Icons and Legacy

This may be a subject that only resonates with myself alone, or maybe I'm not alone in feeling this way.  I find the appeal for me when looking at a car, truck, even a motorcycle comes from the way the car is designed in relation to it's body.  Let me explain, you take a car like the Ford Mustang, undoubtedly one of the greatest vehicles ever produced and look at it, and I mean really look at it. It's a very pretty car.  We're not talking about how much Ford produced over so many years, or how it compares to its contemporaries, but when you think of a muscle car the Mustang is one that pops into your head.  Let's use the 1968 Coupe as an example: 





That is a pretty lady.

 

It's easy to see where the appeal is in a vehicle such as the '68 Mustang. It's iconic, the shape and body style are almost instantly recognizable, and it's a car that most people are familiar with regardless of age. I have a friend whose son is only five years old and that kid can tell you the year of a Mustang just by looking at it. He's not usually exact (though sometimes he is), but he can tell a 60's and 70's era Mustang from any other body style. My point is that the Mustang held a place in the minds of people all over the country. Besides it's superb performance it was a car that looked unique among the competition of the age.



You've got alot to live up to junior.



Now we take a look at the 1998 Ford Mustang.  I know I can't be the only person that dislikes this body style, and to be prefectly honest I don't understand what Ford was going for when they brought out this line of cars.  The power and performance are there? Check. Dependable? Check. (If you took care of them) Looks good? Not so much, sorry.  It's a far cry from the elegant style of the 1960's and 1970's.  In recent years Ford has reliezed, much like Chevy and Dodge, that to take a iconic car like this and escew the image in such a dramatic fashion does not play out well for car enthusist.  I'm not saying it's a bad all around car, if they had sold it with a different name they might have done well. It's not like they could have said it was the new Mavrick, that lemon left a bad taste in alot of peoples mouths. 

My point here is this: in this day and age where carbon fiber and light weight alloys can be molded to look just damned near anything, why is it such a crime to model a modern car in the skin of it's iconic ancestor?  Many would see it as a slap to the face of car lovers that have maintanded and kept their 60's and 70's model cars alive and running this long. I for one would not; it would be a great way to reach back and give thanks and praise to the cars that made collecting and working on cars cool in the first place.  You may not agree with me, and that's ok. It doesn't change the fact that there are many that do, and we cry out for a vision of days passed.