Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Cars have genes.
Cars have DNA, or at least they did before they lost their souls to environmentalism and globalism.
I've been appreciating the entertainment value of the American Bantam for a long time. When Polistra needs to drive, she drives a Bantam.
I'm reading Patrick Foster's book on the Nash Metropolitan. The Metro had the same genes as the Bantam. Basically an Austin Seven, rebodied and rerigged for American tastes.
And the Metro stirred exactly the same entertainment senses as the Bantam. It was used by businesses who wanted a small economical CUTE vehicle. Cuteness evokes pleasant feelings.
Radio stations had used the Bantam in the '30s, and used the Metro in the '50s:
Circuses used Bantams as clown cars, and amusement parks turned Metros into rides:
Newspapers and other businesses also enjoyed Bantams and Metros for city delivery of small items. Businesses understood that the Metro was a miniature business coupe. No back seat, trunk area lockable and accessible from inside. Its size made it an ideal replacement for motorcycles in dispatch and messenger service. Carry a reporter or a report. It couldn't quite fit in the same small space as a motorcycle, but it was much safer and comfier in rain and snow, and the storage area was secure.
Nash could have done more to attract the business coupe market. Austin made bucket seats for its domestic Austin and Morris cars, so the Metro could have offered a bucket option cheaply. The business user could remove the right seat for more storage area and access, similar to panel trucks and vans. Fans of "sporty Euro" cars would also appreciate the buckets.
Emphasizing business use would also enable a more appropriate name. Metropolitan was certainly a better name than Mason's original choice, NKI for Nash-Kelvinator International. But it didn't fit with Ambassador and Statesman. Courier would suggest the business purpose and match the other names.
Nash also tried to appeal to police departments. The Metro had one unique advantage for parking patrol. Because it was built in England for sale in both countries, RHD editions were available at no extra cost.
Very few cities responded, and surprisingly Kenosha WASN'T among them. Normally the police would only buy an offbeat car to support local industries. Cops preferred Fords for good reasons.
Hmm. Is that the same '56 Chevy in both pictures?
Circuses used Bantams as clown cars, and amusement parks turned Metros into rides:
Newspapers and other businesses also enjoyed Bantams and Metros for city delivery of small items. Businesses understood that the Metro was a miniature business coupe. No back seat, trunk area lockable and accessible from inside. Its size made it an ideal replacement for motorcycles in dispatch and messenger service. Carry a reporter or a report. It couldn't quite fit in the same small space as a motorcycle, but it was much safer and comfier in rain and snow, and the storage area was secure.
Nash could have done more to attract the business coupe market. Austin made bucket seats for its domestic Austin and Morris cars, so the Metro could have offered a bucket option cheaply. The business user could remove the right seat for more storage area and access, similar to panel trucks and vans. Fans of "sporty Euro" cars would also appreciate the buckets.
Emphasizing business use would also enable a more appropriate name. Metropolitan was certainly a better name than Mason's original choice, NKI for Nash-Kelvinator International. But it didn't fit with Ambassador and Statesman. Courier would suggest the business purpose and match the other names.
Nash also tried to appeal to police departments. The Metro had one unique advantage for parking patrol. Because it was built in England for sale in both countries, RHD editions were available at no extra cost.
Very few cities responded, and surprisingly Kenosha WASN'T among them. Normally the police would only buy an offbeat car to support local industries. Cops preferred Fords for good reasons.
Hmm. Is that the same '56 Chevy in both pictures?Labels: Entertainment
¶ 3:52 PM
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Happy 70, Jeep!
Polistra and Happystar salute the Willys Jeep on its 70th birthday! (Can't find the exact start of production, but it would have been in Oct or Nov of 1941.)
Polistra is driving her Bantam, the mother of the Jeep. Bantam won the contract first with a prototype for the Army's all-purpose vehicle based on the Bantam chassis. Willys contributed the engine and other modifications, and ended up building most of the Jeeps in WW2.
A current news story really justifies this celebration. Chrysler is on the road to recovery now, thanks to great demand for Jeep products. They're adding 1100 jobs to the Willys factory in Toledo, where Jeeps have always been produced.
Jeep has been a preserver since its birth. It kept many soldiers alive in WW2; kept Willys alive from 1941 to 1953; kept Kaiser Motors alive from 1953 to 1970; kept AMC alive from 1970 to 1987; and now it's keeping Chrysler alive.
In a more subtle sense Toledo has preserved some simple automotive virtues during the periods when Detroit lost its way. Detroit forgot how to make small cars several times; got detoured from floor shift into column shift, which was a bad idea; forgot 4-cylinder engines for a long time. Willys kept those categories running steadily until Detroit returned to its senses. Specifically, the Willys plant in Toledo has been building small 4-cylinder cars without a break since 1933. Other major automakers abandoned fours during '33 and finally returned (hesitantly and grudgingly) in 1961. A less important but equally continuous element: the vertical-slot grille. Represented a Jeep in 1941 and still does today, without any pauses. Certainly the longest-lasting 'styling cue' in American autos, one of the longest in all of industry. Only the Mercedes three-point star is older. ¶ 7:19 PM
Polistra and Happystar salute the Willys Jeep on its 70th birthday! (Can't find the exact start of production, but it would have been in Oct or Nov of 1941.)
Polistra is driving her Bantam, the mother of the Jeep. Bantam won the contract first with a prototype for the Army's all-purpose vehicle based on the Bantam chassis. Willys contributed the engine and other modifications, and ended up building most of the Jeeps in WW2.
A current news story really justifies this celebration. Chrysler is on the road to recovery now, thanks to great demand for Jeep products. They're adding 1100 jobs to the Willys factory in Toledo, where Jeeps have always been produced.
Jeep has been a preserver since its birth. It kept many soldiers alive in WW2; kept Willys alive from 1941 to 1953; kept Kaiser Motors alive from 1953 to 1970; kept AMC alive from 1970 to 1987; and now it's keeping Chrysler alive.
In a more subtle sense Toledo has preserved some simple automotive virtues during the periods when Detroit lost its way. Detroit forgot how to make small cars several times; got detoured from floor shift into column shift, which was a bad idea; forgot 4-cylinder engines for a long time. Willys kept those categories running steadily until Detroit returned to its senses. Specifically, the Willys plant in Toledo has been building small 4-cylinder cars without a break since 1933. Other major automakers abandoned fours during '33 and finally returned (hesitantly and grudgingly) in 1961. A less important but equally continuous element: the vertical-slot grille. Represented a Jeep in 1941 and still does today, without any pauses. Certainly the longest-lasting 'styling cue' in American autos, one of the longest in all of industry. Only the Mercedes three-point star is older. ¶ 7:19 PM
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
Three-way stop
Headline on research from Cardiff:
Mathematicians calculate the safest way home
Subhead indicates it's an app to improve pedestrian safety.
