Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.
- 137
- 3
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
This is when cars (not trucks) died. The aesthetic difference between a budget minded four door sedan and a legitimate luxury sedan is so close as to be meaningless. Excessively low to the ground, 'swoopy' overall lines that are optimized for fuel efficiency, safety standards, and a '[design] for the broadest possible audience, across the broadest number of countries, to be manufactured in the most efficient possible way.'.
I could write a long piece with hand-wavy gesture to ideas like "we used to have style!" or something, but I think the explanation is far more Quantifiable; we have self-limited choice because of risk aversion and the ability to pre-market products using data. We target the "largest median" of a product and sell that with a few small deviations.
This explains everything from the rolling suppository sedans of today to endless Marvel sequel movies. I'd say it even explains the current political situation - Biden is nothing if not the triangulated middle of the Democrat party over the last 40 years.
But @yofuckreddit wants to talk cars, so we're going to talk cars.
I like 60s-70s muscle cars because they're big and fun to drive. They're not fast compared to today's standards. Given their engine inefficiency, bouncy suspension, and bloated frames, a moderately outfitted coupe of today could beat them on any course that isn't a straight quarter mile dragrace. But driving them puts you in some sort of purpose built road machine. If you thought to yourself "I want to drive the War Rig from Mad Max" I'd invite you to consider a classic early 70's Charger R/T.
I appreciate finely engineering supercars and not-so-supecars (probably like @yofuckreddit's espresso sipping eurocar) but am self-aware enough that I know I could never drive them the way they are meant to be driven. It seems to me like you're almost a fighter pilot in terms of surgical precision in those asphalt cockpits. I'm a cruiser. I like to drive on an interstate outside of a major population center somewhere between 70-85 for hours at a time. Turns are distracting - I am the captain of a battleship and using the rudder is cumbersome.
This is why the only current vehicles I can stomach are full size pickups. I have driven Jeeps and, although highly practical and adaptable, they feel like Tonka Toys to me. An F250 feels like driving a personal freight train. Aesthetically, there is quite a lot of sameness in truck designs with the primary differentiating feature being grills (which really kind of boils down to chrome vs no chrome). The base level of aesthetics, however, is far, far higher than sedans. When you have that sharp cut down from the back of the cab to the bed, you have something clean, distinct, and obvious. No pansexual blended smooth
brainlines of TeslaCivicAltima electric razors.Sadly, I am blackpilled on cars and trucks. EPA and safety regulation means we will never have the glory of Land Yachts and Broughams again. Trucks are already being faulted for being too much truck.
I have some slight optimism that General Aviation could make a comeback. Deregulating it wouldn't be front page news as it is so niche and an increase in demand would reduce the cost of private planes plummet because, first of all, they would start actually building them again. And I think companies would take risks in airplane aesthetics because, once you're above basic airworthiness, there aren't a lot of reasons to be super aerodynamic or structurally ultra-robust if you're staying subsonic. Flight is still associated with imaginative risk taking in the popular consciousness, and the overwhelming majority of current private pilots are doing it as a passion hobby, not a job.
Stylish big, powerful, kind of useless cars are now, sadly, purely a rich man's novelty item
A while back when I was cutting firewood on a semi-regular basis and regularly overloading an early 90s Ranger, I found a halfway decent deal on a 2001 Dodge three-quarter ton with 5sp manual and 5.9 Cummins. Great hauler, great tank range (I've road tripped a fair bit of Mexico in it), sounds great for about half an hour, generally very cool. On the other hand, everything that isn't the motor has a remarkable tendency to require involved or expensive repairs, it's challenging to park on less than about 40 acres, loud enough inside that listening to music is just about doable but podcasts are right out, expensive to operate, and honestly kind of a pig offroad because of the weight and turning radius. I don't cut firewood anymore, and it would probably be easier to carry motorcycles in something with a lower bed, but I also don't want to sell it because I'm pretty sure I'll never be able to buy something like it again. Alas.
Verging on CW, but see https://www.avoidablecontact.com/p/brief-notes-on-the-meaning-of-the
I don't understand. How are they going to blast past when the average speed on the freeway is 20mph?
More options
Context Copy link
Love the Bugatti link.
This caught my eye:
In venture capital tech investing, a billion dollar company (enterprise value, not revenue) is known as a "unicorn" and is the indisputable marker of a fantastically successful investment. Anything over $100m is good, albeit a little ... pedestrian. It is intriguing to me that ultra high end car manufacturers (Bugatti, Lamborghini) may be thinking in terms of raw dollars and cents in the same way.
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link
More options
Context Copy link