IIRC that’s the maximum weight, And largely driven by options.
This thread
Has a weight chart up to 2004, And that 04’s Max weight is only a couple pounds off the 2500 number. Safety has added some weight. But at the same time features, trim levels, and assorted options have exploded. Particularly in cars like the Miata (and Subarus apparently) that used to be pretty damn basic. And all that fancy adds more weight than safety features.
On the plus side engines have generally gotten more efficient and more powerful. So the increases in curb weight can be offset. If the manufacturer cares to.
I feel like part of that is how many of the cars on the road are actually just the same car. A huge number of cars in the country are either Camrys, civics, or similarly blandly identical Asian mid-sized sedans. Your generic cross overs like Escapes and Highlanders. Or in the past generic American full sized sedans. Your crown vics, cougars, And impalas.
The last few years there seems to be a bit more variability out there, and cars seem to be getting a little more interesting looking. But it doesn’t mean those are the cars that sell, all those bland clone cars haven’t dropped off the road yet.
The problem is strong and lightweight material like carbon fiber is still to expensive for mainstream use. People like their creature comforts as well like navigation, power adjustable seats, sunroofs, power windows, power steering, and air conditioning which all adds weight.
Yeah, the weight gains aren’t just safety equipment (even if they are a significant part). Stuff like power windows were still options in the 90s that weren’t always standard on everything, and power steering, power mirrors, alarm systems, keyless entry, AC, a lot more sound deadening, more complex audio hardware, more complex electrical systems, higher quality interiors, better suspensions, larger wheels and tires (remember when 13" wheels were typical?), and other features add to the bulk. Also carmakers tend to steadily make the same models larger over time. Look at a 70s Toyota, Honda, Ford, VW, etc next to a modern equivalent model and they’re usually bloatier.
Also controlling emissions resulted in more weight with catalytic converters and heavier engines.
Then the bigger, heavier engines and powertrains to handle the greater overall weight also adds to it.
So safety does make a serious contribution to weight esp. with stronger, heavier frames, bracing, etc to make the body stronger, though also the weight from traction control, stability control, ABS, etc. that add up, but it’s not the single reason.
Also, old cars are deathtraps - the extra weight is a very small price to pay to avoid needlessly dying in a crash. I had friends who died in HS in an old shitty 70s car that would have walked away fine in a modern car.
That point is so very important. My wife was in a high speed head on collision with a crackhead who swerved into her lane. She was badly hurt, but she absolutely believes that she would be dead if she were not driving a late model Mercedes. She will not own anything else, and I don’t blame her.
It is amazing how much of the kinetic energy can now be channeled into harmless destruction of the car. In my wife’s case, when I first examined the car, I could not figure out what had happened to the engine. But it had literally shattered into tiny pieces. Absolutely amazing. I will look for some images.
I dunno… it’s not like AMC used it first. Before AMC made Pacers, Chevy made Citations, Ford made Ranger pickups, or Mercury made Villager minivans, all those names were Edsel models.
Unless Fiat Chrysler has bothered to preserve its trademark on Pacer (and who knows how long that name was registered for by AMC in the first place), the name may very well be up for grabs. How many new-car-buyers today even remember anything made by AMC except for Jeeps?
God why are Australian cars always just slightly more interesting then they auta be? I dislike the whole ute thing. But make it a panel van/station wagon sort of thing and I want that. I don’t even care if that’s just a cap.
I find interest in product design choices from brands of this sort; they have to juggle contemporary “buy this year’s model, new and improved” sensibilities and strategy with the limitation of basically having to take 70+ year old design and engineering choices (made under who knows what sort of outdated or purely chance-driven circumstances) as holy artifacts not to be messed with too much.
Fender/Gibson/Gretsch being very obvious examples (does any other industry consider painstakingly reproduced 1950s replicas not as a niche but as a forever-current standard? Real question) but some of this old-new tension does define much of Porsche, Leica, and many others.
Towards the end of high school I was in what should have been a fender bender in an 80’s Honda. The car, new tires abs and all slid on pavement that was very slightly damp as I was attempting to stop at a stop light. I was going about 15 miles per hour when I hit the breaks. And somewhere less than 10 when I hit. The car was trashed. The engine was actually shoved up through the hood and into the wind shield. The much newer (late nineties to about '01) sedan I hit had a slightly loosened bumper. And we checked. The owner of the other car was as incredulous as I was. I apparently loosened a single screw on the rear bumper and cracked some plastic. Total cost to fix it was sub $50, while my car was a total write off.
Now everyone was fine. But I can’t imagine what would have happened had I been going any faster. And that was with early versions of modern safety features. I wouldn’t have ever wanted to see what would happen with a car any older.
Also I refuse to own any more Honda products. Even though that thing was fun as hell.
I work with a bunch of people who are “Jeep people” they all own jeeps. All obsess over various vintage Jeep models. And all claim to go off roading (mostly they seem to take the doors off and drive to the beach). I mentioned to one of them who owns a CJ-7 that his Jeep was awesome because it was just about the most recent Jeep you could get that was still made by AMC. He asked what AMC was.
A neighbor was selling one recently. I stared at it longingly every day as I drove to work.
And unlike years past, you can’t delete most of those “options.” You used to be able to buy a new car with no radio or heater, back when you couldn’t buy one with power anything but steering. Most manufacturers sell two or three packages for a given model, take it or leave it. Of course you can usually tack on more options, mostly cosmetic, but the packages are like cable TV. You can’t not get QVC or CBN.
I remember Nissan did this some years back with a handful of Datsun 240Zs. They sought out well-preserved examples, bought them, and essentially remanufactured them, restoring them to factory specifications. It was like buying a brand-new early 70s Z… IIRC, only the tires were modernized. But since they were selling them for $24,000 they didn’t move as many as they’d hoped, and so only fifty of them went out there.
I just received a Leica M, and it really does have the look and feel of the best of their pre-war cameras. It even has essentially the same leather case. I don’t think it is pure nostalgia. The design decisions they made back then are still great design.
But I would be attracted to the old design anyway, because that is my nature. I have old cars and motorcycles, even though new ones are easier to deal with, and arguably safer. ( It does not appear that the ones in the article have air bags or crumple zones )
A big failure in the area of retro design is the PT Cruiser and similar. They tried to sort of make it evoke the feeling of a hot rod, and ended up with something repulsive.
My son wears a Laco watch, which is a late 30s design with an updated movement. Omega keeps pushing out editions of their moon watch. Some appliance companies are producing blenders and such that look very Art Deco.
My dad ran into that with a truck. The most basic model had more than he wanted in it. He could have gotten it more stripped down. But you had to pay. It was essentially more expensive to get a bare bones truck than one with all the options. Cause you had to pay the hourly labor cost to have the dealership physically remove things.
Exactly. Barracuda. Wait small Barbuda. Wait small Barracuda with a slant six. But no wait its a Hemi slant six. Its probably that slant six too. Its like the Australian market starts from American cars and bolts on weird till I wet my pants. Australian cars are like Australian animals. Subtly wrong but in the best kind of way.
For all their incredible expense and marketing on old schoolness. Leicas are excellent cameras, and damn near indestructible. They don’t update because they don’t need to. The down side to that is that their digital cameras are mostly failures. But they work out their digital cameras in partnership with Panasonic. So you’ve got your Panasonic digitals that are basically cheaper Leicas with more features and capabilities. All the lenses and mechanical are Leica or Leica spec. So far as I know they still haven’t really developed a DSLR that’s good enough. But everything else they make has insane image quality.
