Except, to amplify your point, they re-booted The Wonder Years still in the 1960s. The Goldbergs is where the nostalgia ends I guess...

 

The main difference between the 60s and the 90s is that there's an old saying in the auto industry.....the 60s were the last American-badged vehicles that were designed in Detroit, not in Washington.

 

I've had two CRXs. They were two of my favorite cars I've owned. I first had an 85, and later an 88, both with the 5 speed manual. Just incredibly simple and fun cars.

 

You had a Miata. The Miata was (and still is) one of the most classic nostalgia-machines of all. There is (arguably) nothing more pure and retro-influenced today in the American market...particularly since Fiat axed the 124 Spyder here.

 

Ugh your hood ornament.... So nice.

 

Yeah, but don't blame the generation of the 90ies for this. People born in the US right after WW2 and into 60ies, aka boomers, caused this.

 

This is what I think of as an historic Civic:

 

not surprised.
the cars that were out of reach for my generation are now the desirable ones such as the integra type r, 300zx, rx7, nsx, etc.

it's the same formula just with time shifted (e.g. baby boomers and muscle cars).
so come 30 years from now, the first gen teslas will be desireable just for nostagia's sake. i can hear it now: "you mean i have to plug it in? that's like a baby's toy".

 

Well, you're correct that one thing (among several) that led to the demise of the 60s muscle-cars was that immature Baby-Boomers were driving them foolishly and cracking them up, leading to high insurance rates. I was part of that generation myself, but, unlike a number of them, was neither an aggressive driver nor obsessed with muscle cars. I liked the Plymouth Road Runner, but more for the bright paint-colors, bird-graphics, and Beep-Beep-horn than for massive amounts of power under the hood.

 

Good point!

Thanks!

 

I thought it was the gas crisis and emissions controls that killed the muscle cars?

 

Sure. I've driven many an S-Class, especially W140. The star on that hood is one of the best parts of the drive, from what I remember. I would totally skip the admittedly more attractive sport versions of Benzes and go with uglier grilles (to me) just to have the proper hood ornament.

 

How would you say a W140 compares to your 430? All sorts of visual comparisons have been made over the years but I'm not sure about driving characteristics.

 

There were a number of reasons for the demise of the muscle-cars......including the ones you mentioned. But the CAFE/emission reasons did not become much of an issue until the 1970s. By the time the 70s rolled around, immature young people (and, occasionally, older adults) had already been driving these rockets aggressively for a number of years, cracking them up, and running up big medical and repair bills for insurance companies. And, as we all know, money talks.......when something starts running up bills, it gets noticed.

 

Yep, I agree...unfortunately the only car you can get it on anymore is the S Class...and this generation AMG S Classes wont have it.

Good news is, every Mercedes can be fitted with the stand up hood ornament, the flat Benz logo pops out and the hood ornament pops in...but it looks weird on the cars with the sport grilles that always have the big star already on them,