There is a famous expression that “everything old is new again.” It seems like there are plenty of examples in today’s world of new things designed to look, feel, or sound like old things. Let me give you some examples.

Many digital cameras and mobile phones will play a pre-recorded “shutter click” sound when you take a picture, even though the device does not have a mechanical shutter. If you’ve been to a casino in the last decade, you may have noticed that the slot machines play a sound of coins dropping into a tray, even though the payouts are electronic.

Have you noticed that virtually every bottle of maple syrup sold today has a tiny, useless “handle?” It’s purely a decoration, a throwback to the days when syrup actually came in jugs. Its purpose is the same principle as people who attach non-functional shutters to the outside of their house, or compact fluorescent/LED light bulbs shaped like incandescent bulbs. From Instagram photos to simulated woodgrain, our lives are full of “new” things trying to emulate the look and feel of something old.

There is a name for these things: they are called skeuomorphs. Like everything else, the automotive world is not immune to the skeuomorph. I have noticed that for some reason, people just love to take new Corvettes and make them look like old Corvettes. I just don’t understand this practice. Continue reading →