Does the Passage of Time Alter Our Perceptions ?

[gkent]

Pontiac Can Am
"The Pontiac Can Am is a midsize muscle car built by Pontiac and based on the Pontiac LeMans and the Pontiac Grand Am. The Can Am was a special edition option package and was only available in 1977. It was named for the Can Am racing series, continuing the race theme used for the Pontiac Grand Prix, LeMans and Trans Am."

'77 only. Nothing to do with Olympics which were in '76

 

[Photon440]

No, there wasn't a '76 Can Am, and Pontiac didn't make the 455 in 1977.

Buick did have a special 1976 paint job though.

 

[Photon440]

 

[Hey-O]

Another buddy had a rare Pontiac Can Am. I think it was a ‘76, with a four speed. I’ll never see another one. Wish I had bought one and kept it.

I knew a young lady whose cousin owned a Can Am. They were only made in 1977 and only came in an automatic with a 400. I thought it was pretty cool, slow by any standard, less than 200 horses.
Yes, we look back now and they look better to us now. I think it has everything to do with perception. No one wants to let go of the good old days, whether they were or not, they were our good old days.

 

[Brandy]

Yes.

 

[Darter6]

I have found that no matter how old you are,your brain thinks you are still 18.

 

[Speedbird]

The terms for this are :
"It grows on you".
"It ages well".

The first Gen Chargers verses the second Gen.
MOST kids have no idea who Bullitt was and don't care.

Cars now are just designer colored jelly beans.
Even ads showing SUV can only generate "excitement" for the vehicles by showing them being driven fast.
(This also helps generate the bad, careless drivers who buy them. But that's another topic.)

All the above MIGHT explain why the new generations do not even care about driving.
(Seen the news on that?)
This funny review sums up the styling issue when comparing cars then to cars now.


And this on today's "muscle car" styling.

 

[YY1]

I've actually always liked that body style gran prix.
They did a great job differentiating it from the monte carlo.
I also like the late, square headlight version better.
About 3 years ago, there was one for sale locally for $2500.
SJ with factory T tops, factory limited slip, and a 455.
I had to hold myself back.

 

[YY1]

...and to answer the OP's question- yes.

 

[1967coronet]

How about this.....
As a guy in his 20s and 30s....did you ever look at a woman in her 50s and get excited?
Now that most of us are 50 and older, do we look at women our age with the same distaste as we did before?
I never thought I'd find "seasoned" women attractive but there are some out there that do still look good.

Hell at this point a 50 year old gal is a hot young babe !

 

[moparedtn]

How about this.....
As a guy in his 20s and 30s....did you ever look at a woman in her 50s and get excited?
Now that most of us are 50 and older, do we look at women our age with the same distaste as we did before?
I never thought I'd find "seasoned" women attractive but there are some out there that do still look good.

There was a time in most young bucks' lives where any female with a pulse looked some level of "hot"....
Just sayin'.

 

[moparedtn]

View attachment 1205607When I look at either cars or photos such as this, I think of what my perception was then, and now. Whether it's a Mopar, or other, when cars like this were introduced they were perceived as ugly garbage, as compared to the earlier models. With governmental mandates, such as emissions and bumpers, the cars suffered in style and substance compared to the previous models. Chrysler did the best on all measures, compared to GM and Ford, and the imports were nothing more than rusted junk. Now, I see these cars in a different light. No, not on the performance end. But, at least on the style that sculpted the lines of many of these cars, not only on the Mopars but the other makes as well. I wonder, is it the lack of any style in modern cars, or is it just the sentimental bond of having lived and worked on these cars during their time ?

Kinda like that gaudy bastahd myself - but then, I'll admit to a certain fondness for mid to late 70's B-O-P "intermediates" -
especially the Cutlasses. Owned several of those early in life, early 70's up through '77, which was my favorite year.
Seriously well made cars, sort of handsome in an old man-attractive way, classy...as long as they had the "R" Rocket
engine in them, I could make them sing.

Sorry, but by comparison, the mid 70's b-body action over at Mopar got progressively more hideous, least to me, and
still are.
Is there a 12-step program I can enter, doc?

Besides, once I got ahold of my first Mopar ('68 Super Bee), all that was over anyways.
Been an all-Mopar household for 40 years now (one '89 5.0 brand new in the mix when the turbo turd generation
was over at Dodge) and still is.
But...I'd still like a pristine '77 Cutlass with 455, buckets and console please.

 

[Hilljack68]

I often think that I live my life looking in the rear view mirror.
Maybe that is because I fondly recall the time I spent growing up. Nostalgia has a way of making the bad times fade out of memory while putting a much more positive glow on the good times.

Agreed. Now in my mid-50's, I spend a lot of time in the rear-view mirror. I look back fondly at the cars, the girls I knew, high school, my friends... and everything looks so perfect. In reality, if we went back in time we would quickly realize the bad times and the trials we've now forgotten.
Most of the cars from the 70's and early 80's look good to me now, even the brand X cars. But the coolest cars when I was a little kid are STILL the coolest cars - the General Lee, and my neighbor's orange '71 Super Bee.

 

[VFilms]

The '61 Plymouth is a prime example of how my perception of beauty has changed over the years. My dad drove one of these when I was young and I thought it was the ugliest car I'd ever seen. Today, I wish I had one. 1961 Valiant was well.

 

[YY1]

I bought my car dolly from a guy that was working on a 76 cutlass- black with red interior, T tops, swivel buckets and a 455.



...and my first "woman" was 35 when I was 18.

previous to that I had 2 18 year old girlfriends when I was 16.

I had a thing for Lauren Hutton, too back then.

My wife is 2.5 years older than me.

Some women look better in their 40's than they did in their 20's.


I do have occasional conversations with 16 year old me...and we're good.

 

[Moparfiend]

Time = Perspective
Time ~ Longing for the past good times
Time is finite for us

I know as I get older time is compressing. Its appears to be speeding up.

I think I like green shag carpet now.

 

[68BabyBlue]

How about this.....
As a guy in his 20s and 30s....did you ever look at a woman in her 50s and get excited?
Now that most of us are 50 and older, do we look at women our age with the same distaste as we did before?
I never thought I'd find "seasoned" women attractive but there are some out there that do still look good.

I remember watching "The Graduate" for the first time in 1969. Ann Bancroft's character looked ancient, but attractive to my 15 year old self. Years later, I was shocked to learn she was 37 years old when she played Mrs. Robinson. Nowadays, a 37 year old looks juvenile to me. I'm kind of stuck in the same rut with women as with my Mopars. My favorites were new in the '60s. Angela Dorian (Victoria Vetri) was the playmate of the year when my GTX was new. She's 75 now, and I still find her more attractive than the newer models, just like my car. The same applies to my spouse, who is now almost 70. I'm looking at a portrait of her dated 1969 as I write this. She is like a survivor Mopar, wear and tear visible on the surface, stills weighs the same as she did when we married,and still pushes my buttons after nearly five decades together.

 

[barbee6043]

I can look back a few decades as I am 73. Now I see the beauty of design in cars I used to think of as ugly.
I now, tend to think for myself instead of what someone else tells me, be it friend or a stupid car mag!!

 

[Lefty71]

Buick did have a special 1976 paint job though.

Something in me says "would not own or drive this car still to this day lol"

 

[Kern Dog]

1961 Valiant

Ooof! Can’t help what you like or don’t like. I will never develop an appreciation for those toads. The Lancer models were equally hideous. I wouldn’t take any 60-66 A body for free. I have owned a couple and couldn’t wait to get rid of them. Yeah, they are pat of our Mopar heritage but to me, they are just plain ugly.