The religion of the future; something that was born early in the century, had its flowering in post WWII USA, and its demise after the moon landing, in the years surrounding the Challenger Disaster. This is the voice (and the faith) of my childhood (Orson Wells and the sound-alikes) from Disney (Bell Telephone and GM other primary contributors).
Cassini spacecraft is currently on I-94 nearing the Saturn turnoff. Venting ice from the moon Enceladus spews hundreds of miles into the air. Us childhood fans of the Lucky Starr books just love this stuff. Photo November 24 via NASA.
At least the fins survived. Why driving a brown ‘59 Chevy is less cool than it looks. Thanks to reader RS for the link.
I’ve wanted to do an update on my summer indulgence, a green MiniCooperS:
1. The amount of swag and attention is extraordinary. And even if most of it is dreck, it’s all securely tongue-in-cheek, full of the kind of attention to odd details (op art dashboard and seats, oversized air filler caps, ’secret’ compartments) that bespeaks auto fetishism (auto-erotic fethishism?) and delight. The car is always supposed to be about fun. The company and the marketing team are in sync.
2. Think of another car that says ‘fun.’ Cars have been about travel (‘See the USA in your Chevrolet, sang Dinah Shore), thrills (‘We are excitement,’ claimed Pontiac), creativity (‘Ford has a better idea’), confidence (‘At Ford, quality is Job 1′), status (‘You deserve a Cadillac’). Admittedly, little cars were sold as fun (beginning with DDB’s ‘Lemon’ VW ads. Little Euro imports were fun; Renault’s Dauphin was sold with balloons. The attempts by US carmakers copied this fun theme — especially for Falcons, F-85s, Buick Specials, and Valiants).
But today, especially since 9/11, cars are all about security, safety, substance. No one could imagine a shovel-nosed Audi as fun. ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ is like something out of Orwell’s ‘1984,’ not a car ad. Mercedes are anything but fun. Even BMWs aren’t fun, especially the Bangle versions, so poorly designed that one dares not buy them in anything but a dark color (better to hide the swoopy hysteria of the surfaces).
Little cars that don’t get across the Atlantic, are fun — odd Citroens like the Picasso and Twingo, the Fiat 500, and Nissan Micra. And you can forget about American cars.
3. Driving the car is great fun, but it’s not a little car. Despite the lack of room, the car is a little tank — more than 2500 lbs. The tiny glasshouse makes it feel more tanklike. It’s twice the weight of the original Austin Mini Cooper of 1961 and the VW Beetle Type 1 (with its 1200cc engine); even my ‘overweight’ first-gen Scirocco weighed almost a thousand pounds less. Which means that the Mini isn’t a bad car, but that our expectations about cars have changed. Today cars are computer controlled vehicles that provide safety, directions, communications, environmental quality, and succor — all in addition to what we expected when we sat down in the horsehair seats of a 1950s MG.
4. To get back to those days, we have one car company that keeps up the traditions and ideals of the Issigonis Mini — Lotus. Ariel and Caterham are nice, but not realistic choices. And Porsche is too serious by half. Only Lotus pushes all the right buttons, hews to simplicity and low weight, excellent handling and practicality. Honda used to occupy this spot; maybe they’ll rediscover it soon. Something to keep in mind when my ship comes in.
Building on the internal combustion primers offered this morning, reader ASR sends along a vintage explanation of the technology behind a differential. When GM was setting the pace for American industry and automotive marketing. For those who remember the Museum of Science and Industry in its heyday, or science films of the 40s and 50s (including the extraordinary Bell Telephone hours), this is a gas.
Animated Engines, painstakingly created (using CAD) by Matt Keveney, provides a primer on the internal combustion engine. In an era when it’s easy to debase the concept of carbon-based energy, the site conveys the logic and the genius of technical innovation. And why gasoline’s portability and high energy content made possible small engines that continue (in the guise of everything from Honda motorbikes to the Tata Nano) to transform the world.
Thanks to reader MR for the link.
The smart guys at Gizmodo saw the cockpit of the Virgin Galactic’s White Knight Two, the mothership for commercial spaceflights, and had the same response that I did: Rutan and Co. are channeling the work of Dr. Zarkov in the original Flash Gordon serial.
That old skinny-legged guy in the bloomers saw the future after all.
Here’s the only interior shot I could find, but you can see what I’m talking about.
Where are Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, and Charles Middleton (and cool outfits like the one above) now that we’re ready for showtime?
Via Frango
1958 Goggomobil Transport
A big fan of the Bruce Weiner Micro-Car Museum, I recommend the oobjects list of small cars, especially as I contemplate buying something small (though big by these lights). As we learned in business school, well-chosen baselines can make all the difference.
