When was the golden era of cars? Why do you think that era is so golden?
Cars are getting more and more technological each year, and people are buying them. Reliability of cars significantly in the last century. Cars have gotten more efficient, safe, and thruth be told complicated.
The "golden era" would always be now, and the future imo.
When it comes to what I think was the most logical and goldylox balanced time of cars, that would be the mid-late 90s. Cars that get you from A to B, more reliable than before, practical, and had key advancements in them like airbags and seatbelts.
I don't see many or have any experience with any cars before then, but I know that they weren't as reliable, technological, and safe.
In the end, a car gets from A to B back to A, and in that case you would think something relatively modern but not complicated, which in my mind would be a 90s or 2000s car.
I feel like the 90’s was the golden era for cars. It’s right before car makers went crazy on designs. It’s when Honda and Toyota really found their groove. It’s when ODBII became standard on most vehicles.
And it was before our cars became computers on wheels. Sure there were computer modules back then. But that was mostly behind the scenes stuff.
But after the 90’s there was a convergence of computer and car. The 90’s designs is when cars felt more like cars.
According to my dad, it was the mid-80’s into the 90’s where cars, especially Hondas and Toyotas, were the most well made.
Define golden era
It's hard to define. I look to Hollywood as a good example.
What was the Golden Age of Hollywood? The Golden Age of Hollywood saw the development of the Hollywood movie industry with important movie milestones, the production of famous, popular movies and the studio system that created movie icons in the glamorous actors and actresses who starred in the films.
When was the Golden Age of Hollywood? The Golden Age of Hollywood started in 1915 and ended in 1963.
Likewise with cars, what era had the most significant milestones? Or the most popular cars? Or models, engines, or innovations that were iconic? That would be the golden era, IMHO.
https://web.archive.org/web/20121224031253/http://www.carofthecentury.com/number_one_reason_for_car_sales.htm
"Detroit's finest car execs of the golden era of auto making, the 1950's, were never confused by the modern ideology of design when it came to car sales."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950s_American_automobile_culture
"Record sales made the decade arguably the "golden era" of automobile manufacturing"
enough there to keep you busy a while 🙂
Hahaha. Indeed.
I think it is now (or 10+ years ago, since I buy used). Reliability is way up (at least Japanese reliability leader Toyota's reliability). Lean production has made problems almost a thing of the past with cars produced in Japan or by Japanese companies in the US.
Did not participate in that era but it seems everyone was Running in the 90s
A car doesn't look truly modern to me unless it has tailfins.
Golden era in terms of what? You will get different answers with respect to styling, performance, reliability, technology, freedom from government regulations.
That’s the beauty of the question. It is open to interpretation and different answers!
Call me crazy but I would say the 90's.
You’re crazy.
Any period that you could order your car by selecting virtually any combination of paint, engine, rear end, etc. The 1960s through to 1973 would have been a great time to order a car exactly how you wanted it. Thankfully, back in 1978 someone ordered a Mercedes 450SL in "Cypress Green" with a "Mushroom Leather" interior. LOL. So yeah, the golden era for me is the 1960s into the 1970s. After that, quality took a serious nose dive.
Nice. And nice description.
I would say end of 90 till early 2000 model years were made to last.
I picked the 70s (and actually would say 65 - 75) just because I could easily work on them and I had reasonable reliability from them. I really miss those days of being able to fix just about anything on them with a basic set of tools and basic knowledge. Like replacing a fuel pump in less than 10 minutes as it sat on the side of the engine, had 2 bolts, and the worst part of the job was plugging the fuel lines so you didn't get gas everywhere.
I said the sixties because that was my high school era. Average guys like me could do a lot of our own mechanical work on these cars without computers.