Wow! That's for me! I've always been a walker, and for the last 25 years I've lived without a car. Anything that keeps me out of bad neighborhoods and prevents me from being squashed by SUVs is a good idea! Wow!
Reading the article: SHIT. This is wrong in every possible way.
Wrong #1: They aren't talking about bad neighborhoods because "scientists" aren't allowed to discuss bad neighborhoods. The idea of bad neighborhoods is a NO-GO ZONE for a "science" "brain", especially in Britain.
Wrong #2:
Back in the pre-NSA days, Polistra was using her own eyes to detect the presence or absence of a hazard, with some added assistance from the MECHANICAL sensor driving the light and bell in the warning sign. The warning sign was NOT controlling the Bantam's brakes and steering. Her own hands and feet were controlling the Bantam's brakes and steering. She was NOT letting her Bantam judge the presence of a train via its Wi-Fi connection to Elon's branch of NSA.
The computer algorithm takes into account a number of factors, such as the types and number of crossings, the type of street, the possibility of jaywalking and the speed limits of each road in a given area. The scoring is done automatically by simply feeding in the raw data from a map of any given area, and has been tested on 15 cities in the UKThis doesn't catch the important factors for pedestrian safety. A busy intersection can be relatively safe if both streets are one-way, or if there's a good standable median. When you only have to watch one direction at a time, you can predict car behavior. An unbusy four-way stop is the most dangerous situation because cars are jumpy and opportunistic. An asshole in a hurry will roar through the stop at 60. Every intersection has its own personality. The map won't tell you these things. Only direct experience can tell you. Wrong #3: It's a fucking app! If you're paying attention to your cellular thingamajig you AREN'T paying attention to the world. This goes for bad neighborhoods as well as cars. Safety starts with FULL ATTENTION. I'm 100% certain that none of these "scientists" are walkers. If they had the EXPERIENCE of walking, they wouldn't have started this absurdity. EXPERIENCE SURVIVES, THEORY KILLS. = = = = = Expanding on the theme of ATTENTION, triggered by this typical Tesla cultist quoted in one of the Tesla anticult sites:
Just bought a new @Tesla ! Love the car but within 24 hours I reversed into a car parking post which the car sensors did not pick up and now I have to wait over a month to repair with an authorised Tesla body shop !! Come on @elonmusk you need to sort out your customer service !Two cadenzas: 1. Kudos to the Tesla anti-cultists, who are doing a beautiful job. Compare this to the similar Hubbard cult, which had only ONE obscure anti-cultist for many years. That would be, of course, Alphia Hart in Enid. 2. "A parking post which the car sensors did not pick up." This clearly reflects the same ANTI-ATTENTION mode of thinking as the above researchers. You're not supposed to LOOK and LISTEN via your OWN SENSORS. You're only allowed to trust the sensors provided by Apple or Tesla, monitored and controlled by NSA. Your own eyes, connected unhackably and unmonitorably to your own cerebellum, must be disconnected.
Back in the pre-NSA days, Polistra was using her own eyes to detect the presence or absence of a hazard, with some added assistance from the MECHANICAL sensor driving the light and bell in the warning sign. The warning sign was NOT controlling the Bantam's brakes and steering. Her own hands and feet were controlling the Bantam's brakes and steering. She was NOT letting her Bantam judge the presence of a train via its Wi-Fi connection to Elon's branch of NSA. Labels: Aberree, defensible spaces, Morsenet of Things
¶ 12:38 AM
Monday, October 10, 2016
Galileo's kingpin
Convective thought.
In the big picture, it's just plain ODD that the dispute between heliocentric and geocentric views is always treated as important.
The universe doesn't have a center, so there's no centric. Galileo wasn't right or wrong, and his opponents weren't right or wrong. The entire argument was about convenience of calculation. Nothing more.
Using the sun as centerpoint makes the math easier when you're predicting seasonal motions or the positions of other planets. Using the earth as center makes the math easier when you're dealing with orbital precession or tides or time zones. For calculations at the galaxy level, both earth and sun are completely irrelevant.
We don't treat other centerpoint decisions with the same degree of drama and importance.
For instance, Polistra could insist that the left kingpin of her Bantam is the centerpoint for ALL cars and trucks and trains. This would make it easy to determine the path and travels of her Bantam, and hard to figure and predict every other car. Nobody would listen, nobody would even consider this to be a worthy argument. We understand that each vehicle needs to be figured with respect to its own steering angles and center of gravity, not some other car's centers.
How come we understand this with steering but not with the earth? More generally, how come we don't understand this point in politics and economics? We assume that all governmental actions must rotate around the axis of Bibi Netanyahu, and all economic actions in the world rotate around the axis of Goldman's share value.
¶ 6:44 AM
For instance, Polistra could insist that the left kingpin of her Bantam is the centerpoint for ALL cars and trucks and trains. This would make it easy to determine the path and travels of her Bantam, and hard to figure and predict every other car. Nobody would listen, nobody would even consider this to be a worthy argument. We understand that each vehicle needs to be figured with respect to its own steering angles and center of gravity, not some other car's centers.
How come we understand this with steering but not with the earth? More generally, how come we don't understand this point in politics and economics? We assume that all governmental actions must rotate around the axis of Bibi Netanyahu, and all economic actions in the world rotate around the axis of Goldman's share value.
¶ 6:44 AM
Monday, December 28, 2015
Just for silly
Curbside Classic is reprinting some of its best items of the year, including a magnificent set of photoshopped mods: a '55 Plymouth as trimmed by various artists. The photoshop artist is a genuine genius.
One of the commenters suggested that Picasso's Chicago bird might make a good hood ornament. My '52 Crosley has a stylized eagle, so I tried converting it:
Polistra and Happystar provide critical commentary.
Actually this could have been practical. The wing part would serve as a bug deflector, which was a common aftermarket accessory in the '50s. The head part would be the hood latch and handle. Ideally the eyes would be lighted.
