I was looking through these pictures I took from 1994, and anything outside (i.e. from parking lots) could probably pass for today. The main difference was alot more blocky-styled '80s cars around. I'd say it was half and half, whereas now it's maybe 1-2 out of 10. The current models from then still look pretty modern (today's cars are just slightly more rounded, but nothing majorly different).

I'm surprised how fast the Chevy Caprice changed. I googled some images, and all the '80s models are that totally classic, boxy look with square headlights and all. The 1991 ones are suddenly rounded - in fact I think those are still used as police vehicles. Another differentiating thing is, most cars after the early '90s don't even have real bumpers, lol. You know, where they're painted the same color as the car so it blends in (old school cars have the uglier but safer bumpers with actual metal).

Just thought this was cool, as this is one respect where the '90s still look newish. :)

I was looking through these pictures I took from 1994, and anything outside (i.e. from parking lots) could probably pass for today. The main difference was alot more blocky-styled '80s cars around. I'd say it was half and half, whereas now it's maybe 1-2 out of 10. The current models from then still look pretty modern (today's cars are just slightly more rounded, but nothing majorly different).

I'm surprised how fast the Chevy Caprice changed. I googled some images, and all the '80s models are that totally classic, boxy look with square headlights and all. The 1991 ones are suddenly rounded - in fact I think those are still used as police vehicles. Another differentiating thing is, most cars after the early '90s don't even have real bumpers, lol. You know, where they're painted the same color as the car so it blends in (old school cars have the uglier but safer bumpers with actual metal).

Just thought this was cool, as this is one respect where the '90s still look newish. :)



Yeah, the newer cars in the mid '90s actually do look alot like newer cars from today, whereas a car from llike just 5 years earlier looks way more 'classic'.

About what you were saying about how a picture from 1994 could pass for today. I noticed that too. It's weird how a picture from just 3 or 4 years earlier looks pretty old(to me at least), but when I look at a picture from the mid '90s(outdoors at least) it looks pretty new.

I drive a '96 Dodge Intrepid. It's starting to look a bit outdated, particularly as the Intrepid was restyled once for '99 before they stopped making it a few years later, but it certainly doesn't stick out the way a car from '86 would have in '96.

The first half of the 90's was when most cars transitioned from the squarish 80's look to the jellybean-ish 90's look, starting with the Caprice in '91 and filtering down to economy cars like the Chevy Cavalier and Ford Escort over the next five years.

Over the past couple of years, a lot of mid-size cars seem to have changed into a hybrid between the jellybean look and the squarish look......the Chevy Malibu, Ford Five Hundred, Toyota Camry, etc. Economy cars have gotten VERY boxy, look at the Ford Focus.

^ I agree. Do you happen to know if the Caprice was the first car to become rounded? It's just astonishing how the 1991 models are contrasted with just a couple years before. I wonder if it was a grand strategy to start building cars that way or if it was sudden, just because it happened so fast.



Yeah, the newer cars in the mid '90s actually do look alot like newer cars from today, whereas a car from llike just 5 years earlier looks way more 'classic'.

About what you were saying about how a picture from 1994 could pass for today. I noticed that too. It's weird how a picture from just 3 or 4 years earlier looks pretty old(to me at least), but when I look at a picture from the mid '90s(outdoors at least) it looks pretty new.

Yeah, I think the '80s look is older than the feel. Like, the music and other pop culture elements make it seem basically around the corner (minus tech, the world in general was almost exactly like today). However, I know a guy with an '84 Cutlass, and as sad as I am to say it, whenever he and I are riding around, I just feel like I'm in this machine out of its time.

During the '90s, cars from the '80s felt a little older and different, but not like relics or anything. I guess 'cause most were new enough to not have a chance to become "run down" yet and all.


BTW, here's a couple of my pics.

The first is some parking spaces from the townhouse complex I lived in at the time:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/old_biff/RiverOaks94.jpg

This is from the parking lot of a supermarket:
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y203/old_biff/FoodSource94.jpg

I drive a '96 Dodge Intrepid. It's starting to look a bit outdated, particularly as the Intrepid was restyled once for '99 before they stopped making it a few years later, but it certainly doesn't stick out the way a car from '86 would have in '96.

The first half of the 90's was when most cars transitioned from the squarish 80's look to the jellybean-ish 90's look, starting with the Caprice in '91 and filtering down to economy cars like the Chevy Cavalier and Ford Escort over the next five years.

The 1993-1997 Nissan Altlima had the 90's classic jelly-bean look to it too. The 1993-1997 Mazda 626 1992-1996 Toyota Camry, and 1990-1993 Honda Accord all had a kind of round shape to them but not jelly-bean shape like the 93-97 Nissan Altima. The 1994-1997 Honda Accord had a Wedge shape to it especially the 94-95 Accord's. The Accord was refreshed for 96. The front of the 96 Accord still retained its wedged shape but the back end was changed to a more square shape design. The Accord went to a more rounded look for 98 ala like the 90-93 Accord.

"Over the past couple of years, a lot of mid-size cars seem to have changed into a hybrid between the jellybean look and the squarish look......the Chevy Malibu, Ford Five Hundred, Toyota Camry, etc.

