Daily Auto News Study: Curvy Cars Have Primal Appeal
Daily Auto News
We can’t help it, apparently. Deep in the most ancient and primitive parts of the human brain, there is just something that responds to the shape of that Audi R8. It’s outside our control. We also love novelty, though. In a world where R8s were common, a Volvo 240 wagon would start to turn heads..
Jalopnik reports, “A study by German researchers speculates a preference for round-and-proud cars indicates a subconscious fear of sharp, dangerous objects. The desire for boxier designs arises when we’re bored with safety.”
We may not have a preference for curves so much as an aversion to angles, say researchers at Germany’s University of Bamburg. LiveScience explains, “Angular features remind us, at least subconsciously, of fangs, claws, thorns and knives. As a result, say evolutionary psychologists, we usually prefer curves –not only on women and in nature, but also in fashion and design.” Even car design.
That doesn’t mean we always prefer shapely cars. “This predilection for gentle lines can be overcome by the second habit: looking out for new stuff,” LiveScience notes. This fascination with novelty can make an angular car very appealing in an era when most cars have rounded lines.
As automakers seek an advantage in the market, they tend to cycle between curvy models and more angular cars. When one style has dominated long enough that it has filled the roads, the pendulum swings the other way. The Times of India notes, “The round cars of the early 50s, the study showed, were slowly supplanted by sharper designs — think shark fin exhaust tips and the winged 1960 Cadillac.” Likewise, “Boxy styles stayed trendy in the US through the 1980s. And then a slow transition back to smooth shapes began, epitomized by the new Volkswagen Beetle in the 90s.”
So what does this mean for your next car? Sharp lines, probably. Lead researcher Claus-Christian Carbon tells LiveScience that he expects to see “an increase in sharply angled cars in the 2010s.” It won’t last long, however. “The cycle has been speeding up,” he says. “It used to take roughly 50 years for car models to swing between circles and boxes. Now it is more like 20 years.”
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