Sunday, October 14, 2007
Late Night Threesome
- Not ready for prime time.
The headline and the idea of a “electric superbike” sounded pretty cool to me. A fast, smooth, battery-operated motorcycle with slick styling is just the kind of toy that my garage is begging for (although my checkbook holds veto power over these kinds of decisions). Unfortunately, the promise of the headline wasn’t carried through in the article.Top speed of 62 mph? Range of just 68 miles? What a waste of a pretty design.
- Too Much Pirates of the Caribbean in your diet?
Nissan’s new crossover vehicle, the Rogue, may be a great little vehicle. It’s also awkward, ugly, entering a cluttered field of competitors, and poorly named. Rogue? Silly, cute, juvenile, and almost as awkward as the nose-heavy design and ungraceful wheel arches.Perhaps it was intended to appeal to a younger demographic or to women; and, perhaps, it actually does appeal to a younger demographic or to women. It sure as hell isn’t grabbing the David J Zombyboy demographic, though. Which, as any marketing professional will tell you, is the most important possible demographic to target.
- Thank you, beautiful.
This Ford Thunderbird Italien, a one off concept car from the 60’s, would grab the DJZ demo with a death grip, though. I like some of Ford’s current crop of cars, but, aside from the Ford GT and to a far lesser extent the latest generation of Mustang, the designs range from tepid to staid. If for were to build a car as pretty as the T-Bird Italien, updated with contemporary materials and safety equipment, but with aggressive lines, distinctive visual touches (yes, even those big, round taillights), and the overwhelming personality, it would be on a short list of cars to buy when my car is paid off. Even in an era where cars have become something close to utilitarian appliances, personality and beauty still count.
Comments & Trackbacks
Perhaps they could put a minibar in your Rogue, and thus win back the coveted Multiple Personality Blogger demo.
Rogue - just another jellybean-looking thing in a field of jellybean-looking things. I gotta be honest, I always thought of those ‘60s T-birds as pimptastic abominations of the original ‘55-’57 T-bird. I’m not sure why Ford felt they had to change the design of the original 2-seater, because according to the wiki articles they sold more T-birds than ‘Vettes in ‘55-’57. Once Ford upsized it and added the back seats, though, sales exploded. Anyway, if they came to market with some retro interpretation of that Italien thing, I can’t help but think of that Simpson’s episode where Danny DeVito lets Homer design a new car (wasn’t it called “The Homer”?).
The Homer was a frightful delight.
Pimptastic. I love that word. Maybe if the Rogue had a minibar and pimptastic styling it could win the MPB demo. Until that happens, though, I’ll drink in some other car.
Wait, that’s not right…
By the way, you can see the Homer here.
It’s misspelled. That should be Rouge
Nice. Very nice.
I actually like the Rogue-- it’s a lot cuter than some of the other crossovers out there! The commercial is pretty neat too http://youtube.com/watch?v=o5PgHAHAoRw
Jane, you’re killin’ me. Actually, I was going to say, “Jane, you ignorant slut”, but I thought you might misunderstand and think that I meant it in a mean way. Which I wouldn’t have if I had actually said it.
Do you like the name, too?
I have to admit, I like the tilting game commercial; I just don’t like the vehicle design and every time I hear the name, I want to tear someone’s hair out at the roots. Not my own hair, mind; it seems to be limiting its own growth opportunities just fine.
Maybe it really was meant to appeal to a younger, female demographic. And maybe it will sell really well to that demographic.