If it just me or do the new corvettes look like FD's the front is very much the same long, sleek, curvy, and its even got the side air vents. from a distance they always look like FD's from the front. i always get excited when i see one thinking its a rx7 only to be dissapointed when it comes closer.

 

man i thought the same about the c5's, most people just thought i was

 

Of course it does in the whole front (except those front slits are from the Probe ... more Mazda). The sideview mirrors, too. The rear 1/4 panels favor the NSX.

 

Vettes are FD wannabes because FDs are the real thing.

 

Or you can say Vettes are FD rip offs.

 

Maybe thats why when I was young and didnt know anything I liked C5s. Then went I learned more about cars I ended up buying an FD.

 

yep. They totally took some lines off both the FD and NSX when designing it. My buddy is a big Chevy fan and he hates to admit it...

 

The designers of the C5 said they took inspiration from the FD and NSX while designing the car.

IMHO the C5 is an awesome looking car. ESPECIALLY Z06

 

yep, FD's came out first, so chevy definetely
stole alot of the styling, course it still looks pretty good
(not as good but still pretty good, especially for an american car!).

the FD also has some viper similarities,
although the viper came out first, hehe,
oh well the FD is still the best(with a few power mods).

 

the design of the FD is a classic i dont think the body style will ever get out dated. look at it right now its 8 years old and still look like it could pass for a 2002 model.

 

I remember a lot of backlash when the C5 came out about how the styling was 'laid back' (compared to the much more revolutionary styling of each previous generation of Vette).

Most magazines blamed this on Chevy's heavy reliance on customer evaluation workshops and the like. Of course most of these workshops were carried out in the mid 90s when magazine covers were plastered with FDs, Supras, etc. The resemblance to the FD (mostly from the windshield forward is uncanny - front fender vents anyone?).

Anyway, most magazines were disappointed as the Chevy designers apparently had some pretty cool ideas until the customer workshops tamed them down. (Lots of cool stuff like a center spine reminiscent of the '63 Split Window Sting Ray). Sadly, I have to agree. I love the FD. I love the C5 Vette. But I think that the Vette would have been better off to carve its own identity a little stronger. Oh, well - wait for C6 I guess. --- My $0.02.

Jeremy

 

The Viper did not come out before the FD.

 

I have read that mazda had other stlying drafts of the way the orginal FD was supposed to look. Has anyone ever seen these?

 

thats 10(almost) years old for the 93 models.

 

That's true. The FD's stying will never be outdated.

 

I've seen them, if you want, I will post pics of them.

 

FD styling was ahead of it's time...but to say that it will never be outdated is a little extreme.

I think the C5s are a great looking car. But it LOOKS like it's too heavy.. the FD just looks a lot more nimble.

You could draw similarities between the Viper, FD, C5, and Panoz Esperante all day...but the fact is, everyone "borrows" styling cues from everyone...it happens.

 

Actually the car was first sold to the Japanese public in 1991.

 

The Viper RT/10 did come out before the FD, but the Viper GTS with the double-bubble roof was released after the FD's introduction.

-Max

 

Ok, this is what happened, hehe:

GM: "Hmm, Mazda doesn't make the rx-7 anymore, I think we should just steal it's looks. Nobody will notice, muhahaha. eeexxxxcellant (twiddles fingers)"

 

god man i so pictured mr.burns when you said that. Almost fell of my bed! Muhaha!

 

No sir. Read my post just above this one of yours. FD went on sale in Japan in October, 1991. Dodge Viper RT/10 went on sale in the USA in January, 1992. However, those dates are pretty much negligable in disputes to say who, if anyone, copied anybody.

The FD is still sold new in Japan.

 

haha, thats what I was going for.

I know, it was just a joke.

 

I figured as much! But you never know, a lot of peeps around here don't know a thing about where the car comes from.

 

I feel the same way about this the vettes even stole the double bubble design.I know the fd was not the first car to have this but it certainly had it before the corvette.I think its flattering though that it took the corvette almost 10 years to catch up to the advanced design of the Fd.That says alot in my book