J
Jetfire
Guest
^
That is cool.
That is cool.
BMW Simple concept car
- Thread starter Rett Mikhal
- Start date
The vehicle is pretty cool. I would love to try it.
You two, on the other hand, are sucking all the joy from my exhaust vents.
Rett Mikhal
Captain
Resistance is futile. All will know that form is irrelevant.
Tell that to Ferrari designers while he laughs his way to the bank.
Indeed. I've gone car shopping with enough people to know that your average car buyer cares much more about form than function. They want a car that looks "cute" or "stylish" or "powerful"--whatever message it is they want the vehicle to convey about themselves.
At the end of the day, a car is a conveyance and just about any car will serve that purpose. So, the real competition is in things like amenities, cargo space, and styling.
The Aztek was fucking hideous. I'm normally not one to notice a car for its looks, but the first time I saw one I was just taken aback. I could not believe something so blocky and ugly made it to mass production in this day and age. Its sales numbers bear that out.
It's not like you can't have function and form, anyway. Toyota cars sell primarily on dependability, fuel economy, and affordability, but I imagine they wouldn't sell nearly as well if they were just flat-out ugly. They aren't especially attractive cars but they also aren't hard on the eyes.
Nobody wants an ugly car. It's really that simple.
Back when I was carshopping, the Pontiac RAV4 was the top rated small SUV in Consumer Reports. However, it was also an ugly piece of crap. No way would I buy it. (Plus the controls were shit, it was uncomfortable to sit in, and the people who ran the dealership were total dicks.)
Back when I was carshopping, the Pontiac RAV4 was the top rated small SUV in Consumer Reports. However, it was also an ugly piece of crap. No way would I buy it. (Plus the controls were shit, it was uncomfortable to sit in, and the people who ran the dealership were total dicks.)
There have been a lot of similar concepts as some have already pointed out. Today, I saw something pretty cool. It initially looked like your regular motor scooter, but then I saw it had two wheels out in front, and as it turned, both wheels leaned in with it, and there was one wheel out in back. A bit similar to the motorcycle version I've been seeing a lot of on the streets lately that looks like something like a self-powered sidecar with two wheels in front and one in back. Not sure what they call them, but they seem to be catching on.
^the Can-Am Spyder? http://www.gizmag.com/go/6823/
I have been doing some car shopping on the internet just to waste time and finally noticed that Ford and Chevy have made a nice change in they're small cars. They finally realized that the public would buy small cars if they had the amenities of large cars. Hence the Cruze and the 2012 Focus can get alot of the same options as the big cars. Heck, the 2012 Focus even has automated parallel parking!
I seriously think my next car is going to be the 4 door hatchback 2012 Focus.(check it in that candy blue color) Due out this spring. Awesome looking car.
I like the Cruze too, but no 4 door hatch model for the U.S.
I have been doing some car shopping on the internet just to waste time and finally noticed that Ford and Chevy have made a nice change in they're small cars. They finally realized that the public would buy small cars if they had the amenities of large cars. Hence the Cruze and the 2012 Focus can get alot of the same options as the big cars. Heck, the 2012 Focus even has automated parallel parking!
I seriously think my next car is going to be the 4 door hatchback 2012 Focus.(check it in that candy blue color) Due out this spring. Awesome looking car.
I like the Cruze too, but no 4 door hatch model for the U.S.
J
Jetfire
Guest
^
You don't like the 2011 Fiesta?
If I could afford it I really want a 2011 Ford Edge. http://www.fordvehicles.com/crossovers/edge/ I found a nice one in my area the color I want with alot of nice options for $36k.
You don't like the 2011 Fiesta?
If I could afford it I really want a 2011 Ford Edge. http://www.fordvehicles.com/crossovers/edge/ I found a nice one in my area the color I want with alot of nice options for $36k.
And it's a chunky, less-sexy ripoff of the 25-year-old
1983 GM "Lean Machine":
http://www.maxmatic.com/ttw_leanmachine.htm
Fascinating machine, I wonder why nothing ever came of it?
I had a friend who worked for GM and really loved the idea of the Lean Machine (we both rode motorcycles together).
For one, GM makes cars and the internal politics of the company didn't want anything to do with motorcycles.
For the other, the corporate lawyers had strokes warning them of the liability problems of producing an 'unusual' motorcycle.
In other words, they chickened out and we lost a potentially nice vehicle....
Toyota RAV4. I too think they're ugly, and they also have a tailgate that belongs in the 1980s.
Henry Ford produced a vehicle like you describe from 1908 to 1927. It was called the Model T.
BTW, I assume you mean “ground clearance,” not “wheelbase.”
More like a 60-year-old concept. Does no one remember the BMW Isetta and the Messerschmitt bubble car?
Spoken like a true Italian!. . . You two, on the other hand, are sucking all the joy from my exhaust vents.
The Rav 4 -- is that the SUV for rabbis?
^ based on how it felt to sit in, it felt like an SUV for rabbits... 
Nope. I've seen a few Can-Am Spyders on the roads this summer, and this was different. It looked more like a scooter and less like a motorcycle, and the wheels were tucked into the body, more like a regular motorcycle and less like a 3-wheeler which have the wheels to the side . After doing a bit of research I've come to find it's called a Piaggo MP3.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piaggio_MP3
I think automobile companies build concept cars to just show at car shows, the things they end up getting out of them could actually end up on vehicles that are far different than the concept car.
Car manufacturers build some cars to meet certain legal requirements, I think this is why you sometimes end up with strange cars that nobody seems to want, of course the manufacture can just be wrong sometimes as well.
Car manufacturers build some cars to meet certain legal requirements, I think this is why you sometimes end up with strange cars that nobody seems to want, of course the manufacture can just be wrong sometimes as well.
Rett Mikhal
Captain
I think it's more to give all those millions of engineers and designers something to do... and to eventually improve technology.
Problem is, as JustaFriend pointed out, car companies chicken out. Very few of these radical departures come to fruition. Look at the history of the airplane vs the car. The first airplanes were made of fabric and wire, with a prop driven by an engine that would be underpowered in a lawnmower these days. Now, they use advanced turbine engines and can cruise at supersonic speeds. The evolution of the technology is quite obvious.
Cars... are more or less the same. Yes the engines have improved, yes the safety has improved, yes the manufacturing and comfort and all that jazz has improved, but it still uses the same concept which was the same as the Model-T. What is it with these damn devices that everyone clings to like they're sacred icons? They're just cars, learn to let go and move on already. Something new has to come along eventually.
And also give us auto-driving cars, because driving is damned boring.
Problem is, as JustaFriend pointed out, car companies chicken out. Very few of these radical departures come to fruition. Look at the history of the airplane vs the car. The first airplanes were made of fabric and wire, with a prop driven by an engine that would be underpowered in a lawnmower these days. Now, they use advanced turbine engines and can cruise at supersonic speeds. The evolution of the technology is quite obvious.
Cars... are more or less the same. Yes the engines have improved, yes the safety has improved, yes the manufacturing and comfort and all that jazz has improved, but it still uses the same concept which was the same as the Model-T. What is it with these damn devices that everyone clings to like they're sacred icons? They're just cars, learn to let go and move on already. Something new has to come along eventually.
And also give us auto-driving cars, because driving is damned boring.
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