= = = = =
Just for even more silly, I tried out this online thingamajig that supposedly finds the 'memorable' parts of a picture. Memorability has something to do with faces, understandably enough. This picture has four face-like things: Polistra, Happystar, the Crosley's own face, and the Picasso bird. The algorithm favored Polistra's face and ignored the others ... except that it noticed the bug on Crosley's left headlight. (Not an intentional part of the model, apparently a Poser render artifact.) But what's memorable about the sidewalk next to Polistra's foot? It's just a rough surface.
For a constants and variables test, tried a picture with nearly identical ingredients, from this blog entry on the head-tail qualities of cars. Polistra and Happystar and a car and a long-faced horse. Same set of face types, by my judgment.
Completely different response. Now the algo likes all of the critters, but really loves the Bantam. Why is the Bantam more memorable than the Crosley? Is it just the big round white shape on the side, with a render-artifact bug on the door? Can it be that simple?
¶ 5:41 PM
Polistra and Happystar provide critical commentary.
Actually this could have been practical. The wing part would serve as a bug deflector, which was a common aftermarket accessory in the '50s. The head part would be the hood latch and handle. Ideally the eyes would be lighted.
= = = = =
Just for even more silly, I tried out this online thingamajig that supposedly finds the 'memorable' parts of a picture. Memorability has something to do with faces, understandably enough. This picture has four face-like things: Polistra, Happystar, the Crosley's own face, and the Picasso bird. The algorithm favored Polistra's face and ignored the others ... except that it noticed the bug on Crosley's left headlight. (Not an intentional part of the model, apparently a Poser render artifact.) But what's memorable about the sidewalk next to Polistra's foot? It's just a rough surface.
For a constants and variables test, tried a picture with nearly identical ingredients, from this blog entry on the head-tail qualities of cars. Polistra and Happystar and a car and a long-faced horse. Same set of face types, by my judgment.
Completely different response. Now the algo likes all of the critters, but really loves the Bantam. Why is the Bantam more memorable than the Crosley? Is it just the big round white shape on the side, with a render-artifact bug on the door? Can it be that simple?
¶ 5:41 PM
Monday, December 31, 2018
NO. For the million(+4)th time, it's NOT NEW.
Another Tesla reinvention of an old technology with added fuckup.
Tesla cars have all sorts of problems in winter because they were designed by California loonies and tested in California conditions.
One common problem is delineated here:
Or if you want to get literal, here are some charging plugs and jacks for electric cars from 1911:
And while I'm at it, here's a list of charging stations available in the New England states in 1907:
Seems to be about 200 stations. How does this compare with Tesla's coverage in the same states? Looks like a similar number, though again I don't feel like counting.
And while I'm still at it, here's a tribute to our wonderful allies in Japan. We loved Tojo so much in 1905 that we named a spark plug after him. Can't miss a shot! We happily worked with the Japs in our 1918 occupation of Russia, and the Japs took advantage of the familiarity to continue invading Russia through the '30s.
Irrelevant sidenote: Odd names were much more common in those days because most people didn't instantly jump to the dirtiest connotations. The Jap-loving plug was made by Climax Ignitor Co. The charging list includes The Sweat-Comings Co. in Richfield, and Bantam Auto Friction Co. in Bantam.
¶ 1:13 AM
So I sent my car in to service on December 13th into Oakville (which was honestly the worst customer service experience I have received from any company.. but that's besides the point)... and they replaced the locking pin with a second generation part. Due to quite the warm spell here it hasn't really been at/ below freezing until tonight. Well.. just had to take the hair dryer to my car for a 4th time. I understand that Tesla is releasing software 2018.50. But I really don't know how they are going to warm up the chargerport locking pin without a heater...The charging plug is latched into the car by a pin, which is electronically controlled by software. Completely unnecessary. MECHANICAL latching plugs have been available for 150 years. They come in a huge variety of sizes and types, with all sorts of safety provisions. Some have the release on the cable side, some have the release on the fixed side. The XLR connector is a simple example:
Or if you want to get literal, here are some charging plugs and jacks for electric cars from 1911:
And while I'm at it, here's a list of charging stations available in the New England states in 1907:
Seems to be about 200 stations. How does this compare with Tesla's coverage in the same states? Looks like a similar number, though again I don't feel like counting.
And while I'm still at it, here's a tribute to our wonderful allies in Japan. We loved Tojo so much in 1905 that we named a spark plug after him. Can't miss a shot! We happily worked with the Japs in our 1918 occupation of Russia, and the Japs took advantage of the familiarity to continue invading Russia through the '30s.
Irrelevant sidenote: Odd names were much more common in those days because most people didn't instantly jump to the dirtiest connotations. The Jap-loving plug was made by Climax Ignitor Co. The charging list includes The Sweat-Comings Co. in Richfield, and Bantam Auto Friction Co. in Bantam.
¶ 1:13 AM
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Polistra's dream, 3
Part 3 of Polistra's Dream.
Read Part 1 and Part 2 first.
June 1939, Ponca City.
Fran: Come on!
Polistra: Just a minute ...
Fran: We need to get on the lake before the mosquitos take control.
Pol: Hold your horses; cartoon girls need more time for vanity.
Fran: Why cartoon girls especially?
Pol: Haven't you noticed that cartoon characters are ageless?
Fran: Yes... Orphan Annie has been 12 forever. By the way, is she still around in your time?
Pol: No, Annie died in 1968. She was made of honesty and common sense, and when those qualities began to wither in America, she couldn't hold. I miss her. But she stayed the same age to the end, like all of us 'toons. Thing is, it takes a lot of work to stay the same age.
Fran: Oh. I guess that makes sense.... somehow.
Pol: Okay, I'm ready now.
Pol: Pretty fancy apartment hotel, this Arcade.
Fran: Yes, and a pretty important place. Mrs. Annie Rhodes built the middle part of the hotel up in Newkirk around 1910, then took it apart and rebuilt it here when Ponca started to boom. She added the Spanish outer parts later.
Pol: Cute car!
Fran: I love it. Brand new, bought on the installment plan. Six hundred dollars, and worth every bit.
Pol: Six hundred a month?
Fran: No, you silly. Six hundred altogether. Is six hundred a month typical in your time?
Pol: Yes, but wages have inflated too, so it's not as bad as it sounds. What kind of car?
Fran: American Bantam. The company started out making a British Austin, and gradually Americanized it.
Pol: I've heard of the Bantam. It sort of turned into a little military car called the Jeep, that became famous in the war that's coming up shortly. The Jeep basically replaced the horse for the Army.
Pol: You were telling about Mrs Rhodes and the hotel. Is she still in charge?
