Some Automotive Fun...

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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT3i3q1pCQo

EDIT: From the comments thread:
Bernard Smith

Bernard Smith​

1 month ago
As a young designer at GM, I was working on the 59 Pontiac design, when Jordan got a bunch of the studio designers to see these brand new ‘57 model Plymouths, Dodges, Desotos and Chryslers just rolling off the assembly line. He wanted to see if we were as shocked as he was by what he had seen earlier that day on his way into work. Well, we were. Jordan went back and convinced his boss Bill Mitchel to immediately start reworking all our ‘59 design programs. Mitchel took quite a brave risk to do this without first approval by Harley Earl. Earl ultimately agreed with the changes we all came up with.
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tech.slashdot.org

Volkswagen Builds Star Trek Captain's Chair That Goes 12 MPH - Slashdot

According to The Verge, Volkswagen Norway as part of a marketing exercise "claims to have built an office chair that not only looks worthy of a Star Trek captain but also can drive around the office on its own five wheels -- at speeds of up to 20 kilometers per hour (roughly 12mph)." From the...
tech.slashdot.org
 
'Sit, Rover! Play dead, Rover! Leak oil, Rover! Good boy!'

The decline of the company known as Leyland, Rover etc. must be the longest, most gruesome train wreck in automotive history. So many good ideas ruined by bad management and quality.

The Tourer Concept Vehicle of 2002 was another brave attempt in the company's dying days. Quirky but quite handsome to my eyes and practical too (they showed it at Geneva carrying a washing machine), suggesting the later crossover trend. The smaller production version, RDX60, retained quite a bit of its style, but never saw sale.
 

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The sad story of the RDX60's - and Rover's - death by a thousand cuts (and bits falling off) here:

www.aronline.co.uk

MG Rover RDX60: the full story: the British last chance saloon

The full story of the MG Rover RDX60 – from conception in 2000 to the final axe in 2005 when its maker went into administration. Why set-backs and mismanagement resulted in the failure of the car that should have saved its maker. Read the fullest account of this car on AROnline
www.aronline.co.uk www.aronline.co.uk
 
Another stillborn project that died along with its parent company, a Saab 9-3 planned for about 2013.
 

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This is obviously not everyone's cup of absinthe, but it's very interesting when the details are explained. It has the same sort of thinking behind it that brought us the 2CV and the seemingly bad design choices are actually logical. For example, the flat vertical windscreen is cheap to make makes the interior less likely to overheat on a sunny day and the car's not meant to go so fast that a low drag coefficient matters.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAdlm8-h_GE&t=17s&ab_channel=Electrifying
 
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MZpRoC4g5w


Peter Dibble

68,730 views Nov 11, 2022
In an era when US passenger rail was dying out, a refreshing young company offered Americans a new concept: bring your car with you on the train. In the span of a decade, the Auto-Train Corporation would see immense success, a complicated relationship with Amtrak, and eventually a severe financial downfall.

Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
2:47 - Just Reading Material
7:46 - Conservatively Groovy
10:43 - Retaliation
14:08 - Riding Rough
15:48 - Expansion
20:20 - Diversification
24:11 - Double Trouble
26:53 - A Fresh Start
30:04 - A Further Disruption
31:09 - A Hell of a Way to Run a Railroad
35:08 - New Life
38:43 - Epilogue & Credits
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This seems like the appropriate place to remind you all BMW is offering heated seats - by subscription.
www.topgear.com

Opinion: if you have to 'subscribe' to use BMW's heated seats, why not the brakes too?

BMW’s pay-per-month plan has caused a storm...
www.topgear.com www.topgear.com

“BMW is now selling subscriptions for heated seats in a number of countries. [...] A monthly subscription costs roughly $18, with options to subscribe for a year ($180), three years ($300), or pay for “unlimited” access for $415...” The Verge, July 2022

Morning Simon! Jane from the Executive Subscriptions team here, how are you today?

Very well too, thanks. Now, it’s coming up to three years since you bought your car. So I’m just calling to check. From next month onwards, would you like your brakes to continue working?

You would? That’s great news. In which case, I’ll get you set up with an ongoing subscription to our Brake Functionality service. It’s 20 pounds a month, or you can pay annually and save—

[...]
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