The OP may be well advised to consider that he is imposing limitations on the enjoyment of something that should not have any limits. Is modern art beautiful? Yes, many times it is. Does this beauty negate Rembrandt, or Van Gogh, because the art is old? Of course not. The enjoyment and appreciation of aesthetic qualities of anything, including automotive design, has as much to do with appreciating the time, or era, they emerged from, as anything else. The cars from any period of the past are not the ultimate or last-word (although I could argue the Cord 810, but I digress...
), but the really outstanding and/or interesting designs from a given period are just that, when taken in the CONTEXT OF THEIR TIME. Most here know of my love for design, and when I view, say, a senior Packard, or a European counterpart from the Great Depression era, for example, I'm not holding it up to today's standards. My mind adjusts to the time that car lived in, and suddenly, the succeeding decades don't even exist...they haven't happened yet. Then, the car I'm viewing takes on a whole new look and meaning, and it can be judged and assessed correctly and meaningfully.
Another poster observed that the "group photo" of cars in traffic above illustrates nothing but a herd of automobiles that were nothing more than copies of each other; relying on the fads of their time. That's partially correct, as it is for any other automotive era when it comes to design. Designers, with the exception of a precious few who had the "spark" of original thought blessed to them, WERE looking over each other's shoulders all through the history of automotive design, and incorporating the ideas of others into their own creations. That's still VERY true today(unfortunately, even moreso than ever). Again, though, another analogy...authors, even the greatest of them, write their prose inspired and influenced by the writers who preceded them, which the present author read and appreciated, and used to help shape their writing style. There's nothing wrong about that whatsoever; it's the way of creative thought.
I love old automotive design for similar reasons. It gives me the tools and the ability to put TODAY'S designs into their proper context, and thusly help me to enjoy and appreciate the latest creations, at least when they merit it.
This concludes my sermon.