Fun Fact - Insight Vol. 36

The “Jelly Bean” Car Era

In the 1980s, many automakers began shifting away from the sharp, boxy vehicle designs of the 1970s toward smoother, rounded “jelly bean” shapes. One reason for this change was the growing use of a small number of shared wind tunnels across the automotive industry. Because manufacturers were often testing designs in the same facilities—and optimizing for the same aerodynamic principles—their vehicles started to converge toward similar rounded forms that reduced drag and improved fuel efficiency.

The result? A generation of cars that looked strikingly alike, with soft curves, sloped windshields, and streamlined bodies—all shaped by the invisible hand of aerodynamics inside the same wind tunnels.