Posted by Eric B. [99.100.188.129] on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 10:56:48 :
In Reply to: ot --american cars posted by clueless [201.202.29.210] on Saturday, November 22, 2014 at 09:17:50 :
If we drove cars in a vacuum they could be any shape we wanted, but here on earth the ideal shape for a car is determined by the flow of air over the car at speed. Take a box full of people, luggage, and propulsion equipment and then try and make an esthetically pleasing shell for it that also allows for good fuel economy as well as easy production in mass quantities. That is what a modern car designer does and since the laws of physics they are working with are universal and the various companies production methods are the same the world over everyone makes cars that look the same.
There have been lots of unique designs in the last decade from various car companies, but the genric sedan is the nearly the same as everyone is trying to maximize the qualities that all the buyers are looking for (comfort, fuel economy, reliability, price, etc) which only allows for minor variations on a theme. Even the new all aluminum F150 doesn't look that different.
Maybe someday we will have new materials and new propulsion methods that will change the shape of cars, but for now being unique has a cost and not enough people are willing to pay that cost.
Eric
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