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I'm not a fan of most of the crossover/wagon creations that seem to be all the rage these days, they remind me too much of the AMC Eagle wagons which were just horrible.
But I don't have much room to talk as a Honda Element owner...
These aren't quite so bad. I drive a Volvo wagon - it's boxy, before boxy was "cool". And you own an Element, so yeah, you really don't have much room to talk.
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I'm not a fan of most of the crossover/wagon creations that seem to be all the rage these days, they remind me too much of the AMC Eagle wagons which were just horrible.
The AMC ... ahead of its time, actually. If you wanted horrible, then you'd have to talk about the Renault-ized AMCs instead.
These aren't quite so bad. I drive a Volvo wagon - it's boxy, before boxy was "cool". And you own an Element, so yeah, you really don't have much room to talk.
The AMC ... ahead of its time, actually. If you wanted horrible, then you'd have to talk about the Renault-ized AMCs instead.
You hit the nail on the head on the "Baby Got Back" point. And I mention the Eagle only because I found them to be so unfortunate looking. Those Renault/AMC inbreeds were awful in every way, no doubt.
But, like you mentioned, I own an Element so I'm used to hearing that kind of comment directed my way. Then they see what I can haul with my "E" and the comments stop!
I love those old Volvo wagons, you can't go wrong with one of those. Nice choice!
I'd have to go with the Smart Car. It has/had it's place in Europe, but makes absolutely no sense on American roads. There are plenty of cars that give you far more functionality for the price and return equal or better fuel mileage.
I'd have to go with the Smart Car. It has/had it's place in Europe, but makes absolutely no sense on American roads. There are plenty of cars that give you far more functionality for the price and return equal or better fuel mileage.
I recall being shocked at how mediocre the mileage figures ended up being for a car like that. If I'm going to sacrifice all that the Smart does then I'd better get much better mileage than that!
And the Cube does not count. Incredibly stupid looking is not necessary a bad design I am talking about impractical or just plain dumb.
If impractical is a criteria, then pertty much any pure sports car or pure performance car counts. But guess what? Practicality is not necessarily high on everyone's list for EVERY CAR.
Most cars that are SUPPOSED to be practical actually are in their intended roles.
Ugly, however, is another story, but it's also subjective and calling someone's car ugly is as tactful as calling someone's wife ugly.
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Originally Posted by McLaren
I recall being shocked at how mediocre the mileage figures ended up being for a car like that. If I'm going to sacrifice all that the Smart does then I'd better get much better mileage than that!
Well, to be fair, in order to be used on US interstates, we didn't GET the high fuel mileage engine choices they get in Europe as a city car.
But let's go over the Smart a bit and why it came to be. Remember when it was developed people were starting to complain about the trend of buyers buying ever larger cars and SUVs just to drive one person back and forth to work and how wasteful that is. And how congested it makes the roadways and urban areas.
Small cars were available, but they weren't hip, and the average person considered them a last resort option, even if they were a more "practical" option. So Swatch and Mercedes decided that making a city car that was smaller but "hip" might do the same thing for cars that was happening with phones and laptop computers at the time, which was people paying more for smaller to get away from the bulk that earlier cell phones had. It was hip to buy a smaller product. They figured by making the small car ultra small (and fit in way more places downtown) AND premium priced (rather than a "oh, you can't afford anything better" economy car) it would spark a trend toward smaller, rather than larger. Most people, most of the time, only drive themselves and maybe one other person around. The Smart was the first city car to be that small AND be safe, well built, and useable as a real car. Before it were things like this:
The point wasn't to get the highest fuel mileage available, though the little diesel engine version gets exceptional mileage. The goal was to build the smallest real car that could be used daily, and make it fun and funky to get people into small cars.
It costs what it costs because it takes as much engineering and manufacturing as any other car. Small cars from ANY manufacturer rarely make much profit per unit due to this. Profit is normally all in the larger, more expensive cars that cost barely any more to make than the small cars.
The Smart paves the way in the US for slightly larger, but still very small cars like the Fiat 500 and maybe even the Japanese kei class cars, all of which woudl be excellent for both urban and suburban use.
A friend of mine went and picked up the Chevy small block V8 for a project car with his Smart:
My biggest issue with the Smart outside of it not being exactly economical or useful compared to similarly priced cars is the god awful manumatic transmission they put in the U.S. versions. It seriously drives like someone who doesn't no how to drive a manual. You can imporve it by using the paddles and doing things like lifting off the gas before you shift, but that trans is horrible.
Outside of that, it's the impending feeling of doom watching an Escalade hurtle up behind you while you're stopped at a light. Tritium safety cage or not, that thing would be punted like a football through the intersection.
Cobalt, Volt, Caliber, Compass, Chevy Trucks and that hideous bulky boxey GMC suv not sure the name. All pretty nasty looking. And sadly I have to add the 2012 Honda Civic. I been a long time Honda buyer and the 2012 Civic looks like a Pontiac G6 and a Mazda 3 fused together with a melting/misplaced interior. The new Civic is probably going to really help the domestic market as I would probably pick a new Focus over the Civic. I own an 08 Civic and absolutley love my car, but the Gen 9....ugh.
My biggest issue with the Smart outside of it not being exactly economical or useful compared to similarly priced cars is the god awful manumatic transmission they put in the U.S. versions. It seriously drives like someone who doesn't no how to drive a manual. You can imporve it by using the paddles and doing things like lifting off the gas before you shift, but that trans is horrible.
Many owners have got the trans to work much better, however. Yeah, it's not the best out there, but it's again a case of "good drivers can adapt to any car, poor drivers require the car be adapted to them."
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Outside of that, it's the impending feeling of doom watching an Escalade hurtle up behind you while you're stopped at a light. Tritium safety cage or not, that thing would be punted like a football through the intersection.
For a lot of us, that regularly drive old traditional sports cars like my old Fiat 124 or the MGB in my driveway now, and have no problem with that, it's seriously a non-issue. I refuse to become a scared driver, in ANYTHING.
I mean, ever drive one of these? It's a LOT closer to the back of it and there's even less car between you and anything else. And I had a BLAST in it:
My common phrase is "if you're too scared to drive, stay off the roads."
Many owners have got the trans to work much better, however. Yeah, it's not the best out there, but it's again a case of "good drivers can adapt to any car, poor drivers require the car be adapted to them."
For a lot of us, that regularly drive old traditional sports cars like my old Fiat 124 or the MGB in my driveway now, and have no problem with that, it's seriously a non-issue. I refuse to become a scared driver, in ANYTHING.
I mean, ever drive one of these? It's a LOT closer to the back of it and there's even less car between you and anything else. And I had a BLAST in it:
My common phrase is "if you're too scared to drive, stay off the roads."
That looks like a LOT of fun. Smallest thing I've ever driven on a road outside of the Smart was a Miata....unless you want to count a Segway, lol. Either way, the first time you experience the lack of any car behind you it's a little disconcerting. Definitely something you can get used to, but weird the first time it happens.
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But guess what? Practicality is not necessarily high on everyone's list for EVERY CAR.
I been a long time Honda buyer and the 2012 Civic looks like a Pontiac G6 and a Mazda 3 fused together with a melting/misplaced interior. The new Civic is probably going to really help the domestic market as I would probably pick a new Focus over the Civic. I own an 08 Civic and absolutley love my car, but the Gen 9....ugh.
