Article: Volvo comes out with the most assinine design yet.

[transient]

What's this? A car without a hood? Yup, prepare to spend even MORE money getting your nice shiny new car fixed :P

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3528757.stm

[Ghettokracker71]

What's this? A car without a hood? Yup, prepare to spend even MORE money getting your nice shiny new car fixed :P

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3528757.stm
"your concept car"......must be sponsered by 'YM'...."Your Magazine" .... :-/ :ugh:

[No Motiv]

yuck....no dice

[240 2NR]

I dislike the concept that an engine is no longer an important part of owning a car. All it needs is gas and washer fluid so let's just act like it's not there :tweak: This is not a new concept (evidenced by all the plastic vanity panels that all but obsure what actually motivates your vehicle), just the most extreme case of it. While I applaud the concept of maximum engine exposure for the mechanics, the fact that it is off limits for the owner is ridiculous. I guess you'll be towing the car in for every blown fuse, or to add a 1/4 of a quart of oil. I'm sure you can't hear it either while you're driving.

It's amazing how one of the most expensive (cars are often a more significant investment than a home when all vehilces owned are considered) and likely the most complex investment most people make is so commonly treated without a second thought. I don't need to know how it works, it's just a car :smash: Throw on those cheap tires and brake pads because they're just tires, and all the better if I get 80k miles out of them. OMG, the belts need to be replaced, but I just bought the car 80k miles ago?!

And most sales people are no more helpful, sure they can recite the literature, and deliver a convincing sales pitch, but how many are really automotive enthusiasts? How many can explain why I'd rather have an LSD than Traction Control (the difference between more grip and using limited grip more effectively, and cheaply). But hey if we can sell a couple million more SUV's that'd be great. Afterall, everyone ought to have a vehicle capable of crossing Africa when the plowed roads recieve .5" of snow.

The Volvo design isn't too bad, fairly attractive actually. A few of the design details are things men certainly wouldn't consider in designing a car but I didn't feel like this really would connect with women on an emotional level. Good cars are simply good cars. Some of the classics require tremendous sacrifice, yet they make up for it with tremendous character and emotion. In the quest for the best driving appliance it seems like that's often missed, which makes cars like the miata, MINI, classic jaguars, muscular cars, ferrari's or porsches that much more special. They're not conventional, they're not perfect, and yet we desire them, and pay premiums to own them. We remember them as kids, connect with them, dream about them, and will sacrifice to own them as adults. It's not luggage space or coordinating with this season's outfit.

Less design by focus group and more design by feeling. What happened to automotive design just feeling right?