I've been saying this very same thing about the design asthetic, minus the pictures, since Episode I. So many people always dismissed my car analogy, but there it is, in full colour!
The car analogy is perfect. Seems to be why those dissin the PT designs haven't touched it. While I do love the old designs, I like the sporty, refined look of the PT. The OT was so influential that for the duration of the 80s it seems nobody knew how to design a ship any other way - Gray with otherwise dull features. At least with the movie I saw. Now there's awesome looking ships abound.