Fran: Yes, but Lew Wentz owns the place now. He was just another one of those wildcatters who came to Ponca to drill. He showed up here, broke and full of vinegar. Mrs Rhodes decided he had something special, so she grubstaked him and boarded him until he struck a gusher.
Pol: So he bought her out and built himself a mansion?
Fran: Nope, that was E. W. Marland who built the mansions and the monuments to his mistress. He also came here poor and got started by Mrs Rhodes. Marland built Continental, then went broke after the J. P. Morgan interests bought him out. Mr Wentz owns the Arcade and still lives on the third floor. He's a quiet man, bachelor, doesn't like showing off. He puts his money into parks and recreation for Ponca's poor folks and kids. Gives the WPA a real run for its money, though it's building here too. I don't know if any other town of this size has so much beauty and so many services available for everyone.
Pol: Interesting comparison. Two rags-to-riches men who started in the same place at the same time, and chose to use their riches differently.
Fran: What do you have in 2008? Lots of Lew Wentzes or lots of Marlands?
Pol: All Marlands. All ostentation, constantly rubbing their unattainable riches in the face of the ordinary folks.
Fran: It was like that in '29. Then after the crash even the Marland types began to realize the danger of the "Let 'em eat cake" approach to life. I don't think they understand words like unbecoming or inappropriate but they do understand survival.
Continued in Part 4. ¶ 11:38 PM
Read Part 1 and Part 2 first.
June 1939, Ponca City.
Fran: Come on!
Polistra: Just a minute ...
Fran: We need to get on the lake before the mosquitos take control.
Pol: Hold your horses; cartoon girls need more time for vanity.
Fran: Why cartoon girls especially?
Pol: Haven't you noticed that cartoon characters are ageless?
Fran: Yes... Orphan Annie has been 12 forever. By the way, is she still around in your time?
Pol: No, Annie died in 1968. She was made of honesty and common sense, and when those qualities began to wither in America, she couldn't hold. I miss her. But she stayed the same age to the end, like all of us 'toons. Thing is, it takes a lot of work to stay the same age.
Fran: Oh. I guess that makes sense.... somehow.
Pol: Okay, I'm ready now.
Pol: Pretty fancy apartment hotel, this Arcade.
Fran: Yes, and a pretty important place. Mrs. Annie Rhodes built the middle part of the hotel up in Newkirk around 1910, then took it apart and rebuilt it here when Ponca started to boom. She added the Spanish outer parts later.
Pol: Cute car!
Fran: I love it. Brand new, bought on the installment plan. Six hundred dollars, and worth every bit.
Pol: Six hundred a month?
Fran: No, you silly. Six hundred altogether. Is six hundred a month typical in your time?
Pol: Yes, but wages have inflated too, so it's not as bad as it sounds. What kind of car?
Fran: American Bantam. The company started out making a British Austin, and gradually Americanized it.
Pol: I've heard of the Bantam. It sort of turned into a little military car called the Jeep, that became famous in the war that's coming up shortly. The Jeep basically replaced the horse for the Army.
Pol: You were telling about Mrs Rhodes and the hotel. Is she still in charge?
Fran: Yes, but Lew Wentz owns the place now. He was just another one of those wildcatters who came to Ponca to drill. He showed up here, broke and full of vinegar. Mrs Rhodes decided he had something special, so she grubstaked him and boarded him until he struck a gusher.
Pol: So he bought her out and built himself a mansion?
Fran: Nope, that was E. W. Marland who built the mansions and the monuments to his mistress. He also came here poor and got started by Mrs Rhodes. Marland built Continental, then went broke after the J. P. Morgan interests bought him out. Mr Wentz owns the Arcade and still lives on the third floor. He's a quiet man, bachelor, doesn't like showing off. He puts his money into parks and recreation for Ponca's poor folks and kids. Gives the WPA a real run for its money, though it's building here too. I don't know if any other town of this size has so much beauty and so many services available for everyone.
Pol: Interesting comparison. Two rags-to-riches men who started in the same place at the same time, and chose to use their riches differently.
Fran: What do you have in 2008? Lots of Lew Wentzes or lots of Marlands?
Pol: All Marlands. All ostentation, constantly rubbing their unattainable riches in the face of the ordinary folks.
Fran: It was like that in '29. Then after the crash even the Marland types began to realize the danger of the "Let 'em eat cake" approach to life. I don't think they understand words like unbecoming or inappropriate but they do understand survival.
Continued in Part 4. ¶ 11:38 PM
Sunday, September 25, 2016
Bantam just for reference
Just popping this up because it might not otherwise be found through searching. From an old radio periodical, a 1931 or so Bantam (American Austin) panel truck, not labeled as such in the PDF.
Can't help wondering if those hundreds of passers-by ended up with the idea that tubes were steam-powered.
¶ 11:06 AM
Can't help wondering if those hundreds of passers-by ended up with the idea that tubes were steam-powered.
¶ 11:06 AM
Sunday, July 17, 2016
Happy 75, Jeep!
Polistra in her Bantam (Jeep's mom) and Happystar in an original Jeep salute Jeep on its 75th birthday.
The anniversary is in November, but I really wanted to mark a corporate decision by Chrysler to EXPAND the Willys plant. While other parts of the US auto industry are failing or moving overseas, the Willys plant in Toledo just keeps going and slowly growing.
Both the car and the company are remarkably patient. The car's external design has remained recognizable, with only gradual changes, since 1941. Nothing else matches it. VW lost this race a long time ago. The internal configuration preserved a good 1933 setup through dozens of fashionable changes by other carmakers. When others were finally ready to return to sanity, Willys showed the way.
The company is remarkable in a different way. Most mergers fail, and many mergers involve 'poison pills' in one direction or the other. The company being swallowed forces the swallower to pay more than it should, or more commonly the swallower loads down the prey with lethal debt. Willys is the opposite: a vitamin pill. It has been swallowed four times (cumulatively, like the old fishy foodchain cartoon), and each time it SAVED the outermost swallower from failure.
Jeep even rescued a piece of Studebaker. In '64 when the Studie corporate structure collapsed, a separate defense-contract plant in South Bend was still working on active contracts. Kaiser, the current holder of Willys, bought the plant and continued the contracts. Kaiser then used the plant for its own Jeep-based gummint work. When AMC bought Kaiser in '70, it continued running the old Studie plant, making post office Jeeps, buses, and Humvees. The plant is still running under the name AM General, no longer connected to any auto company.
Happy birthday, patient vitamin Jeep!
Polistra in her Bantam (Jeep's mom) and Happystar in an original Jeep salute Jeep on its 75th birthday.
