What Current Vehicles On the Road Can You Identify at a Glance?

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dibbons

dibbons

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No fair including vehicles you have driven and are familiar with. The one that always stands out for me is the Honda Element (models years were 2003-2011. Most of the other makes and models look the same to me.

element.jpeg
 
Current? Almost none. When I was growing up, damn near everything! Funny I was just talking about this very topic a few days back. Now there are so many manufacturers there is no chance. Back then, the big three ruled the roads and we knew all the signal, tail, marker and headlights! It was mandatory, as we may have wanted to know if it was the law ahead of behind us!
 
gdrill said:
as we may have wanted to know if it was the law ahead of behind
Click to expand...

I had some acquaintances that worked at a Chevron station across town that did the service on the local CHP cruisers. While in for service the right side headlamp adjuster got a little tweak in a skyward fashion :rolleyes: . It was pretty easy to pick those Dodge, Plymouth, Mercurys out at night :rofl:
 
Today's cars are the most boring, nondescript, "aerodynamic" POS's ever made. In "exciting" shades of white, silver or black.
They all copied each other with this aerodynamic shape BS to get better gas mileage. You can't tell who just beeped their horn to say hi, because besides all looking the same, the windshield slope creates a glare that makes the driver undetectable.
They all want to save the earth with the aero shape, but then they came out with that Element POS that cuts through the wind like a brick.
Yes, in the 60's and 70's, you could even tell what kind of car they were in the dark! A lot of times you could even tell them by their sound.
Just wait though, in the not-too-far future, they'll design them like they used to, and they'll claim a "revolutionary design".
The only cars that are exciting, are too expensive for the average consumer. (Challenger, Charger, Mustang, Camaro. Foreign cars are another story.) And, TOO complicated!
 
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Through the 50/60's I could recognize any at a glance, today I can't and don't want to, they are lifeless hunks of metal. The muscle efforts from the big three are well done ONLY because they had 50 year old pattern to work off of. Engineers designing car instead of designers ??
 
The current Dodge Challenger comes to mind. I recognize them immediately. I used to be able to identify Dodge Ram pickups instantly by their shape, but then everyone started copying it and that got a lot harder. From the front the distinctive grill continued to give them away from quite a ways off, but then in what can only be described as a major corporate stupid attack the geniuses at Chrysler replaced it with the current RAM scripted grill which I barely recognize as a Chrysler product even when I'm standing right next to one.
 
Quite a few of them, I would as soon NOT identify..............
 
Challengers, Chargers, Camaros, Mustangs, most Jeeps. Don't really give a damn about anything else.

In light of current world events, I will be looking for the pro-American bumper stickers for all my rides like you used to see in the 70's and 80's. Like:

Out of a job? Keep buying foreign!
Hungry? Eat your foreign car!
 
HHR, PT Cruiser.
Go to the different factories and just look at the bare chassis.
Every one is almost identical.
 
The Juke...that's a weird car. I saw a Lexus ES350 that looked just like the BMW next to it at a light. They all have the high short trunk. I look down the back of the cars at the junk yards to ID them now, all the fronts look the same.
 
I don't really pay much attention to the cookie cutter cars today. The only ones I really look at is the later 300s to see what options have been added.
 
Demonic said:
Challengers, Chargers, Camaros, Mustangs, most Jeeps. Don't really give a damn about anything else.

In light of current world events, I will be looking for the pro-American bumper stickers for all my rides like you used to see in the 70's and 80's. Like:

Out of a job? Keep buying foreign!
Hungry? Eat your foreign car!
Click to expand...

Better get it right, because a lot of those "foreign cars" have more US made/assembled parts and put more Americans to work than the "American cars"
https://www.cars.com/articles/cars-coms-2019-american-made-index-whats-the-most-american-car-404547/

"Most American" cars listed by these considerations-
  • The final-assembly location
  • The origin of parts in the car as reported for the American Automobile Labeling Act
  • The origin country (or countries) for its engines
  • The origin country (or countries) for transmissions
  • The number of Americans its parent automaker employs at the factory level
1. Jeep Cherokee
Assembled in Belvidere, Ill.

2. Honda Odyssey
Assembled in Lincoln, Ala.

3. Honda Ridgeline
Assembled in Lincoln, Ala.

4. Honda Passport
Assembled in Lincoln, Ala.

5. Chevrolet Corvette
Assembled in Bowling Green, Ky.

6. Acura MDX
Assembled in East Liberty, Ohio

7. Honda Pilot
Assembled in Lincoln, Ala.

8. Chevrolet Colorado
Assembled in Wentzville, Mo.

9. GMC Canyon
Assembled in Wentzville, Mo.

10. Acura RDX
Assembled in East Liberty, Ohio

11. Chevrolet Camaro
Assembled in Lansing, Mich.

12. Toyota Avalon
Assembled in Georgetown, Ky.

13. Ford F-150
Assembled in Claycomo, Mo., and Dearborn, Mich.

14. Honda Accord
Assembled in Marysville, Ohio

15. Toyota Tundra
Assembled in San Antonio
 
Not many and that makes me happy.
 
Challenger's-Camaro's-Mustangs, and Corvette's until the new design. Most new cars look like copies of others.
 
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