Are we ready for minimalism?

[sickpuppy318]

yeah, well i've seen three bike accidents, two died and one had his leg in the road. Don't think that more car isn't more safty...

[TheDon]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

The question which immediately springs to mind is why you'd want to rear-end a Prius in the first place? The least it will do is boost your auto insurance rates. Why not concentrate on driving in such a way that you won't rear-end anyone?

apparently sarcasm cannot be detected on the interwebs

[ebacherville]

Originally Posted by TheDon

I know that if I rear end a prius I wont die. My car has crumple zones, safety belts with pre tensioners, bumpers with shocks in them, safety glass, big, soft steering wheel, and a pedigree of safety. I have seen my car in accidents and people have walked away

the w123 came with airbags in europe, adjustable headlights in europe, self leveling suspension, ABS, heated headlights in some parts of the world, a safety cell, superior crumple zones and like I said, the pedigree that the Mercedes line carries

My 1983 300 d was rear ended when i bought it the rear dframe crumpled a bit but its solid as a rock drive it daily still.. bought it that way and drives totaly streight .. i have to say there well built for sure.. there hevey as hell too.. for there size.. still i love driving that car especially on vegtable oil with the moon roof open , makes for cheap eco-freindly styling driving even with a slightky crumpled rear end and a bit of rust!

I love my 300d!!

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by TheDon

apparently sarcasm cannot be detected on the interwebs

Yes, and the problem is bidirectional :-)

[Figjam74]

I like a nice healthy balance between form and function.

vs

vs


Minimalism has it's place, but not in my garage.

[MazdaMatt]

That fuel vapour car looks incredible! The freeway is butt ugly and I just couldn't drive it. Obviously designed by an engineer

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? When that becomes the blindingly obvious economical choice, people will follow.

How many adds did you see on TV last night for 2-seater cars? Yeah, i didn't think so.

[Krieg]

I was looking at a coffeetable book I have on "the world's worst cars of all time".

A surprising number were 50cc glorified golf carts from the '70s. There were quite a few sold in Europe in that timeframe.

We've got a long way to go before we're that desperate!

Anyway, that 3 wheeler from MN is no more dangerous than a motorcyle. Why are we so casual with motorcyle safety, but we see something smaller than a normal car, and we think "I'm gonna die!"?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by MazdaMatt

How many adds did you see on TV last night for 2-seater cars? Yeah, i didn't think so.

None, as a matter of fact :-) I've got better things to do with my time than watch TV (and in fact I've never owned one). But how many pickup truck ads did you see? Two seaters, mostly.

Why not instead count the number of two-seater cars you see on your next drive, and look at how much some of them - the BMWs, Porsches, Mercedes, etc - sell for. Or at a lower price, note the number of Honda CRXs and Mazda Miatas still running around.

[MazdaMatt]

2 seater pickup trucks? They still make those? I thought they were all quad-jumbo-mega cabs with zone A/C and 4 tv's these days.

2-seater cars generally are for the rich, and generally contain engines that are far from economical. Yes, there is the Smart, but those are not really "conventional" enough for people to go to. Certainly, if I could afford a Smart for my DD and a full sized vehicle for trips, I'd do that. We need the Smart prices down to 6-8k and we're set.

(I don't watch tv either, I havn't had cable in a year and I don't miss it, saves plenty of electricity too )

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by MazdaMatt

2-seater cars generally are for the rich, and generally contain engines that are far from economical.

Depends on your definition of "rich". True, they've generally been marketed to people who have enough disposable income to pay higher prices for the kind of car they want to drive. Think about that for a minute, though. Unless you believe that the rich really are different from you and me, doesn't that indicate that there are probably a lot of people out there who'd like to be driving a small, agile two-seater, but who can't afford the prices of the current upscale models?

So if you're an intelligent automaker, you build a two-seater to capture part of this market segment. Perhaps you save money by sharing some basic components with your other cars, and do some work on performance, handling, and so on. And you have the Honda CRX, Mazda Miata, and similar models that sold quite well.

As for economy, that was never really the primary consideration in this market, but moving a 1500-pound vehicle with a small cross-section and lower-than-passenger-car Cd is fundamentally more efficient than moving a vehicle several times the size & weight.