I’m less excited about this one than the last one, but just a little.
lol your kids are going to look back 40 years from now and make fun of all the stupid egg-shaped “crossover” cars that for whatever reason seem to be dominating the market now. don’t worry, they’ll also make fun of the cartoonishly oversized emotional support trucks that we’ve been making fun of for the last 10 years
And they’ll be right to do it!
Crossovers are the iPhones of the car world, and it’s probably not going to end.
For awhile there we had lots of manufacturers of phones that made all kinds of interesting things. You could get a phone that fit your lifestyle. Then Apple came out with the jewelry brick and now that’s all anyone will ever make forever.
Station wagons and minivans both started out as practical, comfortable family transport but quickly became associated with lame boomer dads and moms, SUVs started to be chosen by people who wanted a minivan but didn’t want to look like they’d given up, despite the poor economy.
Cue the crossover, a hatchback wearing gym shorts.
For awhile there we had lots of manufacturers of phones that made all kinds of interesting things. You could get a phone that fit your lifestyle. Then Apple came out with the jewelry brick and now that’s all anyone will ever make forever.
Before the iPhone we had flip phones, feature phones where you texted via the number keys, and palm pilots that required a stylus or blckberies that used a mouse wheel. There is no “before the iPhone” if you’re talking about a modern phone with an app store and a capacitive touch screen. I promise you the phones you’re thinking of are newer than the iPhone.
Both PalmOS devices and Blackberries had an app ecosystem before the iPhone did, and I don’t really give a shit about the capacitive touch screen. I will grant you that’s basically what the iPhone’s selling point was, Steve Jobs stood in front of an audience on the edge of their fucking seats and boldly proclaimed “You can use your finger.”
Things like the N-Gage and the Sidekick predate the iPhone and frankly were more interesting. That’s the part of “You could get a phone to fit your lifestyle.” “I text a lot, so I want the Sidekick with the QWERTY keybaord.” “I like music so I want the LG Chocolate.” Then the iPhone came out, and it was a jewelry rectangle. And then everyone else quickly either exited the market or also began making jewelry rectangles.
I’ve recently found Unihertz and while I know they aren’t a “flagship” phone company, I am liking the variety of phones they offer, although they are still slabs.
There’s something about a handset manufacturer I’ve NEVER heard of that gives me a raging case of the don’ts.
I can’t wait until we finally get out of this crossover phase. Every car looks the same, and comes in one of three colors: black, white, or silver/grey. I’m tired of having to stick with 20+ year old cars if I want something unique and affordable in a nice color.
personally i love my barebones (as in, not even intermittent wipers “option”-- i’m a new fan of fleet cars) 04 tacoma. everything i need, nothing i don’t
edit: more ranting since we’re all aboard the crossover hate train-- i can’t speak for other makes, but i was offered a mazda egg (cx-30? idfk) as a rental for a ~1500 mi trip. i dumbly said “sure why not,” since i’d never driven one before. what a terrible fucking car. i wouldn’t ever even rent one again, let alone buy it. i work in a library, and our book carts handle better. rear visibility is zero. it’s cramped af inside, even though the car is suspiciously large. the whole thing just felt thrown together, both in design and build. fuck crossovers.
I’m not necessarily disagreeing with everyone that crossovers lack uniqueness. But post this picture with sedans, or pickups, and it’s the same point.
i think the “they all have the same look” criticism takes a back seat (ha) to the “it’s a stupid look” observation
There’s also that flat shade of green blue gray the shade of mold.
You mean cope-wagons?
Where’s the wood paneling?
It totally needs it right?
I think if we all try, we can collectively forget all about it again.
I actually remember this one. I thought it was neat as minivans can sorta do it all but while they have almost the best mileage for vehicles of their size it would be great to get economy car mileage. That being said concepts like this usually are always so expensive you could just buy both kinds of vehicles for about as much and to boot the combined vehicle probably won’t fit many parking spots.
I wanna see it on the track
Mf belongs on the amtrack
Hah!
When connected to the rear module, the front module’s rear wheels retracted up into the vehicle to reduce drag and improve maneuverability.
Neat!
Where would they park?
This would have been an interesting addition to Get Shorty.
I remember this. Back in the heyday of Chrysler concepts. This was near, but the 4-door Lambo concept was the one I’m mourning.
They also had their Masarati edition Chrysler LeBaron around this time, which seems like a match made in heaven since both companies build vehicles that appear to be “premium” but are absolute dog shit vehicles.
I’ve got an amazing YouTube video for you…turns out now they’ve Voltroned into one and the same. Enjoy
That’s the least embarrassing to ride in short bus I’ve ever seen.
How could they have possibly thought this would…
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
Oh! Yeah, that was probably said at some point.
Bah! They did the same thing with a yacht years before that!
Also…propane, really? Imagine the hassle of hauling both pieces of your mega-minivan down to the local propane dispensary for individual fills.
Propane gets delivered directly to your home.
Whose home? The natural gas in most gas delivery services is Natural Gas composed primarily of Methane, not Propane.
Propane is very common as a heating fuel, usually where natural gas pipelines are not available. But you can get propane trucked to your home even in most suburbs, if you want it. They install a 500 gallon tank somewhere near your driveway, and refill it a few times a year.
If you’ve got a propane-powered vehicle, you’re probably going to get home delivery in bulk, rather than trying to deal with retail refueling.
Ahhh, so it can be delivered on demand, the way you stated it seemed like it was considered the default.
Ah. My apologies, I should have been clearer. In my area, natural gas is the default, but residential propane is very common.
