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Thread: 10 Fashion Faux Pas for Cars

  1. #46
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    Quote Originally Posted by csl177 View Post
    Alcantara is the "Rich Corinthian Leather" of our time, but thankfully there's no Ricardo Mantalban around to do commercials for it.

    The truth is that for the markets manufacturers target, cars are appliances.
    Even performance niches are affected by this mentality, the result being few genuinely artful solutions to design issues created by the performance envelope sought. Add packaging/interior/safety criteria mandated by the buying public and their governments, just to muddy it up even further. Design schools pop out graduating classes with alarming regularity that grew up on HotWheels and little education in design or art history. The result is similar to LCD dining the past 3 or 4 decades: Culinary schools teach how to plate for effect, not cook with any skill or creativity.

    Personally, I'd like to see a return to niche manufacturers providing variety of the sort when the auto industry was young. Wouldn't being able to choose from a couple of hundred auto makers be fun?
    What's LCD dining?

    And yes, I would like it if carmaking became somewhat more personalized- it seems to be more and more cookie cutterized than anything- people used to take pride in what they built. I don't know about you, but I'm proud I painted my room. People don't appreciate such things now.

  2. #47
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    LCD = Lowest Common Denominator. Chili's, Olive Garden, Applebee's, TGIF, CheeseCake Factory,... wait, I'm getting nauseous... OK.
    I, for one, am quite happy you've painted your room. Pattern or stripes?

    Most cultures really enjoy herd mentality, while declaring their individuality. Tattoos, fashion, hairstyles and music are all examples of the myth of the individual. Whenever something is well outside what is currently accepted within any society, it's usually attacked or marginalized. Evolutionary trends are gradually included and then embraced, and so it goes. Sociologists have descibed the phenomena in many cultures; some force change, some change by neccessity. In the modern world, change is largely driven by the profit motive.
    Which brings us back to automotive design.

    It's interesting, products like Swatch are one approach to providing a sense of individuality for the consumer in a standard mass-produced product. Changeable skins on electronic gadgets are another. Auto makers have all toyed with the concept, but perhaps soon we'll see it in broader production as younger consumers already embrace the idea. To some degree, this is what body kit manufacturers provide, but I can imagine auto makers creating standardized platforms that many different producers of shells or skins can then offer to the public. In the manner that coachbuilders of the past built on a client's chassis. But cheaply and quickly exchanged at one's whim, in fact.
    Individuality in body design provided to the masses... for very utilitarian and not-so-individual vehicles.

    I also envision a time when platforms and running gear are more or less standardized, a neccessity for practical fleets of electric vehicles. Battery packages will need to be the same simply so energy companies can maintain control of resources. Drive 400 miles, stop for "fuel" and change the package... and away down the road.

    In just a few decades there will likely be far more automobile fashion faux pas than one can imagine.
    Last edited by csl177; 08-22-2009 at 08:31 PM.
    Never own more cars than you can keep charged batteries in...

  3. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by csl177 View Post
    Individuality in body design provided to the masses... for very utilitarian and not-so-individual vehicles.



    In just a few decades there will likely be far more automobile fashion faux pas than one can imagine.
    So, we then come full circle: one mans's fashion faux pas becomes another's enlightened ideal

  4. #49
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    Quote Originally Posted by wstander View Post
    So, we then come full circle: one mans's fashion faux pas becomes another's enlightened ideal
    Exactly... though one could question what constitutes enlightenment.

    Master:
    Grasshopper, which is more pleasing: a ripe orange, or a 100' motoryacht?

    Cain:
    Oh Master, an Orange... it has perfect shape, unique coloration, and is delicious as well as nutritious.

    Master:
    Silly Grasshopper! Can important clients be entertained on a single orange? Can an orange move large quantities of untaxed income offshore, or host enjoyable respites with women of a certain character?
    Of course not. You have much to learn about the ways of the world.
    Never own more cars than you can keep charged batteries in...

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