"Josh - the lost soldier" (toyobaruion86)
11/22/2019 at 23:26 • Filed to: None
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"Josh - the lost soldier" (toyobaruion86)
11/22/2019 at 23:26 • Filed to: None | 3
| 15 |
I’ll be honest, at first, I thought it was hideous. It’s still kind of hideous, in a way, but Musk basically hinted at this sort of design when he mentioned that he was after a Blade Runner -esque truck for the present audience.
Given that Musk really wanted to go for a Blade Runner / Total Recall aesthetic, I can’t fault the truck’s design. It’s exactly what would be in those sort of movies. Even better, could you imagine that this would be the sort of “truck of the future” that “futurists” would come up with in the 1970s and 80s?
As a cyberpunk fan, I think this sort of “retro-futuristic” styling is a refreshing break from the modern ideal of curves all over the place. It’s different for the sake of being different. Being that we’re overrun with all manner of swoopy crossovers, an aggressively angular truck seems a step in the right direction. Who knows, maybe this will signal a new direction for Tesla’s more mainstream offerings? A cyberpunk Model S or Model X, perhaps?
Sure, it’s polarizing and probably won’t find too many fans in the modern pickup truck audience, but I applaud Tesla for trying something different. It’s certainly better than droves upon droves of anonymous crossovers drowning the automotive market.
facw
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/22/2019 at 23:36 |
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Even better, could you imagine that this would be the sort of “truck of the future” that “futurists” would come up with in the 1970s and 80s?
Yes, yes I can...
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Josh - the lost soldier
> facw
11/22/2019 at 23:42 |
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I saw that article and, yes, that’s the en tire design in a nutshell.
ranwhenparked
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/22/2019 at 23:55 |
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I think Jason really hit the nail on the head when he compared it to something a movie production designer might have built on an old VW floor plan for a budget constrained sci fi movie in the late ‘70s/early ‘80s. Not that that’s bad, but I do think it feels more like that than the product of an established automaker.
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/22/2019 at 23:57 |
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its growing on me
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Josh - the lost soldier
> ranwhenparked
11/23/2019 at 00:00 |
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Jason knows his stuff: he knew that the old Blade Runner cars were based on an old VW chassis. It happens to be pretty common in the film world; I guess it has something to do with the engine packaging? But, anyway, this truck design would be well-suited to being a VW-based stand-in for a futuristic vehicle set in the 2030s but produced in the 1990s.
Weirdly, though, there weren’t a whole lot of pickup trucks in those futuristic movies. Just sedans, hatchbacks, and the occasional wagon.
BaconSandwich is tasty.
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/23/2019 at 00:06 |
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I had a similar reaction - at first I thought it was a joke, and was hideous, but it's definitely growing on me.
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Josh - the lost soldier
> pip bip - choose Corrour
11/23/2019 at 00:06 |
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It tends to do that.
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ranwhenparked
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/23/2019 at 00:07 |
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I would assume price and availability, mainly. Combined with the ease of swapping out the body shell. A notable exception was the original Land Speeder, which used a Bond Bug chassis (they were both designed by the same guy, and supposedly 3 wheels were easier to hide than 4 ).
Pickups were strictly utilitarian vehicles for farmers and construction workers back then, I doubt many folks in Hollywood foresaw them replacing station wagons and personal luxury coupes as the dominant body style for passenger vehicles.
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Josh - the lost soldier
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/23/2019 at 00:07 |
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Welcome to the club. I can’t say it’s a great design, but I get the point.
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BaconSandwich is tasty.
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/23/2019 at 00:10 |
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The front doesn't bother me, but the back... There's something about that side profile that throws me off. And visibility has got to be not very good. I also wonder how it holds up in an accident.
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Josh - the lost soldier
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
11/23/2019 at 00:13 |
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I don’t think it would be very good for the other car in collision with the truck, if I’m honest. I like the auxiliary lights and the light bar in the back, but the side profile seems to cut rear headroom significantly.
Thinking about it, the Cybertruck has some weird proportion issues that were present with the Gladiator...
JMordu becoming “savethemilanos”
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/23/2019 at 01:04 |
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It doesn’t look as awful one day on, but what sticks with me is how stupid and absurd the Tesla hype BS all is.
Tesla has been making cars over a decade now, they don’t need to “accidentally” break an “unbreakable” window for attention or announce “wheel torque” numbers to make a vapor ware future sports car sound from another planet.
The future promises presentations stopped being cool and started being desperate and cloying sometime around 2014/15 when almost everyone had seen a Model S and most of us were impressed in one way or another by it.
And they reached peak eye-roll when a significant number of Model 3s hit the road. You’ve got real products and real problems to work on, stop talking about pipe-dream, BS, future crap!
What other car (or tech) company has to constantly release information about products 2+ years in the future with hypothetical and asterisk-riddled/fine print/BS claims because they can’t stand that any of the other companies in their industry ever mentions having a competitive (though shockingly almost always clearly inferior in some major metrics) product?
What would we say if GM announced this summer that the base mid engine corvette would have 1000hp and start at $40k when it went on sale in 2022? Whatever your answer, that’s all anyone should say about this “Vaportruck.”
For me that’s “You’re full of shit. Go home, shut up, design a good truck, then let me know actual details after the specs are fully finalized and production is being set up .”
I’d seriously buy a worse EV for more money just to avoid the Tesla BS at this point.
CRider
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/23/2019 at 01:22 |
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It’s what the Dome Zero would have looked like as a truck. If it actually looks like that, goes like they claim and somehow doesn’t have the aero profile of a building with a parachute open behind it, it’ll be what every Oppo says they want in a car.
phenotyp
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/23/2019 at 01:34 |
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Yeah, I don’t hate it. I don’t know yet if I like it, but I don’t hate it.
SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
> Josh - the lost soldier
11/23/2019 at 06:39 |
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If it’s destined for production...it is an interesting idea that is poorly executed.
Otherwise, it is some very cynical but culturally and chronologically appropriate marketing.