What are the famous design failure cars?

[samwichse]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Why would you call that a failure? Still gets better mpg than just about anything out there, and mine's still going after 18 years and ~200K miles.

Compare that to say the Chevy Vega :-)

Because the design turned out to be way too expensive to produce at a price people would pay? Because nearly everyone at the time found it to be hideous? Because designing it as a pure commuter with only two seats killed any future it had in most markets as a mass-appeal car?

It was a design experiment that did one thing well and made compromises everywhere else... and flopped.

I love my car and you'll pry it from my cold, dead hands, but I like oddball unpopular cars. The Aztec was also great at what it did, but everyone thought it was so ugly and didn't fit into a sales category and it was a failure too.

You can love a car and admit it was a failure.

[freebeard]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_Rendezvous

Dragged down by it's Pontiac sibling.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by samwichse

Because the design turned out to be way too expensive to produce at a price people would pay?

That was the intention from the start. It was intended to be a real-world beta test of hybrid technology, and get some good "green" publicity. It did that perfectly.

Because nearly everyone at the time found it to be hideous?

False. Everyone who commented on mine thought it was either cute or futuristic - like a spaceship, according to my neighbors' kid :-)

Because designing it as a pure commuter with only two seats killed any future it had in most markets as a mass-appeal car?

Was never intended to be a mass market vehicle (see above). Beyond which, there are people who like the idea of having only two seats. Why carry around the excess weight of never-used seats, and the larger vehicle size they require?

It was a design experiment that did one thing well and made compromises everywhere else... and flopped.

I've lived with my Insight for 15 years now, and I can't think of anything that's a real compromise. (Other than the NiMH battery, but that was necessary given the state of lithium battery tech at the time.) From my point of view, it's most of those other cars that have the compromises, like more than the necessary number of seats...

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by samwichse

Because the design turned out to be way too expensive to produce at a price people would pay?

A foreshadowing of the VW XL-1.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Beyond which, there are people who like the idea of having only two seats. Why carry around the excess weight of never-used seats, and the larger vehicle size they require?

Fuel efficiency hardly takes a hit by adding 2-3 more seats in the rear. The seats themselves weigh next to nothing, and the suspension needs minor beefing up to accommodate the extra 500 lbs when compared to the overall weight of the car.

Hard for me to imagine not ever needing more than 2 seats considering I rarely use less than 3, but I suppose there are people who never carpool, travel with a friend, take a kid somewhere, etc. Even if a person never used more than 2 seats, others likely will when it comes time to sell the vehicle.

Heck, I complained about Toyota's decision to eliminate the 5th seat in the Prime. It was probably because the extra payload capacity would require all new safety certification testing, but I use the 5th seat a couple times per year on average.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

[Rosieuk]

What *is* that? It looks like a Ssangyong Odious mated with a Nissan Navara..

[All Darc]

Feminist gum...

ABout car's look, since many don't get foreign cars well, I suggest to post photos:

This one it's quite uggly to me :

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

That's usually the result of chewing gum in the hair.

[All Darc]

It's a fictional car, but it's incredible weird, and bring memories of laughs in childhood :

[fusion210]

Originally Posted by All Darc

It's a fictional car, but it's incredible weird, and bring memories of laughs in childhood :

She's a beaut.


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