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I know that if they were available, I'd spend the extra money to get a better looking set.
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Smoky, I
so agree with you! And I think that the number of people in Birmingham that junk perfectly good "white" kitchen appliances for stainless-steel would back this up. (Not me, I still have coppertone!
) But one reason I still have the 1965 Coldspot is because I'm not about to pay $1500 for a fridge with a plastic interior when I have one that's porcelain now; low-carbon faux stainless veneer or not!
But in the mass-market, the Wal-Mart factor is so strong. This applies to cars/houses too. It must be the throw-away culture... You hear so much about how "bad" GM/Ford/Chrysler were in the 50s/60s/70s by changing platforms every three years, and trim details EVERY year. (Planned obsolesence) Yet it seems that our culture, with regard to new=good, quality--be-damned is WORSE nowadays than ever before.
Here's an example: How nice would it have been for the new Chrysler Hemi 300C to feature a black/red annodized aluminum grille (ala '59 300E) while the "standard" V6 300 carried on with the plastic-chrome-plated sewer grate it wears now? Don't tell me it's price, there's so much fat/profit on the "C" than an extra $10 per car could be either eaten, or added directly to sticker.
Here's my guess: Ralph Giles, who designed the car is 35-years-old. After reading a number of interviews, I'd argue that he equates an actual metal grille with "old and bad". The designers of the new "Charger"
speak of the '68-'71 versions as cartoonish and say the front end looks like "an electric razor". So they've given us another uncreative, fat, truck-looking sedan... Thanks a lot jerks!
Give me the designers of old, like Virgil Exner and Chuck Mitchell who openly admired, and were insprired by those who came before them (Exner's classic era Imperials, and Mitchell's Duesenburg/Stutz-like Pontiacs).
[/rant]