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Originally Posted by MazdaMatt
The freeway is butt ugly and I just couldn't drive it. Obviously designed by an engineer  |
that is just about everyone's first impression of even the '08 'cartoon cars' like Focus, Aveo, Yaris, etc... Then I ask myself "what if gasoline cost $20/gallon... would a double-butt-ugly car be attractive then?" This is coming from a guy who questioned a coworker's sanity after he bought a Ford Think (gloryfied golf cart) 4 years ago, and installed photvoltaics on the roof of his home. Looks like he had it right afterall.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MazdaMatt
For my DD, i WISH i had a small 2-seater... the deal is, can each household afford 2 2-seaters for commuting AND a full sized vehicle for taking the kids ot the cottage?
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I think that's where we are headed. If only the maintainance and insurence were combined int o one 'do it all' vehicle.
I've been saying for years I need a 'transformer car' with a push of a button it converts to my immediate needs. Fuel sipping one seater Diesel for commuting, a big truck for towing, a sexy Italian 12 cylinder canyon carver for a Sunday outing (in 'Hello-officer-red' color, of course), and a 6 seat minivan for hauling kids and the dog. Maybe the fuel sipping commuter is made from oragami folded paper, so I fold it up and put it in the briefcase when I get to work. The bumpers would have sensors in them (like airbag sensors) that when touched, instantly turn my flimsy commuter car into an M1 Abrams tank, a couple nano-seconds into an accident!
Speaking of safety, I once read an interesting perspective back when as California was headed toward the mandatory seatbelt law (for you younger guys, yep, this USED to be an option at one time) Anyhow, the author stated he wished there were no seatbelts, totally dis-allowed and that no one had them. Me when on to say he wished the driver of every car's face was sticking out beyond his or her front bumper. IF that were the case, do you think accident rate would go up, or down? Faced with the obvious, he guessed down. I rode a motorcycle back then, I would have to agree.
Think about it though, what if EVERYONE drove a car made from paper mache' ? Line the hiway with foam rubber bumpers maybe, but no trucks or SUV's allowed... rain storms aside for a moment, the only other vehicle on the road was another low-mass vehicle similar to the one you were traveling in? How safe would it be, then?