Deco Deliveries

[Fading Fast]

Rob

Lyrics from Chuck Berry's song "You Never Can Tell:"

They furnished off an apartment with a two room Roebuck sale
The coolerator was crammed with TV dinners and ginger ale​

I always loved the term coolerartor* in that song.

*Spellcheck all but wouldn't let me write "coolerartor" as it kept changing it to "cooperator." After my first try, couldn't the supposedly brilliant artificial intelligence of the software know that I really wanted to type "coolerartor?"

 

[Fading Fast]

Rob

Fading Fast's girlfriend just said: "My God is he cute. We should buy him just so that we can take care of him."

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[BlueTrain]

View attachment 83655

Rob

Were things like this produced in any real numbers or were they more of a one-off sort of thing? Outside of special vehicles made for movies, like the Batmobile, the only think I can think of that is the least bit similar is the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, not counting custom hotrods.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Were things like this produced in any real numbers or were they more of a one-off sort of thing? Outside of special vehicles made for movies, like the Batmobile, the only think I can think of that is the least bit similar is the Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, not counting custom hotrods.

I couldn't say for sure, but it looks like a one-off vehicle, imho.

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[EngProf]

Rob

Very nice pair of vehicles.
I use the Chrysler Airflow in my engineering-design course as an example of a design that was technically superior in all respects, but was rejected by the public for aesthetic reasons and was therefore a famous commercial failure.

 

[BlueTrain]

Sometimes a product is promoted as a superior design (in all respects), yet really isn't as advanced as they would have you believe. And sometimes, it can be let down by a design or engineering shortcoming. There is also the matter of what might be called fads in design.

One such fad, unless there's a better word, was the rear-engine car. There were a few, all small, but mostly good for what they were. None made claims as being engineering marvels, though, or technical innovators. But a car like the VW Beetle was a very well-made car that made up for what might be shortcomings in some areas. Are there any rear-engine cars around today?

One car that had a good claim to being an engineer's delight (my own term) was a Citroën DS. It was innovative and remarkable in many ways and only handicapped by a few characteristics. I've even driven two of them. Although I was taken by the curiosities of the car, I really didn't find it that superior to other cars I've owned. But to be honest, I am unable to separate cost from benefit and it was a more expensive car. But different people want different things from a car and that one certainly had things others didn't. But time marches on and the DS was replaced by another fantastically futuristic car, the CX. I've never even seen one of them and I've even been to France.

So technical superiority may not necessarily be a top requirement for a car to sell well. On the other hand, as I look at some cars I see on the road in respectable numbers, I'm not so sure that aesthetic reasons are either. I suppose it's mostly a matter of taste. There are only so many engineers who buy cars.

My late father-in-law was an engineer. He saw the world as an engineer. All problems had engineering solutions. And as far as cars go, he talked about one car more than all the others put together: his Corvair. He thought it was an engineering marvel. "Efficient" was the word he used more than any others in describing it.

 

[Zombie_61]

...One such fad, unless there's a better word, was the rear-engine car. There were a few, all small, but mostly good for what they were. None made claims as being engineering marvels, though, or technical innovators. But a car like the VW Beetle was a very well-made car that made up for what might be shortcomings in some areas. Are there any rear-engine cars around today?

The Porsche 911 and Smart Fortwo come to mind, but even Volkswagen's "new" Beetle has had the engine in the front since it was introduced in 1997.

 

[BlueTrain]

Would you believe I have seen more Ferraris and Maseratis than Porsche 911s in the last ten years? But the Cayenne model is fairly common around here, at least, and we, the company, even owned one.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob