Vellum Venom Vignette: The Emperor Has No Clothes

Like Dizzy Gillespie's cheeks playing trumpet vs. at rest, cars are bigger in every direction compared to their predecessors.  Perhaps you've seen a 1980s Honda Accord in front of the latest platform.  Or perhaps an old/new Chevy Silverado. But what about a copiously large Cadillac, like the one made (somewhat) famous in a Moby music video? What happens when you put that machine, an unrivaled King of The 1970s, against a pair of modern land barges?  You already know, but go ahead and click to see anyway.  Our good friend with the former LeMons Station Wagon, Brian Pollock, snapped this 1969-1970 Cadillac Sedan DeVille (not a Fleetwood, considering the wheelbase?) sandwiched between a late-model Ford F-150 and Acura MDX.  I assure you that neither Brian nor myself have the photochopping skills to shrink the Caddy: this actually happened. Unfortunately there wasn't a modern-day family sedan in the mix, too: that'd show the generational changes far better than a CUV and a truck.  But note how the Caddy's fenders works proportionally well with its 15″ (14″?) wheels, and how the Acura and Ford do the same with 17″ rolling stock. The Caddy looks even smaller because of a lower ride height, lower belt line and massive overhangs at both axles.  The extra overhang means the Caddy's nose and butt tapers more elegantly, giving a (dare I say it) sleeker appearance compared to the other two. Losing overhang isn't necessarily a bad thing, it just kills the ability to shape and taper a form.  Everything must have a flat nose and a (modern-day family sedan) buffalo butt! Can you imagine if this Caddy had the bullet-like face of today's ATS, but with the same elongated snout?  It would be a seriously wind cheating land barge, slicing the air with less frontal area than modern machines.  I suggest that it'd be a modest aerodynamic victory, even if European regulations have (probably) killed this design language forever. Or at least for a long time. So what's the key takeaway here?  We need more cars proportioned after tennis courts. What was big before isn't so big these days. Thanks for reading, have a lovely week. from The Truth About Cars http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com

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