The anniversary is in November, but I really wanted to mark a corporate decision by Chrysler to EXPAND the Willys plant. While other parts of the US auto industry are failing or moving overseas, the Willys plant in Toledo just keeps going and slowly growing.
Both the car and the company are remarkably patient. The car's external design has remained recognizable, with only gradual changes, since 1941. Nothing else matches it. VW lost this race a long time ago. The internal configuration preserved a good 1933 setup through dozens of fashionable changes by other carmakers. When others were finally ready to return to sanity, Willys showed the way.
The company is remarkable in a different way. Most mergers fail, and many mergers involve 'poison pills' in one direction or the other. The company being swallowed forces the swallower to pay more than it should, or more commonly the swallower loads down the prey with lethal debt. Willys is the opposite: a vitamin pill. It has been swallowed four times (cumulatively, like the old fishy foodchain cartoon), and each time it SAVED the outermost swallower from failure.
Jeep even rescued a piece of Studebaker. In '64 when the Studie corporate structure collapsed, a separate defense-contract plant in South Bend was still working on active contracts. Kaiser, the current holder of Willys, bought the plant and continued the contracts. Kaiser then used the plant for its own Jeep-based gummint work. When AMC bought Kaiser in '70, it continued running the old Studie plant, making post office Jeeps, buses, and Humvees. The plant is still running under the name AM General, no longer connected to any auto company.
Happy birthday, patient vitamin Jeep!Labels: defensible spaces
¶ 2:37 PM
Tuesday, April 05, 2016
Yes, unpatriotic.
In response to Soros's Panama story, tax cheats are quickly coming out to defend tax cheating. This monstrous Randian says that tax cheats are the best citizens.
Other Repoof talkers are roaring that the foremost "right" of citizens is tax evasion. They smash leftists for calling evasion "unpatriotic". Repoofs say paying taxes is unpatriotic.
Fuckheads. You say a government ought to be run more like a business, and then you say a government shouldn't require its customers to pay. It should encourage theft.
Can't have it both ways.
I agree that a government should be run like a business. Let's take it down to basics.
A government is first of all a piece of territory with people on it. Governments aren't exactly natural, though a beehive or ant-nest or a herd of elephants gives the starting point. A hole in a tree or a building made of wax and paper, with WALLS and BOUNDARIES around the outside. The government's first job is to defend the BOUNDARIES against other colonies or tribes. The queen bee or alpha elephant organizes the defense, and in return expects some kind of payment, generally food, from the regular citizens.
Simple human governments do the same thing. Chief organizes warriors who defend the territory from other tribes; citizens bring food and other forms of value to the chief. When the chief has enough extra food and squaws, he may be able to expand the territory or build better tents or provide better buffalo-hunting tools to the citizens.
There it is. Business. Provide a service, receive payment, save profits against a rainy day, expand if possible.
Modern governments provide more complicated services, using corporations and businesses as subcontractors. Corporations are licensed to help the government defend or expand territory, or to efficiently use and distribute resources like oil and copper and farm crops.
Their most important duty, unfortunately not specified by law in Western countries, is to maintain the natural setup of civilization. Keep people busy and useful, and pay them for being useful, so families can thrive.
The Soviet system made the subcontractor duties direct and explicit, and also made the job-providing duties direct and explicit.
We tried to recapture the family-support duty around 1900 with Social Economics. NCR, Ford, Marland, others. It worked, so we stopped doing it and let the Japs and Koreans have it. Still works nicely for them, though the Japs are getting stupid enough to abandon it.
I made this picture last year to illustrate a story about JW Tilden, a gas station operator who had been blinded when thieves beat him up.
Government is a service station, selling corporations a larger share of resources and infrastructure and defense. Corporations SHOULD be paying more for this larger share.
If Polistra gassed up her Bantam and drove away without paying, she'd be a thief, but not quite on the level of modern corporate tax cheats. Corporate tax cheats are more like the thieves who blinded JW. They beat up the government with purchased laws and regulations, and then the blinded government can't see them stealing everything else.
Yes, cheaters are unpatriotic.
= = = = =
Sidenote: 'Ought to be run like a business' reminds me. Repoofs are also constantly saying that we need to have a President who has 'made a payroll'. I analyzed this, finding a weak inverse connection between business background and competence as President.
Well. Now you Repoofs finally HAVE a candidate who has spent his life 'making a payroll', starting businesses, hiring and famously firing people. And you HATE HATE HATE HATE him. You want him to die in extreme pain and you want to send his supporters to Auschwitz.
Can't have it both ways, fuckheads.
I made this picture last year to illustrate a story about JW Tilden, a gas station operator who had been blinded when thieves beat him up.
Government is a service station, selling corporations a larger share of resources and infrastructure and defense. Corporations SHOULD be paying more for this larger share.
If Polistra gassed up her Bantam and drove away without paying, she'd be a thief, but not quite on the level of modern corporate tax cheats. Corporate tax cheats are more like the thieves who blinded JW. They beat up the government with purchased laws and regulations, and then the blinded government can't see them stealing everything else.
Yes, cheaters are unpatriotic.
= = = = =
Sidenote: 'Ought to be run like a business' reminds me. Repoofs are also constantly saying that we need to have a President who has 'made a payroll'. I analyzed this, finding a weak inverse connection between business background and competence as President.
Well. Now you Repoofs finally HAVE a candidate who has spent his life 'making a payroll', starting businesses, hiring and famously firing people. And you HATE HATE HATE HATE him. You want him to die in extreme pain and you want to send his supporters to Auschwitz.
Can't have it both ways, fuckheads.Labels: defensible spaces, Гром победы
¶ 5:00 PM
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Stupidest technical idea in history.
GM and Segway
Wait, stop right there.
After those first three words, we already know something fantastically stupid is coming.
But I couldn't have predicted just how breathtakingly awful it is.
Start again: GM and Segway proudly announce: The PUMA.
It goes 35 MPH max, and runs 35 miles on a battery charge.
Who in the world is going to want one of these?
Lively young folks, like the dude in the picture, wouldn't be seen dead in something so dorky. They can already ride bikes or scooters for economy. Fat old** folks simply won't fit, even if you could pry them out of their nice safe comfy Crown Vics.
And where in the world could you drive it?
Not on rough streets, not on snow and ice, not on the highway, not in rain or sleet or wind. In other words, not outside.
Which leaves us with the interior areas of malls and theme parks. And those places already have electric vehicles ranging from wheelchair-like Rascals to cute Cushman mini-pickups.