Cars of the 00's have that slanted back end shape too to them like the 03 Mazda 6, and 02 Nissan Altima.

To quote Marv (Mickey Rourke) from Sin City:

"Modern cars...they all look like electric shavers."  ;D

^ Yeah, I think '90s cars are basically just "older modern models". Of course, the interiors would be a little less advanced: no On-Star, and mostly cassettes instead of CD players (assuming the original stock stereo is still installed), but nothing that different.

Even when I'd watch '80s music videos with a street scene, let's say during the early or mid '90s, it already looked a bit out of place.

^ Yeah that sounds about right. I actually lived in Sacramento for almost six years (Fall '90-Spring '96), but I was always close enough to the Bay Area. That's always been my "home" area. By 1994 or '95, most streets I recall looking almost the same as now, just with more older cars mixed in.

I'll bet the country always has more older models. I also see those in lower income neighborhoods. The other day, when I was walking to the bus stop after work, I thought I'd try and spot all the '80s cars I could. It was around 1 of 8. And even those were probably late '80s like Tauruses, which have a very beginner-round look in a way.

^ Yeah that sounds about right. I actually lived in Sacramento for almost six years (Fall '90-Spring '96), but I was always close enough to the Bay Area. That's always been my "home" area. By 1994 or '95, most streets I recall looking almost the same as now, just with more older cars mixed in.

I'll bet the country always has more older models. I also see those in lower income neighborhoods. The other day, when I was walking to the bus stop after work, I thought I'd try and spot all the '80s cars I could. It was around 1 of 8. And even those were probably late '80s like Tauruses, which have a very beginner-round look in a way.


Yeah...we drive through a lower-income neighborhood for a trip we make every Thursday, and it feels like a trip back in time to the '80s, to a certain degree...you can tell not only from alot of the cars that you see, but also from the signage. When we used to go through areas like that in the late '90s, some of it still looked vaguely '70s.

It seemed like Ford was the first automaker to move towards more rounded off, aerodynamic shapes beginning with the 1983 Thunderbird and, more dramatically, with the 1986 Taurus. The Taurus, IMO, was the car that really set the tone for 90's car design. I can remember how advanced the Taurus looked when they first came out and how much they stood out among the other boxy 80's cars, and it's kind of funny now seeing them all as beaters.

It seemed like Ford was the first automaker to move towards more rounded off, aerodynamic shapes beginning with the 1983 Thunderbird and, more dramatically, with the 1986 Taurus. The Taurus, IMO, was the car that really set the tone for 90's car design. I can remember how advanced the Taurus looked when they first came out and how much they stood out among the other boxy 80's cars, and it's kind of funny now seeing them all as beaters.


Yeah, it is. ;D I'd say it's rare to see a pre-1985 car on the road that isn't beat-up looking, or at least needs a new paint job. By the early '10s, some of the rounded "new" cars will start being like that, which is scary!

Tauruses tend to have alot of problems, so that's part of the reason so many are beaters now. My mom had a '94 Taurus we bought in 1998 and sold last year and it was at the mechanics more than some actual beater cars probably are.

Yes you are right it is strange it's really strange My Father was in England in 1979 And I have A picture of him in Aero car style with aero rounded lamps this car Belongs to Ford but I cannot know What's its Type And many Ford Cars That on the Internet giving you feeling that the aero rounded style begins in 1983 but of course That's Wrong I have Some Evidences that the aero rounded style begin from 1974 or 1975 and Boxy style was common in 1960's and first four years 1970's


Watch Film  THE OMEN 1976         It's release date in 1976 but in fact it much more older   And I will tell you more

I always used to get a kick out of the huge contrast between 80s cars and 90s cars. 80s cars already looked incredibly old fashioned by the 90s. Its crazy how radically they changed in just a few years. It was weird seeing 80s and 90s cars side by side.

When I was a little kid in the 90s, members of my family had a 1980 Oldsmobile Delta 88, a 1983 Ford Fairmont, 1987 Plymouth Voyager, 1987 Buick Century, 1987 Chevy Cavalier, 1988 Ford Taurus, 1988 Ford Tempo. All were rusted out pieces of crap. 80s cars weren't very high quality, and we live in the Buffalo area where it snows a lot. Dangerous combination. I believe the 1980 Oldsmobile was scrapped in 1995 after the rear bumper fell off going over railroad tracks. I clearly remember my dad and I visiting my uncle and seeing the oldsmobile in the driveway with the bumper in the trunk  ;D

Also my friend's sister had a blue mid 80s Oldsmobile Toronado in the mid-late 90s.

I miss those days.

1987 Ford Escort
http://www.atozautolights.com/images/AutoPhotos/FOES8587.jpg

1997 Ford Escort
http://www.atozautolights.com/images/AutoPhotos/FOES9702.jpg

1987 Plymouth Gran Fury
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/4/526/2009/38813504001_large.jpg

1996 Plymouth Breeze
http://carimages1.everycarlisted.com/images/plymouth-breeze-winchester-va_YPA-64_10349A_1.jpg