Re: I saw the future today.

rkshullat@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
> "David G. Bell" <dbell@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>> On Tuesday, in article
>>     <LYdGj.28485$XI.22162@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>>     bosslady@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 "Jette" wrote:
>>
>>> rkshullat@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 wrote:
>>>> Martha Adams <mhada@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>>>>> I saw the future: a blocky little car, just
>>>>> long enough to hold a driver and passenger
>>>>> side by side.  I think it was about 7 to
>>>>> 8 feet long.  Small tires.  Some people
>>>>> might call it "cute."  
>>>> I'm not sure the loss of passenger and cargo space
>>>> and increased cost is worth the roughly 15% increase
>>>> in fuel economy over something like the Yaris,
>>>> especially for the half of US households that have
>>>> more than 2 people in them.
>>>>
>>>>> In any case, *big change* from the SUVs
>>>>> I've been seeing around since about 1996.
>>>>> One of those SUVs would make 3 or 4 of 
>>>>> these new midget things.  I wonder how
>>>>> that's going to work out with the general
>>>>> American public?
>>>> I think a lot of them will be sold as novelties
>>>> and repainted as mobile advertising, kind of like
>>>> the PT Cruiser and New Beetle were for a while.
>>>> The Yaris and the Prius are both more practical,
>>>> with the choice depending on budget.
>>>>
>>> Lots and lots and lots of them over here in Europe.
>> What's practical depends on where and how you live. A Smart might be a 
>> usable commuting car, with something more conventional for when you
want 
>> the whole family together.
>>
>> American seem to have this thing about size. Big houses, big cars, even

>> big anatomy. I've never dared look at the remake of The Italian Job,
but 
>> the new Mini takes up more space in a car park than my Land Rover.
> 
> I'm not insistent on "size at all costs" but I also can't understand
> the worship of small for its own sake, especially at the cost of
> functionality. I tend to extend Alton Brown's utensil theory to
> vehicles: I hate cars that are only good for one thing. I want something
> that I can drive to work but also take my family with me. Something that
> gets good gas mileage on a daily commute but can also be driven on a
> thousand mile trip. Something that can hold me and my laptop but also be
> used for a shopping trip that includes three people, groceries,
household
> goods, clothes and the ever-important toys and books. I really don't
> want to have to own 5 cars or rent one every other week.


With no children to try to cram into a car, I want something that gets 
good petrol consumption in town, can bomb down the motorway (within 
the speed limit, thank you), be "nippy" enough at the lights, has good 
cornering, can hold me, a passenger, and enough luggage for a week or 
a day's shopping at the big outlet mall, yet be easy to fit into a 
tight space in the multi-storey car park.    My Focus manages most of 
that, but frankly has a lot of wasted space in the back because I 
never have more than one passenger and, when I visited friends in 
Blackpool, there isn't a lot of room for parking on their street. A 
Smart (which is a Mercedes engine after all) would also suit - but 
they're expensive to buy new, and (so far) rarely show up second hand 
(and when they do, they're still expensive, compared to a Ford) - 
people hang onto them (which kind of implies that they're good cars to 
drive).

-- 
Jette Goldie
jette@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
("reply to" is spamblocked - use the email addy in sig)