Monday, March 30, 2009

Imitation is the best form of Flattery?

It's a saying we've heard a million times -- but that doesn't keep people from threatening lawsuits when they think that an idea (or style) has been copied.

But sometimes you have to ask the question, who copied who.

Ford came out with the original Thunderbird, a two-seater sports car, back in the mid 1950's. Toward the end of the decade, Auto Union introduced the Auto Union 1000 Coupe. (Like the Thunderbird, it was also available as a roadster.) The Auto Union model looks a lot like a smaller version of the Thunderbird.



Then, a few years ago, amid the successes of so many "retro" styled cars, Ford came out with a retro version of the Thunderbird -- describing it as taking many of its styling cues from its earlier models.

Take a look at the Thunderbirds and at the Auto Union 1000. We think the new Thunderbird looks more like an updated Auto Union 1000 Coupe than it looks like an updated Thunderbird.

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