New car variants / customisation options: Is more the better?

And people who knew exactly what they wanted loved the whole process. Families did it together. One could decide what was important within a budget and work it all out.

BHPian ringoism recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Earlier this is how it was in the U.S. market - I worked in a GM showroom (Pontiac) in the mid-late 1980's and we had some very interesting cars come through, whether specially ordered by customers or the sales manager himself. Wild interior/exterior color combinations, or full leather interior on a base model, or a hot turbo engine in a compact family sedan (rare then) rather than the sports coupe... In the 1960's/70's it was even more so, there were models which offered at least six engine and four gearbox options, there were seating options (bench vs. bucket), instrumentation options, convenience options (you'd be surprised what all was available back in the '60's), security options, even glass options (tinted), tyre and rim options, suspension options, trim options, all available on hardtop/soft top/ vinyl top/ post coupe / 4-door /station-wagon models of essentially the same model. There were also some very famous packages (you could call it a variant), for example the GTO "Judge" where some of these features were grouped together. And even then there would be options within that. All this besides towing packages, final drive ratio options, etc...

Mind you, all this was done in pre-computerized times. And people who knew exactly what they wanted loved the whole process. Families did it together. One could decide what was important within a budget and work it all out just about perfectly with no compromises.

I once owned a vehicle - a 1969 Oldsmobile Cutlass - with the W-31 engine package. Only 539 of those had been built that year in the hardtop coupe body. And if you take the close-ratio gearbox, limited slip differential, rally instrumentation, color scheme etc, into consideration, there would have been very few identically built.

Compare this to whichever Creta or Brezza of which you can see thousands any month of driving that are absolutely identical but for the number plates.

A couple examples of GM order sheet & invoice from the late 1960's.

Today with largely automated manufacturing, I don't see how this personalized customization would be difficult at all. And it would allow for a lot more easy, pleasing and even practical individuality, besides cost-effectiveness for many, with (I would think) no loss of revenue to the manufacturers. In fact more clients may be drawn in.

Granted that some people like being told what to do, rather than being able to think for themselves. Seems to be trending even.

-Eric

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