Yup, I periodically stray off the reservation and comment on auto-related subjects not specifically related to LBCs in general or Triumphs in particular. This is another one of those instances…sort of.

Any reader of the blog is familiar with periodic commentary on modern vehicle styling. Anyone who has observed US and foreign vehicles the past several years have also noted a startling sameness to the designs. Couple of cases in point: the new Nissan Pathfinder, with which Nissan perfected the Hyundai Santa Fe (or at least built a larger variant). Or, the Hyundai Sonata, which when it debuted looked very much like a couple of offerings from Mercedes. Then again, you can’t knock success; Hyundai hasn’t been able to build Sonatas fast enough to keep up with demand and extending the design cues to the Accent and Elantra, both of which are selling very well…and I have to admit, the Genesis couple looks great.

Anyway, yes, if you’ve noticed, cars now follow almost identical styling cues; apparently a large part of it is the result of regulations, but still, someone stumbles onto a design characteristic and everyone rushes in to copy it.

The following article, published the week of 14 April in “The Weekly Standard,” does an excellent job of summing up the situation:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/monotony-motors_786772.html

And now, the British content. For starters, credit Jaguar; that company’s cars still look distinctive. Second, credit everyone who owns, maintains and regularly drives (or plans to regularly drive) one of the classic LBCs, including our Triumphs. Yeah, occasionally weird stuff happened (I’m still trying to come to terms with the Stag), but they are DISTINCTIVE and stand out on any road.

Part of the joy of driving LBCs is getting that occasional yelled complement when you pass buy, the looks of approval, the looks of disbelief (either of the “Oh man, I’ve always wanted those” or “Oh man, what on earth is THAT?” variety). However, when out driving, please take note that the vast majority of our fellow drivers, in their lookalike sedans, SUVs, etc, are basically driving four-wheeled appliances and rarely if ever react when they come alongside or pass a British classic.

Sad but true…and all the more important for us to participate in events like the Forest Park Concours, LBC and other special interest car drives and even the occasional short notice “hey, let’s get out and go somewhere” event.

Drive ’em! Enjoy ’em! It pays to be different…