Quote:
Originally Posted by Frank Lee
Trouble is, "the people" seem to want ever more weight, ever more hp, no end user serviceability, high replacement parts costs, and tons upon tons of gadgets and gimmicks glommed on.  |
Yeah, the wealthiest 25% of us get to choose the cars that the rest of us will be driving three to five years down the road. If new car buyers would stop flooding the market with low-priced cars in such good condition, then the sensible people of the world would make a larger portion of the buying decisions.
There are places in the world where you can buy simple cars with the same engines and sheet metal as they had 20 years ago. The second-gen Chevy S10 has been available in Brazil since 1994, and Ford sells pickups based on the '98 Fiesta all over the developing world.
If you can't change how people drive, then people will need highly aerodynamic cars with regenerative braking powerful enough to provide most of their ordinary braking needs, panic stops excluded.
The only shape that will look "modern" in thirty years is the streamlined body. It can be truncated within reason, if you need more interior space.