I am much older than you so I got my drivers license in 1974. Cars of that era were not built to last. Transmissions lasted 20k-30k miles if you were lucky. By 60k miles, most cars were falling apart. 100k miles on a car was rare. By then the upholstery was splitting. Door handles, window cranks, and lock buttons, were cracked or missing. The cars handled lousy, were heavy, used a ton of gas, and were dangerous. I had about a dozen of my classmates die in car accidents before they reached 20 (of course the drinkng age was 18 back then.) The best thing that came about from the oil crisis in 1970s is that Americans found out about the superiority of Japanese cars.
Thanks for the perspective! You're spot on about older cars not being built to last in the same way modern ones are. But when it comes to repairs, they were definitely much easier to handle. Back in the day, there was a stronger DIY culture around fixing cars. Parts were easier to find, designs were simpler, and service stations were everywhere. You could often take your car to a local mechanic or even fix it yourself with just a few basic tools and some know-how.
Now, cars are much safer and more reliable overall, which is a huge plus. I've experienced this myself—I've had three cars totaled after minor accidents, but I walked away from all of them without a scratch. Still, the flip side is that the complexity of modern cars can make them total losses after accidents that could have been repaired in older vehicles. The systems in newer cars are so integrated, and the parts are often hard to get or really expensive. That makes it way tougher, if not impossible, for the average person to fix things on their own. In many cases, the cost of repairing them is so high that the car ends up going straight to the scrap heap.
I think it’s interesting that in many of photos from the 70s and 80s, the cars add such atmosphere and put a timestamp on the scene though, at the time, photographers like Joel Meyerowitz and Stephen Shore we’re just photographing the Kia Sorrentos and Honda CRV‘s of their day. Now photographers (myself included) are still drawn to those some era cars. Those cars were new in the 70s, which would be the equivalent of those photographers shooting Model As and Packards.
I often think about this while photographing. It strikes me that, through rigorous testing and design optimization, car manufacturers have essentially converged on a single aesthetic across makes and models. Most sedans now look remarkably alike—an inevitable result of prioritizing safety and fuel efficiency. While practical, this homogeneity feels uninspired and, to me, less visually compelling, especially in photography. Older cars, on the other hand, may lack modern safety or efficiency, but they had a unique, unmistakable character that set them apart—and that’s part of what makes them so captivating to capture.
Yeah, every car from the past twenty years (except for the cybertruck nightmare) really does look the same. It will be interesting to see how modern symbols in pictures from today look in 40 years.
I am much older than you so I got my drivers license in 1974. Cars of that era were not built to last. Transmissions lasted 20k-30k miles if you were lucky. By 60k miles, most cars were falling apart. 100k miles on a car was rare. By then the upholstery was splitting. Door handles, window cranks, and lock buttons, were cracked or missing. The cars handled lousy, were heavy, used a ton of gas, and were dangerous. I had about a dozen of my classmates die in car accidents before they reached 20 (of course the drinkng age was 18 back then.) The best thing that came about from the oil crisis in 1970s is that Americans found out about the superiority of Japanese cars.
Thanks for the perspective! You're spot on about older cars not being built to last in the same way modern ones are. But when it comes to repairs, they were definitely much easier to handle. Back in the day, there was a stronger DIY culture around fixing cars. Parts were easier to find, designs were simpler, and service stations were everywhere. You could often take your car to a local mechanic or even fix it yourself with just a few basic tools and some know-how.
Now, cars are much safer and more reliable overall, which is a huge plus. I've experienced this myself—I've had three cars totaled after minor accidents, but I walked away from all of them without a scratch. Still, the flip side is that the complexity of modern cars can make them total losses after accidents that could have been repaired in older vehicles. The systems in newer cars are so integrated, and the parts are often hard to get or really expensive. That makes it way tougher, if not impossible, for the average person to fix things on their own. In many cases, the cost of repairing them is so high that the car ends up going straight to the scrap heap.
I think it’s interesting that in many of photos from the 70s and 80s, the cars add such atmosphere and put a timestamp on the scene though, at the time, photographers like Joel Meyerowitz and Stephen Shore we’re just photographing the Kia Sorrentos and Honda CRV‘s of their day. Now photographers (myself included) are still drawn to those some era cars. Those cars were new in the 70s, which would be the equivalent of those photographers shooting Model As and Packards.
I often think about this while photographing. It strikes me that, through rigorous testing and design optimization, car manufacturers have essentially converged on a single aesthetic across makes and models. Most sedans now look remarkably alike—an inevitable result of prioritizing safety and fuel efficiency. While practical, this homogeneity feels uninspired and, to me, less visually compelling, especially in photography. Older cars, on the other hand, may lack modern safety or efficiency, but they had a unique, unmistakable character that set them apart—and that’s part of what makes them so captivating to capture.
Yeah, every car from the past twenty years (except for the cybertruck nightmare) really does look the same. It will be interesting to see how modern symbols in pictures from today look in 40 years.
Beautiful writing and wistful photographs. Thanks, mate, you've got me thinking.
Thank you!