Seems like now all everyone talks about is interior this, interior that...I was wondering since I am young and still new to the game, has interiors always been so important?

 

Just my opinion, but I think interiors greatly went down in the 1980s. I remember when the 3rd gen came out. Even though it was interesting, it certainly wasn't better than the 2nd gen in quality or style. The hard plastic that replaced the vinyl padding felt cheap, and while the 2nd gen interior was old (unchanged for 10 years) it was felt more comfortable & hospitable than the 3rd.

But not to pick on Camaro, compare all the cars as they moved into the 80s from the 79 Mustang (again cheaper interior then the "II") to Cadillacs, Chryslers and everything in between. Seventies interiors are no doubt dated today, but in their time, they were well made, well styled, and pretty durable.

 

Since 1980,IMHO Ford had dominated interiors.GM couldnt bring anything out that was pleasing to the eye.It was nothing but boxes and staight lines.

 

 

Maybe its just my opinion, but I think this 36 year-old (young?) interior is still pretty stylish in today's world.

 

Interiors have become more important because we spend much more time in our cars than we used to, and we tend to take longer trips. This is occuring in parallel with widespread platform sharing, which leaves the interior as a key way to differentiate two or more similar cars.

Plus, I think someone in the industry figured out that most of the time you are with your car, you can't see the outside (because you are inside!) I think this is also related to the fact that exteriors seem to be getting uglier.

 

No, I don't think they have. I think the major reason that they're a focal point is because there's not much room for creativity in exterior styling anymore, not with aerodynamics, crash safety requirements, etc. Additionally, there's been some pretty exciting advancements in interior materials and processing technologies over the past 10 years, and some manufacturers have really jumped on this bandwagon while other lag behind - effectively creating an big gap between the haves and have-nots in perceived interior quality. Finally, there's ergonomics - something that was largely ignored by many manufacturers until Honda and Toyota started to grab a lot of attention, especially from smaller women drivers.

 

Who, coincidentally, are statistically similar in size to average Japanese Men!

 

Not really, just as long as it does the job. I love Third Gen interior (82-89) and I also like the 1st Gen interior some (67-68) but I dislike 2nd Gen and 4th Gen interior. IMO its more about the look/coolness of it and being simple at the same time.

 

I disagree...I think the style of the third gen interiors was of better quality than second gens, and was better than many other interiors of the era. Second gens had hard vinyl door panels and armrests, and it was a pretty flat, plain design. Despite the third gen's idiocy of not having a normal glovebox, I always thought the inside was rather handsome. The dash seemed adequately padded (at least on top), the door panels always looked nice as long as you got the custom interior option, the gagues in the Camaros were all in front of you and easy to read (Birds were kinda strung out though...), and I think for the era, it was a neat but usable design. Lets ignore the digi-Berlinetta

More on topic, I DO think interiors are more important now than ever. If a car looks and feels cheap on the inside, it definitely draws away from the overall car. Personally, I am not a huge fan of my Grand Am interior...cheap door panels, weird looking dual-hump IP...I always thought the Alero was far classier inside. I would have bought an Alero if Olds was staying in business, but I didn't want to take the monumental depreciation hit Olds' are already experiencing

 

 

Personally, I could care a less what the interior is like as long as its comfortable. Nothing is more irritating than all the crap inside telling you to put your seatbelt on or when you need an oil change. Im not a woman, I know when to change the oil. Ive never sat back and admired the interior of a car. But the outside look of the car, different story entirely.

 

Personally, I like interiors from the late 50s and early 60s better than any other time frame. Big, comfortable, and beautiful, IMO. I wish modern interiors had as much style but with modern safety features.

 

my moms 99 escort and my old boss's F-250SD had the same two tone light and dark brown interior talk about nasty.

 

There been a big shift to give interiors a more upscale "intitial quality" feel. The only problem is that alot of these soft plastic materials and silver painted trim look great at first but will look like crap in only a few years. That hard and cheap plastic that everyone complains about most likely has better "long-term durability" and will look better 5-10 years from now then all this fancy interior stuff.

While I love the looks of alot of the new cars interior I am skeptical on how long it will last and look good.

To this day I think that best interior were chevys from the 1950's but they wll never make a car interior like that again with all that metal since its like a meat grinder if you get in an accident and attorneys would have a field day .