35 MPH and 35 miles on a charge... yessir, this is hi-tech progress. The electric cars of a HUNDRED DAMNED YEARS AGO could run THREE TIMES AS FAR on a charge, for Christ's sake, and they did it with elegance and grace. Nothing dorky about a Rauch & Lang or a Detroit Electric.
= = = = = =
Sidenote: Polistra, who has been behind the scenes lately, pops in to emphasize that she's not ridiculing the idea of electric cars. She loves the idea of electric cars, provided the cars are appealing and practical.
For instance, why couldn't we build an electric Bantam?
Trouble is, GM has made the idea look ridiculous by announcing this Segway silliness. Polistra wonders: Was that the real purpose of the announcement? Hmm.
= = = = =
** I'm reminded of a famous quote from Bunkie Knudsen, GM's sales manager in its glory days. "You can sell a young man's car to an old man, but you can't sell an old man's car to a young man." Well, is this strange PUMA thing a young man's car or an old man's car? Worst of both worlds. It looks like a wheelchair, but only an athlete can drive it. ¶ 8:19 PM
Wait, stop right there.
After those first three words, we already know something fantastically stupid is coming.
But I couldn't have predicted just how breathtakingly awful it is.
Start again: GM and Segway proudly announce: The PUMA.
It goes 35 MPH max, and runs 35 miles on a battery charge.
Who in the world is going to want one of these?
Lively young folks, like the dude in the picture, wouldn't be seen dead in something so dorky. They can already ride bikes or scooters for economy. Fat old** folks simply won't fit, even if you could pry them out of their nice safe comfy Crown Vics.
And where in the world could you drive it?
Not on rough streets, not on snow and ice, not on the highway, not in rain or sleet or wind. In other words, not outside.
Which leaves us with the interior areas of malls and theme parks. And those places already have electric vehicles ranging from wheelchair-like Rascals to cute Cushman mini-pickups.
35 MPH and 35 miles on a charge... yessir, this is hi-tech progress. The electric cars of a HUNDRED DAMNED YEARS AGO could run THREE TIMES AS FAR on a charge, for Christ's sake, and they did it with elegance and grace. Nothing dorky about a Rauch & Lang or a Detroit Electric.
= = = = = =
Sidenote: Polistra, who has been behind the scenes lately, pops in to emphasize that she's not ridiculing the idea of electric cars. She loves the idea of electric cars, provided the cars are appealing and practical.
For instance, why couldn't we build an electric Bantam?
Trouble is, GM has made the idea look ridiculous by announcing this Segway silliness. Polistra wonders: Was that the real purpose of the announcement? Hmm.
= = = = =
** I'm reminded of a famous quote from Bunkie Knudsen, GM's sales manager in its glory days. "You can sell a young man's car to an old man, but you can't sell an old man's car to a young man." Well, is this strange PUMA thing a young man's car or an old man's car? Worst of both worlds. It looks like a wheelchair, but only an athlete can drive it. ¶ 8:19 PM
Monday, July 28, 2008
Polistra's dream, 5
Part 5 of Polistra's Dream.
Read Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4 first.
Ponca, June 1939. Polistra and Fran are still driving to the lake...
Polistra: Bye, Jimmy! See you later!
Jimmy: Goodbye, Miss Lister! Bye, Miss Fran!
Fran: Well, Jimmy looks a lot happier now. He finally got to test-drive his fine little automobile. Jimmy's family is struggling to make ends meet ... we'll visit them later on and you can see how it is.
Pol: Here's a thought. If real cars looked like Jimmy's car, sort of slapped together at odd angles, what would you think of the idea of cars in general? I'm not making fun of Jimmy, of course ... he's a kid, and this is helping him to learn carpentry. His next project will look better, I'm sure. But if the cars built by grownups looked like that, would you think cars were a good idea?
Fran: Well, of course not. Rhetorical question.
Pol: Yes. Okay, now if government actions, the products of government, were built like Jimmy's car instead of your Bantam, would you think government was a good idea?
Fran: Also rhetorical, but I'll play along. Hold on! The best part of this drive is coming up. Here we go....
Pol: Wow!
Fran: Snazzy, huh? Down into the spillway and up again, then we'll get to the boats.
Pol: Pretty fancy construction. Does this dam produce electricity?
Fran: No, the creek doesn't have enough flow. The idea here was mainly a reliable water supply for Ponca, and some beauty for everyone to enjoy. Most of all, the CCC provided useful work and training for the farm families who lost everything in the drought.
Pol: Well, as I was saying, a soapbox government is the problem we've got in 2008. The reasons are pretty complex, but we ended up with a government that does a bunch of things it doesn't need to be doing, can't find the will to do the things it desperately needs to do, and bungles horribly the rest of the time.
Fran: Good morning, sir! We'd like to rent a plain old rowboat for an hour.
Man: That'll be fifty cents, ma'am.
Fran: Here you go.
Man: Okay, you can take number three over there. Guess it's the only boat still in dock, so I don't really need to call it number three, do I? Have a pleasant jaunt, ladies!
Pol: That was easy.
Fran: Sure, why not?
Pol: Nothing is simple in my time. Everything requires identification and stacks of legal mumbo-jumbo. We'd have to sign forms to say we won't sue, forms to promise that we'll follow the safety rules, and so on. And on the other side, the rental man wouldn't dare smoke in public, and wouldn't dare pat you like that.
Fran: Well, there's not much chance of us stealing the boat ... he can see all of the lake from here. He wouldn't do much business if he acted distrustful all the time, and I thought his pat was reassuring. Actually I didn't even think about it until you mentioned it.
Pol: Yeah, but you're being logical and you're thinking like an American. Both of those qualities are gone in my time.
Fran: Gone? Entirely?
Pol: Well, okay, gone from the government, gone from the education system, gone from all the ruling institutions. Not entirely lost. But it doesn't matter if the people are mostly sensible, because the campaign experts have become so good at their jobs that they can basically order up a certain number of votes from the catalog. They don't need to bribe; nothing so crude or obvious. They just need to manipulate people very precisely. Result, politicians don't have to listen to the actual needs of their actual live voters. They can just pay the right experts and win. Which means they need lots of money for consultants and experts and advertising, and the money comes from a few rich contributors. Many of those contributors are foreign, or serving foreign interests.
Fran: Sounds a lot like the breakdown in business you were talking about before, the loss of self-sufficiency. Businesses don't need to worry about satisfying American customers or keeping American employees because they operate around the globe.
