How much of that design Ethos was also a limitation of the engineering and tools of the time?
It was easy to design cars with very simple surfaces when you were working off of tape drawings and drafting tables. The tools couldn’t form such complex sheet metal, and the engineers certainly had issues designing and molding such complex parts.
I can’t find the article, but I remember reading a story on the side vents of the CTS, where they talked about how challenging it was to stamp the side vent detail where they have these 3 creases coming together.
It’s a rather nice detail IMO, but it’s one that wouldn’t have necessarily been possible without break thoughs in the engineering and tooling.
So when we go back to the mid 80’s and say “this is what all cars looked like” how much of it was due to the fact that they couldn’t build a car like this, so why would they design it?
Designers should be there to push the limits…if in 30 years we’re still designing cars that look like they came out of a sketchbook from the early 90’s whats the point?
I think BMW and Audi are doing the best job of keeping their designs as a tightly knit family. Look at some of the monstrosities Porsche has created recently…compare a 6 series Gran Coupe to a Panamera and that difference should be clear.