(Image: John Feit)

Yes, cars are evil. Cars are wicked. But they are designed, and some (too few) are well-designed. And regardless of its conveyor, design matters, and some of the best talent over the last 100 years and more have designed cars (the poor souls). So, at the risk of offending many by lionizing automotive design, here is the second (occasional) installment of Capitol Hill’s Classic Rides.

There is something about the late 1960’s and 1970’s design that is both troubling and inspiring. Beginning to free itself of the constraints of Modernism, it was an era where doctrinaire design loosened, and a more personal expression was emerging. At the threshold of 1980’s post-Modernism, the 70’s have just a bit of that later era’s personal flair here and a little naughtiness there. But unlike the disaster that followed, design was still properly constrained. This awkward juxtaposition of opiating the masses with high-design ideals is well-captured in many of that era’s automobiles (think of the AMC Pacer) and coincided with the emergence of Japanese automotive design in the US. Still a relatively minor player at the beginning of the 70’s, the Japanese sought their own aesthetic, and the 70’s design free-for-all provided the perfect canvas to differentiate themselves in a market dominated by the Big Three.

This Toyota Corona is as good an example as one may find of this aesthetic.

Trying to establish themselves first and foremost as inexpensive and practical (this was a couple of decades before Lexus), this late 60’s or early 70’s Corona is as boxy and practical as they come – but with overly-large headlamps, chrome, and fenders that hint that this car is about more than simply tending to daily errands. The counterpoint to its ‘stylish’ front is the utilitarian rear. A large hatch reminds one that you need not worry that this auto’s DNA is grounded in practicality. And hey, it’s even a Mark II – a sure distinction that the design has been labored over and refined to generate envious gazes from the neighbors. A bit awkward, a bit clunky, but fun and endearing.

(Image: John Feit)

The Mitsubishi JB 470 is a variety of Delica (those almost ubiquitous Tonkas Toys of Vancouver Island), of mid-1990’s vintage. I had never gazed upon such a beast and was left rather speechless. Compact as a Tokyo apartment, it is bulbous, squat, and tippy-looking (dare I say gravity-defying?) – I half expected to see Totoro emerge from its rear cabin door. The pink, baby-blue, and yellow accents anchor its anime aspirations. I am unsure how well the JB would manage our high Cascade passes, but I’d be willing to give it a spin. Its right-hand-drive shows this to be a Japanese market model (as if there were a question of that), so van-lifers are warned not to expect to find it on a local dealer’s lot.

The original M6’s were serious cars. An early and rare 1980’s gem, this well-preserved model is so understated and elegant when compared to the Munich auto-maker’s current offerings. Flat sheet metal and crisp lines, large expanses of glass, and simply spoked (BBS!) wheels combine to set this design apart from its peers. Compared to the current, Transformer-inspired, gelatinous “performance” cars (more living rooms on wheels than GT), the sleekness of this model accurately conveys its rally-car underpinnings when compared to today’s steroid-fattened crowd. While not as uber-elegant as its antecedent – the BMW Alpina 3.0 CSL – it maintains enough of that beauty’s lines that it qualifies as a classic.  Kudos to the owner for its fine appearance!

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