I woke the Rover from its winter slumber over the weekend for an early spring shakedown, and, just as you do when you’re back behind the wheel of a car you’ve been away from for a while, I started noticing and remembering things about it that I had forgotten. Most of these were things that I’ve documented on these pages many times before, so I won’t trouble you with them further. However, the one thing that stuck out like sore thumb, something I had never really noticed before, really got me thinking. I really, really miss low window lines.
Being irretrievably mis-shapen I find myself having to keep the Rover’s driving seat in its lowest position, yet still, when viewed from the front or the sides much of my upper torso is visible as well as my shoulders, neck and head. The view through the quite steeply raked windscreen is panoramic compared to many cars I’ve been trapped inside. This is a contrast with today’s fashion, which is increasingly towards tall, muscular metal flanks with little, slitty windows perched upon them. See Land Rover Evoque for further details. Such a car gives its occupants the feeling of being hunkered down inside the machine, being surrounded by strong, comforting, impact absorbent matter, being cosseted by the car’s cradling arms. In contrast, a massive amount of glass area makes for maximum possible admission of bright, cheery light into the interior, which is surely just as attractive an experience.
I had never given much thought to the angle of my A-Pillars, either. They stand proudly at an angle far less pronouncedly raked than on most of today’s cars, their upright nature when viewed from inside remind me rather of the first generation Saab 900. Of course, the basic Rover 800 hull was designed in the early 1980’s, so it joins such low-waisted greats as the ’87 Pontiac Bonneville. Since then the probable truth is that side-impact safety laws combined with the sheer amount of stuff that cars are forced to carry in their doors has forced the window-line upwards, as has the need for more vertical room in the engine bay, as well as ever larger wheels to accommodate ever larger brakes, to handle ever increasing weight. This means that cars as beautifully proportioned as the E12 BMW 5-Series and the Pininfarina restyled Series Three Jaguar XJ6 are never likely to make a comeback. Progress. Progress has decided that we can no longer have a low hood with a big front windscreen, affording a commanding view of the lesser traffic ahead that we are rapidly bearing down upon. Get off my lawn. Does anybody else mourn the time when cars had proper windows? (All images Chris Haining Hooniverse (lede photo taken by my wife from my precise eyeline) 2016 apart from Land Rover Evoque image taken from carandriver.com)
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