By Jonathan Welsh, The Wall Street Journal - Manhattan sometimes seems like the automotive equivalent of a rare-bird sanctuary. While contemporary yellow taxis, box trucks and luxury SUVs dominate the pavement, surprising old models show up every so often.
This 1973 Chevrolet Impala Custom two-door parked down the block from my office today and I couldn't resist snapping a shot of the giant earth-tone machine. It represents not only how much car design has changed in 40 years, but also how different car culture and consumer preferences are today.
Chevy sold more than 700,000 of the Impala and its Caprice and Bel Air siblings in 1973, but this car would never fly today. Would anyone still buy such a big car with only two doors? People don't make kids climb, crawl and contort to get into the back seats of coupes these days.
Even roomier sedan versions of the Impala seem barely accommodating by today's standards. For the most part, modern passenger vehicles with similarly large footprints tend to be SUVs or crossovers with room for up to seven passengers.
Still, I recall long family road trips in my father's 1972 Dodge Charger, also a low-cut two-door, with my two older sisters, a dog and lots of luggage. It was normal and even fun at the time.
Today, though, I have trouble scraping up nostalgia for such cars because even when new they seemed clunky and poorly built.
When a passerby pointed to the Impala and wistfully said they don't make them like that anymore, all I could say was, "Thank goodness."
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