Bartrop]

That should have been 1964-66 Imperial.  Anyway, I think your reply button is stuck.

[Chuckyg1]

55Chevy, 59 Holden

[sfhess]

4 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

That should have been 1964-66 Imperial.  Anyway, I think your reply button is stuck.

Oh wow.  Can one of the admins please remove the duplicate posts?

[Smoke Wagon]

1 hour ago, sfhess said:

Oh wow.

Lol.

 

[slusher]

On 4/3/2022 at 10:43 AM, espo said:

Anyone else ever notice the front end of a 1960 Edsel and think of a 1959 Pontiac? 

That’s a great point..

[Richard Bartrop]

Or for that matter, anyone look at the 1956 Packard Predictor front and think '60s Pontiac?

[Oldcarfan27]

On 4/3/2022 at 4:36 PM, Richard Bartrop said:

The 1964- Imperial owes a lot to the 1961 Imperial, but they were designed by the same person.

I think you meant 61 Lincoln. Otherwise, I would GUARANTEE the 64 Imperial owes it's existence to the 61 Imperial! One had to lead to the other.

[Richard Bartrop]

Yes, I did indeed mean the 1961 Lincoln

 

[Oldcarfan27]

1 hour ago, Richard Bartrop said:

Or for that matter, anyone look at the 1956 Packard Predictor front and think '60s Pontiac?

Actually, I see a LOT of 58 Edsel in the front. 

And some Lincoln Continental in the back.

[Oldcarfan27]

On 4/3/2022 at 1:00 AM, ChrisBcritter said:

Out of left field, perhaps, but I always thought there was a little Avanti influence in the final ('90-'92) Olds Toronado Troféo:

Which was partly why I bought a used Troféo about 25 years ago.

Personally, I find that Jensen took a few liberties from the Avanti when designing their Interceptor. 

[Oldcarfan27]

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.

[Snake45]

I always thought the '63-'65 Riviera was one of the most influential designs of all time. 

The roof--there was nothing else like it in '63--showed up on the '64-'65 GM A-body 2-doors, and then on the '66-'67 Nova hardtops. 

The front fender tips were copied on the '67 Impala, and to a lesser degree the '68, and then on the '68-72 Nova. 

And these were all great looking cars! 

[iamsuperdan]

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...

 

 

 

Can...open. 

Worms...everywhere...

?

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'd just like to see a design for ANYTHING that doesn't borrow from something that went before it.

Let's get real.

"Good artists copy; great artists steal." 

https://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/03/06/artists-steal/

Edited April 5, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[Raoul Ross]

On 4/3/2022 at 5:45 PM, Oldcarfan27 said:

Another case of "If you're gonna rob a bank - why not rob Fort Knox!"

FWIR the guy who designed the 944 for Porsche went to Mazda and helped with the RX-7 Gen2 design.

[Ace-Garageguy]

 

When I designed this...

...my inspiration was this...

[espo]

16 hours ago, Chuckyg1 said:

55Chevy, 59 Holden

I'm seeing a lot of interesting comparisons here, but I wanted to remark on the subject you brought up, I agree and think that a part of that may have to do with Holden being a part of GM. Beyond that something I noticed looking at the Holden is the headlights.  The headlights seem to have the shape of a '57 Chevrolet and the front bumper guards and grill look like they could be based on a '55 Chevrolet passenger car along with the general shape of the parking lights if they weren't in the grill area.  

[Oldcarfan27]

35 minutes ago, Raoul Ross said:

FWIR the guy who designed the 944 for Porsche went to Mazda and helped with the RX-7 Gen2 design.

If that's true, the guy has a limited palette.

Reminds me of the Brady Bunch movie, where every building Mike Brady designs ends up looking like the BB house!