Comments by "Lynott Parris" (@DenUitvreter) on "AutoEsoterica" channel.

  1. A bit stereotypical about the French, it's quite a robust car, it used a lot of new materials but those were still high quality durable plastics. The hydropneumatics were very reliable too, just not foolproof. The USA had too few mechanics that actually understood the car. It was a luxury car, but in the spirit of egalité and Citroen being an engineering company rather than marketeers doing branding, it had no issue with making both the flimsy 2CV, also a reliable car btw, and a car good enough for the president at the same time. In the 60s Citroen contemplated the idea of a disposable car, as in all of it wearing out around the same time. They threw that idea out but it appears to have had it's effect on the materials used in later cars, as well as other French manufacturers cutting a few corners too many making light cheap cars. But the DS is not the product of fashion designers making a car and giggling about it, France is also a country of bridgebuilders, industrialists, lathes, metallurgy, aviators, who are just a bit more playful and bold when it comes to looks. Between the British starting the industrial revolution and German engineering becoming iconic, the French were leading the way. The Netherlands has been the biggest market for Citroen outside France after WWII. I still see DS's regularly, they are just not daily drivers anymore and most stay indoors for the winter. The ones remaining have moved up to more cherished and less used classics.
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  2. Giugiaro did a masterful job with the wheel flares and lightcatcher combination on the Maserati Quattroporte III.
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  3. I actually like the sedan concept and it's front goes back to the 1960s shark noses before the double round headlights. You have to make new cars and dare to come up with new design languages and BMW did quite successfully until very recent. Brands have value because they represent something, and false pretentions like fake air inlets are just ugly. BMW has enough to work with to be recognizable. The kidneys can basically have all size and shapes vertical and horizontal as long as there are two of them. Ther is still the Hofmeister kink that can make a comeback, there is the sharknose, there is the straight shoulder back to front from the 90s, all kinds of typical BMW rear lights. Only the long bonnet to house a straight six is not contemporary anymore. All BMW have to do is realize they are a car designer, not a fashion designer. You can't just print Nike or Levi's or CK on a simple T-shirt and then sell it for 10 times the price, you still have to design the car to carry the brand.
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