The picture of the ’72 Charger next to the Nissan Cube reminded me of this similar pairing I shot the other day. It’s not just that cars have gotten (mostly) bigger, but taller too (thankfully, as far as I’m concerned). The Mustang’s roof is at the level of the New Beetle’s belt line, as the second picture really brings home.
Although I will hasten to point out that the NB’s roofline is within 10mm difference of the Old Beetle’s (depending on model year)… Lot’s better legroom, though (not to mention you can actually see out the rear view mirror compared to the Mustang).
Yes, the Beetle isn’t the best candidate as an example of cars getting taller. All the rest are just catching up to it!
I owned a 1973 Cougar XR-7 from 1977 thru 1987 (see attached picture). Same shade of yellow as the featured 1973 Mustang.
This car shared the body structure with the 1973 Mustang. I think that the notchback roof was approximately the same height as the fastback.
I don’t think that the roofline was as low as the new Beetle’s beltline.
Height, New Beetle: 59.0″
Height, ’73 Mustang: 50.1″
so yes, the difference is just under 9″… less than it looks.
OK, I was exaggerating a bit. It is a study in other contrasts too.
Nothing wrong with some creative exaggeration to help make a point. And yes, there are many points of contrast here, but one common element… both are flagrant examples of style overwhelming practicality.
From the looks of it I’d say that Mustang has been lowered at least in the rear, either purposefully or sag due to age.
That was actually a popular look for some cars of that vintage.
I Have always been in AWE of the Cadillacs I have Seen With Yellow Leather In, To Match The Buttery yellow on a well Maintained Cadillac Sedan.
I present my avatar as the car with the finest-looking color yellow ever applied to a car in the GM line – ever – Goldwood Yellow. Or any other car line. I rest my case…
Someone I once knew – and it is too far back to remember who – had a 64 Impala SS convertible in that color w/black top/interior and it was a fantastic combination. I had so many friends and family members who had Impalas in the 60’s in every color and model, from the beginning to the end of the decade, it would be difficult to list them all, though it would be fun to try. Such a great decade for Chevy – every year another great looking Impala rolled into the showrooms. My Dad was a Ford man so one never graced our driveway.
My only yellow car: a 72 Maverick with the Luxury Decor Option in Medium Yellow Gold with caramel colored vinyl top and trim, one of Ford’s decent yellows (not my favorite color then or now – bought it off the showroom floor).
Uh – CA Guy – I’m assuming “CA” means California? I was in the air force in northern California for four years and that is my car I owned at theat time. Do we know each other???? Beale AFB, Marysville/Yuba City, 1969-1973
Zackman, not your car. Moved to CA in 1972 but the car I remember is from my days in the midwest – I think an acquaintance in high school. One of my best friends in college had a 64 Impala SS coupe, white/black interior, 327 w/PG that we cruised around in. A high school friend drove her mother’s new 67 Impala SS red, black vinyl top, 327 w/PG. And my cousin’s fiance ordered a new 68 Impala SS in maroon/white vinyl top and interior, as he came back from Vietnam. These are just SS models I remember – if I threw in all the non-SS Impalas, it would be a long list. Great looking cars, one and all, no wonder they sold so well. I still see them occasionally on the streets here in SoCal. In fact spotted a yellow SS convertible like yours a few months ago. It had CA black and gold plates and the current owner – from our generation – had recently bought it from about the fifth owner.
@CA Guy:
Thanks for the info. I always wondered if my car were still alive somewhere.
Other Than That I cant Think of many attractive yellow cars,
Reminds me of When My Dad Surprised Me With a Schwinn Lemon Peeler… I Was Floored and Appreciative but What Other Colors did it come in exactly? just askin… Purple Would have been nice
I had the Pea Picker. I thought that metallic pea green was pretty cool in 1971. It was the first vehicle I ever totalled when I ran into the back of a parked car while racing. I guess I started earlier than most.
Color me envious of both of you. I had a red Sears “Good” Stingray knock-off. That’s back when they had Good, Better and Best, which would roughly translate to Terrible, Fair and Acceptable. It wasn’t pretty, but I sure had fun with it… With no fenders at all, it was great for popping wheelies.
That Suspension seat could make Thinks Hard To roll uphill especially combined with that small front wheel… But Dad Really did Think Of Me With this one… I am very grateful he was generous and PUt thought into this bike. Maybe The Apple Picker was sold out…Pea Picker- …Ha… not a lime peeler ? Boy Youth was Fleeting at That point. I remember Dad Bought it despite my being well into my Raliegh 3 Speed by then.
Does an X – 15 Ring a Bell with anyone? 3 wheeled Metal Big Wheel that was steered with the rear wheels…
I got my yellow fix with my first car — a ’75 VW Rabbit. Not too surprisingly, it turned out to BE a lemon, not just look like one!
Being 6’7″ myself and having been that height for the last 31 years I can tell you point blank that cars are NOT getting taller. They are getting shorter and wider. As a matter of fact I would like to inquire as to whether the author was WUI (writing under the influence) when he came up with “taller”.
I’d politely suggest that you’re getting stiffer, not that cars are getting shorter. Being 6’4″, I know the feeling; there’s lots of cars I used to happily get in that I have no desire to anymore.
Seriously, please use facts to support your supposition. Pick any two popular models from today and thirty years ago, go to wiki or google, and show me the numbers.
And no, I was not WUI. Sometimes, but not that time.
And this is just one of many examples of this trend I’ve shot over the years.
Civic v Corvair
2007 Civic v 1980 Civic
There was also a pastel yellow (Yellow) for 73, besides the Grabber Yellow (Medium Bright Yellow).
For a study of contrast in color and sizes you should have done a Springtime Yellow (pastel) 65 Mustang, the 73 as shown, a 74 Mustang II in Bright Yellow and a new Yellow Blaze (metallic tri-coat) 2012 Mustang.
What this REALLY demonstrates, is how we’re all getting OLDER. Consider: The bright yellow has given way to pastels; the favored cars now are not the Batmobile knockoffs, but crossovers that sit higher. The Retro New Beetle is not a new interpretation of an automobile, as was the Mustang; but something designed to tickle nostalgia and harken BACK fifty years.
Consider the Mustang…even in its 1973 interpretation. There had never been anything like it. Then consider the New Beetle, and all its retro siblings – PT, HHR, Challenger. Those are either to evoke or true knockoffs of what was done before, in what a growing segment of the market remembers as a “better time.”
Yup. The graying of America….
My arm hurts looking at these pictures. When my 16 year old daughter and I are in the car, the spotter of a yellow car OR a Beetle (old or new) gets to punch the other in the arm. A yellow Beetle is a jackpot and merits 5 punches. So, this would be a 6 punch picture. She hits harder than I do.
Somehow, I have never had a yellow car. I don’t really have an objection to yellow cars, but I prefer that early 1960s pastel yellow to the more recent screaming yellow. My only problem is that living in salt country, there are few cars that look worse when they start to rust than yellow ones.
Punch-Buggy!
The “yellow car” rule is a new one. Of course, in this day, kids would forget the game before finding a Punch-Buggy out on the road…
When I was a kid they were all over the place. A chicken-dinner delivery business, Chicken Delight, used them as delivery cars. A Punch-Buggy Chicken Delight was worth two punches.
I had a lemon yellow LUV truck. Boy, was it ever.
“The Mustang’s roof is at the level of the New Beetle’s belt line, as the second picture really brings home.”
The height of the Mustang’s roof also seems to correspond to the height of the bottom edge of its own rear window, which doesn’t strike me as particularly good design.