A Serious Question

"Mercedes Streeter" (smart)
02/11/2015 at 13:45 • Filed to: Rant, Jalopnik, Oppositelock

(Full Disclosure: I started Hormone Replacement Therapy yesterday and it appears the injection is kicking in full swing this morning. My emotions are off the charts and my brain is on point! So uhh. Sorry but not sorry?)

Just look at today's !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! or really anywhere else on the Internet.

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We ask (often beg) for automakers to bring over more quirky, oddball cars because looking at Corollas and Civics is boring. "BROWN MANUAL DIESEL WAGONS!" "MOAR WEIRD TINY JAPANESE CARS!" "MORE ODDBALLS!"

Copy & Paste any of the words we all try to live by.

So, automakers bring these cars over. Some of them (like the Prius, Volt, etc.) fill a populated segment and they fit the needs of these segments to the letter.

Other cars (the Nissan Cube, Juke, CrossCab, smart fortwo, Chevy SS, etc) exist in-part because we claim to want these weird and/or performance cars (automakers do pay attention to social media) and the automakers get a sense that "hey, this car just might sell!" Then they bring them over.

The next part is a real head-scratcher. Oddballs immediately get shot down (sorry CrossCab, Puma, smart, Cube) and enthusiast cars stay on lots because those who lusted over them can't even afford them (or are going to wait until they hit the used market). Sure, some of them are duds worldwide (the Scion iQ, for example), but many others enjoy healthy sales numbers in other countries.

What's even worse? Automakers often botch these product launches anyway. They'd much rather put some effort into selling their bread and butter than the cars people claim to want, but actually won't buy.

What motivation do automakers have to give us "different" cars if we're just going to hate on them or not even buy them?

I for one, like the crazy oddballs. I welcome the CrossCab, the Youabian Puma, the smart, even the freaking Chrysler PT and the Pontiac Aztec. These sort of cars break convention and they aren't afraid of being different. The world needs more crazy cars. We complain about endless seas of blandness, but do absolutely nothing to change that.

And who are we calling ourselves "enthusiasts" if we shoot down something just because it doesn't fit our preferences? I love ALL cars, even the ones I don't like. Because someone out there does love those cars. Somewhere out there, someone isn't able to sleep at night because they can't wait to drive their car in the morning. There's no way I can hate on that.

But, automakers aren't going to give us them unless we actually buy them!!

(End Rant: Again, my hormones and emotions are all battling for supremacy, if you think I've gone completely nuts, I'll understand. :D)

DISCUSSION (7)

and 100 more > Mercedes Streeter
02/11/2015 at 14:17

I can back you on everything but the Youabian Puma.

Yes, the guy spent a lot of time to make, in his mind, the perfect car. But theres a difference between making the perfect car, and selling the "perfect" car. He made a custom car, just like any kitted out Civic from the 90s, or any sky-high bro-truck today. But he made it with the intent to sell it as a bespoke car, when it's actually just a chopped up mess of other cars merged together.

Is there room for the small guy in the automaker game? I think there is, and there certainly should be. Local Motors is a great example. They build custom cars, for a very niche market.

What I'm tryna say is, if the Youabian guy just made his one car, drove it around for fun and enjoyed his own creation, we'd call him a little crazy, maybe with some questionable taste in some eyes, but otherwise he's just a guy happy w/ his car, same as the guy w/ a bone-stock Scion xB with a "Zombie Outbreak Response Team" sticker on the side. But trying to push the Puma as anything sellable, that's just asking for ridicule.

I'm all for more oddballs on the mass market, if only for my own vicarious enjoyment.

Wurrwulf > Mercedes Streeter
02/11/2015 at 19:14

All I can think of when reading about the Civic Type R is how no one bought the Mugen because it was over $30k. Who the hell is going to buy a $35k+ Civic. I've seen one Mugen on the road. Ever. They were more famous for having shit stolen off of them while on dealer lots than they ever were for anything else.

I will never blame a manufacturer for not producing or bringing a quirky car to the US market. Even though we have a huge market here, everyone buys the same damned thing over and over.

DipodomysDeserti > and 100 more
02/11/2015 at 23:03

So there was one of those "Zombie Response" guys in my neighborhood. He had an old crown Vic with the zombie killer stickers and lights an shit. Turned out he was a serial killer. True story. Don't trust people who don't live in reality.

DipodomysDeserti > Mercedes Streeter
02/11/2015 at 23:08

I have an Abarth, and orange hatchback bmw, a 4wd manual wagon, and a manual Corvair in my driveway. Speak for yourself. That Youbian is a crime against humanity.

Mercedes Streeter > DipodomysDeserti
02/12/2015 at 03:29

**Heavy Breathing*^

11/10 - Would do disrespectful things to have a stable like that.

I like the Puma because it is the anti-car-car. Like something Heath Ledger' Joker would drive, just because.

Xyl0c41n3 > Mercedes Streeter
02/14/2015 at 23:22

Is that your Smart? Did you take that photo? Because I fricken LOVE it!

Mercedes Streeter > Xyl0c41n3
02/15/2015 at 17:15

Yes ma'am!!! And thanks! I love taking photos of my car and the sky. :)