Pol: Exactly. I didn't make the connection. Thanks. The politicians themselves have changed too, or rather one side has changed. You'd recognize the Republicans, no problem. They're the same as Harding and Coolidge. The only purpose of government is to help their rich friends get richer, and a lot of their rich friends are Arabs, not Americans.
Fran: But didn't you say the Arabs are making war against you?
Pol: Yes.
Fran: And the Arabs are controlling the politicians?
Pol: Yes.
Fran: Well, that's familiar, I guess. We've got a lot of pro-German rich men now. Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Joe Kennedy.
Pol: True, but those pro-German folks stopped being pro-German after
the war started in '41. At least publicly. Our pro-Arab politicians continue
to take money from Arabs and kiss the filthy hems of those bathrobe things
that Arabs wear. Even the President does that, in the middle of a war that
the Arabs started.
Fran: Oh dear. I hope I don't live to see that.
Pol: Ack, I'm sorry. Let's don't dwell on that. Back to Jimmy's soapbox. For the Republicans a soapbox-car government is ideal because it looks awful, which persuades the voters that government is a bad thing. And then, even when a problem comes up that can only be solved by government, the people are ready to believe the claim that it should be left to the tender mercies of the stock market or the robber barons. So the government can't take over or even regulate in some areas where it's the only practical solution.
Fran: Sounds like Mr Harding, all right.
Pol: It's the politicians on the Left who have changed, who have lost track of Roosevelt's example. Their contributors are the weird Communists I keep talking about. Those contributors are rich too, but they claim to have a mantle of moral purity, and the press and TV help to reinforce that image. Most of those politicians and contributors are the sons and grandsons of gangsters and robber barons like Joe Kennedy and John D. Rockefeller.
Fran: Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
Pol: Wonderful! Did you write that?
Fran: Wish I had. One of those ancient Greeks.
Pol: So these particular ignorant heirs drive their pet politicians toward pure chaos. They do it in the name of art and conservation and liberty and the Earth Goddess, so that it seems on paper to have the same purpose as Mr Wentz's projects or this lake. But the art is a cruel joke, the conservation doesn't conserve, the liberty amounts to encouraging crime, and the total result makes life tremendously harder for everyone who isn't a rich man's heir. These wealthy ignoramuses spend most of their time in other countries anyway, so they don't need to be anywhere near the mess.
Fran: Broken circle.
Pol: Yep.
Fran: Well, I can't imagine how we could have made it through this Depression with a government like that. Even if I take the cynical view that Mr Roosevelt is just a practical politician ... which he is, of course ... we're lucky that he decided his reputation and his party would be best served by fixing the country and preserving families, instead of destroying them.
Pol: For sure. And come to think of it, the CCC played an even bigger part than you know yet. Here in the '30s they're building dams and parks and buildings, giving the country a solid basis for advancement. In the war against Japan and Germany that will start in '41, many of the soldiers will be former CCC boys, and all of them will be relatives or friends of CCC boys. The CCC gave them skills, a sense of usefulness and purpose, and a head start on military discipline. Most of all CCC helped them to support their families, to save their families from starvation. So they'll fight with extreme loyalty and determination. They'll fight fiercely to protect their families and to protect the government that helped to keep their families intact.
Fran: I'm getting the idea that your situation is the other way around?
Pol: Yes. Our war is much smaller, and there's no draft. We're still able to recruit the sort of men who are natural soldiers and natural heroes, and we're lucky to have a few men like that. But if we had to recruit millions, it wouldn't work. The government has spent too many years protecting criminals, favoring the rich, making life hard for normal families, and favoring the enemy. That's no way to build up a reserve of loyalty. It's been good for the rich Republicans who want to get richer, and it's been good for the rich Communists who enjoy poking a sharp stick into the eyes of Christian families and hearing them scream. But it sure as hell hasn't been good for normal families.
Pardon my language.
Fran: You're pardoned.
= = = = =
Continued in Part 6 here. ¶ 9:10 PM
Read Part 1 and Part 2 and Part 3 and Part 4 first.
Ponca, June 1939. Polistra and Fran are still driving to the lake...
Polistra: Bye, Jimmy! See you later!
Jimmy: Goodbye, Miss Lister! Bye, Miss Fran!
Fran: Well, Jimmy looks a lot happier now. He finally got to test-drive his fine little automobile. Jimmy's family is struggling to make ends meet ... we'll visit them later on and you can see how it is.
Pol: Here's a thought. If real cars looked like Jimmy's car, sort of slapped together at odd angles, what would you think of the idea of cars in general? I'm not making fun of Jimmy, of course ... he's a kid, and this is helping him to learn carpentry. His next project will look better, I'm sure. But if the cars built by grownups looked like that, would you think cars were a good idea?
Fran: Well, of course not. Rhetorical question.
Pol: Yes. Okay, now if government actions, the products of government, were built like Jimmy's car instead of your Bantam, would you think government was a good idea?
Fran: Also rhetorical, but I'll play along. Hold on! The best part of this drive is coming up. Here we go....
Pol: Wow!
Fran: Snazzy, huh? Down into the spillway and up again, then we'll get to the boats.
Pol: Pretty fancy construction. Does this dam produce electricity?
Fran: No, the creek doesn't have enough flow. The idea here was mainly a reliable water supply for Ponca, and some beauty for everyone to enjoy. Most of all, the CCC provided useful work and training for the farm families who lost everything in the drought.
Pol: Well, as I was saying, a soapbox government is the problem we've got in 2008. The reasons are pretty complex, but we ended up with a government that does a bunch of things it doesn't need to be doing, can't find the will to do the things it desperately needs to do, and bungles horribly the rest of the time.
Fran: Good morning, sir! We'd like to rent a plain old rowboat for an hour.
Man: That'll be fifty cents, ma'am.
Fran: Here you go.
Man: Okay, you can take number three over there. Guess it's the only boat still in dock, so I don't really need to call it number three, do I? Have a pleasant jaunt, ladies!
Pol: That was easy.
Fran: Sure, why not?
Pol: Nothing is simple in my time. Everything requires identification and stacks of legal mumbo-jumbo. We'd have to sign forms to say we won't sue, forms to promise that we'll follow the safety rules, and so on. And on the other side, the rental man wouldn't dare smoke in public, and wouldn't dare pat you like that.
Fran: Well, there's not much chance of us stealing the boat ... he can see all of the lake from here. He wouldn't do much business if he acted distrustful all the time, and I thought his pat was reassuring. Actually I didn't even think about it until you mentioned it.
Pol: Yeah, but you're being logical and you're thinking like an American. Both of those qualities are gone in my time.
Fran: Gone? Entirely?
Pol: Well, okay, gone from the government, gone from the education system, gone from all the ruling institutions. Not entirely lost. But it doesn't matter if the people are mostly sensible, because the campaign experts have become so good at their jobs that they can basically order up a certain number of votes from the catalog. They don't need to bribe; nothing so crude or obvious. They just need to manipulate people very precisely. Result, politicians don't have to listen to the actual needs of their actual live voters. They can just pay the right experts and win. Which means they need lots of money for consultants and experts and advertising, and the money comes from a few rich contributors. Many of those contributors are foreign, or serving foreign interests.
Fran: Sounds a lot like the breakdown in business you were talking about before, the loss of self-sufficiency. Businesses don't need to worry about satisfying American customers or keeping American employees because they operate around the globe.
Pol: Exactly. I didn't make the connection. Thanks. The politicians themselves have changed too, or rather one side has changed. You'd recognize the Republicans, no problem. They're the same as Harding and Coolidge. The only purpose of government is to help their rich friends get richer, and a lot of their rich friends are Arabs, not Americans.
Fran: But didn't you say the Arabs are making war against you?
Pol: Yes.
Fran: And the Arabs are controlling the politicians?
Pol: Yes.
Fran: Well, that's familiar, I guess. We've got a lot of pro-German rich men now. Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, Joe Kennedy.
Pol: True, but those pro-German folks stopped being pro-German after
the war started in '41. At least publicly. Our pro-Arab politicians continue
to take money from Arabs and kiss the filthy hems of those bathrobe things
that Arabs wear. Even the President does that, in the middle of a war that
the Arabs started.
Fran: Oh dear. I hope I don't live to see that.
Pol: Ack, I'm sorry. Let's don't dwell on that. Back to Jimmy's soapbox. For the Republicans a soapbox-car government is ideal because it looks awful, which persuades the voters that government is a bad thing. And then, even when a problem comes up that can only be solved by government, the people are ready to believe the claim that it should be left to the tender mercies of the stock market or the robber barons. So the government can't take over or even regulate in some areas where it's the only practical solution.
Fran: Sounds like Mr Harding, all right.
Pol: It's the politicians on the Left who have changed, who have lost track of Roosevelt's example. Their contributors are the weird Communists I keep talking about. Those contributors are rich too, but they claim to have a mantle of moral purity, and the press and TV help to reinforce that image. Most of those politicians and contributors are the sons and grandsons of gangsters and robber barons like Joe Kennedy and John D. Rockefeller.
Fran: Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.
Pol: Wonderful! Did you write that?
Fran: Wish I had. One of those ancient Greeks.
Pol: So these particular ignorant heirs drive their pet politicians toward pure chaos. They do it in the name of art and conservation and liberty and the Earth Goddess, so that it seems on paper to have the same purpose as Mr Wentz's projects or this lake. But the art is a cruel joke, the conservation doesn't conserve, the liberty amounts to encouraging crime, and the total result makes life tremendously harder for everyone who isn't a rich man's heir. These wealthy ignoramuses spend most of their time in other countries anyway, so they don't need to be anywhere near the mess.
Fran: Broken circle.
Pol: Yep.
Fran: Well, I can't imagine how we could have made it through this Depression with a government like that. Even if I take the cynical view that Mr Roosevelt is just a practical politician ... which he is, of course ... we're lucky that he decided his reputation and his party would be best served by fixing the country and preserving families, instead of destroying them.
Pol: For sure. And come to think of it, the CCC played an even bigger part than you know yet. Here in the '30s they're building dams and parks and buildings, giving the country a solid basis for advancement. In the war against Japan and Germany that will start in '41, many of the soldiers will be former CCC boys, and all of them will be relatives or friends of CCC boys. The CCC gave them skills, a sense of usefulness and purpose, and a head start on military discipline. Most of all CCC helped them to support their families, to save their families from starvation. So they'll fight with extreme loyalty and determination. They'll fight fiercely to protect their families and to protect the government that helped to keep their families intact.
Fran: I'm getting the idea that your situation is the other way around?
Pol: Yes. Our war is much smaller, and there's no draft. We're still able to recruit the sort of men who are natural soldiers and natural heroes, and we're lucky to have a few men like that. But if we had to recruit millions, it wouldn't work. The government has spent too many years protecting criminals, favoring the rich, making life hard for normal families, and favoring the enemy. That's no way to build up a reserve of loyalty. It's been good for the rich Republicans who want to get richer, and it's been good for the rich Communists who enjoy poking a sharp stick into the eyes of Christian families and hearing them scream. But it sure as hell hasn't been good for normal families.
Pardon my language.
Fran: You're pardoned.
= = = = =
Continued in Part 6 here. ¶ 9:10 PM
Friday, April 24, 2009
Now that's more like it.
Polistra has been dreaming about electric cars lately. Now Chrysler is getting ready to announce a truly appealing electric, which is made in America.
It's a bit uncanny how Polistra's thoughts were anticipating the reality. The Peapod has the same snazzy cuteness as the Bantam, translated to a modern idiom. And it has the same specifications as the electric cars of a century ago, for about 1/4 the inflation-adjusted price. It's intended and designed for pure in-town usage, just as the originals were.
By contrast, GM's approach to electrics takes two different wrong paths. The 'Volt' tries to be an all-purpose car and fails, and the new Segway monstrosity tries to be ... tries to be .... tries to be a totally goofy and useless toy and succeeds magnificently.
Comparing the Peapod's internals with the original Detroit Electric. Are the new engineers learning from the original? Certainly the same overall proportions, though Polistra still prefers the original's "rolling parlor" atmosphere. ¶ 2:26 PM
It's a bit uncanny how Polistra's thoughts were anticipating the reality. The Peapod has the same snazzy cuteness as the Bantam, translated to a modern idiom. And it has the same specifications as the electric cars of a century ago, for about 1/4 the inflation-adjusted price. It's intended and designed for pure in-town usage, just as the originals were.
By contrast, GM's approach to electrics takes two different wrong paths. The 'Volt' tries to be an all-purpose car and fails, and the new Segway monstrosity tries to be ... tries to be .... tries to be a totally goofy and useless toy and succeeds magnificently.
Comparing the Peapod's internals with the original Detroit Electric. Are the new engineers learning from the original? Certainly the same overall proportions, though Polistra still prefers the original's "rolling parlor" atmosphere. ¶ 2:26 PM
