November 04, 2005

The Secret of the Hidden Hummers. Wherein our blog-writing super sleuths make a startling discovery. via mefi
posted by Nickdanger 19 years ago
  • Very Very entertaining!! Bravo!
  • A saucy, insouciant romp of geekery and insane madness gone psychotic. Could have used more naughty bits. I liked the part about the 5 gallon gas can.
  • Curiosity + Internet = kickass. A nice piece of sleuthing, and a welcome break from regurgitation reporting.
  • Living near Detroit, we hear the news almost daily how pension and healthcare costs are forcing GM to consider bankruptcy filing. Effing Morons! Their thinking is what is bankrupt. Once it was thought and said that what was good for GM was good for America. Bush still believes in that paradigm. God save us from ourselves. But I laughed my ass off at the thought of all of those SoCal Hummer-dealing idiots who must still be counting on Enron to buy more fleet cars.
  • I really enjoyed that; it certainly made me chuckle. Here in Victoria, BC (Canada) I see one or two Hummers around. They're completely, ridiculously inappropriate for our region. I see a lot more of these around lately.
  • Holy fuck, savannah. Does that thing come with a remote control?
  • I see more and more Smartcars around lately (are they only available in Canada?). They're just as ridiculous as Hummers, IMO.
  • Yes, but they're cuter. And if everyone drove one, wouldn't it be fab? Can you imagine some Big Dick trying on Road Rage in one of these things?
  • Yes, but they're cuter. And if everyone drove one, wouldn't it be fab? Can you imagine some Big Dick trying on Road Rage in one of these things?
  • Only ridiculous in terms of looks. They make a lot of sense from an efficiency perspective, something that the Hummer lacks entirely.
  • The Smartcars are all over Toronto too. Seem to be the lastest fashion accessory for the Forest Hill types, replacing the H2 in that role. I suppose that's a good thing.
  • GramMa has PostRage today.
  • SmartCars are becoming so prevalent here on Vancouver Island that at least one town has given them their own tiny parking spaces.
  • Friend of mine at work owns one of those SmartCars -- nice little thing, but it doesn't get a heck of a lot better mileage than my VW Golf TDI, considering the enourmous difference in size and performance. It is really only good as a second or commuter car. I figure, why not leave the car at home and use a bike. Cheaper and healthier. And for the $20K+ that he paid for it, I'd get a Toyota Echo hatchback 2-door first ($12K) and use the extra money to cover the difference in gas.
  • Anyone notice that mopeds and scooters are breeding like flies as well? Although I have lusted over vintage Vespas for years, I still can't see driving one in an Ottawa winter . . . .
  • Anyone notice that mopeds and scooters are breeding like flies as well? Although I have lusted over vintage Vespas for years, I still can't see driving one in an Ottawa winter . . . .
  • My fear about driving a SmartCar or a scooter is that some idiot in a hummer will hit me, and I won't stand a chance. That's why I take the bus.
  • /satisfied with my Honda Metro.
  • First time I saw a SmartCar, I tought: 'Boy, four guys could lift it and take it away...' They're great for running around a big, congested city, and they fit everywhere for parking, but their inexistent storage space makes them unusable for mnay people. Now, that Nissan Micra is cute and has some trunk too...
  • Would there be junk in this, alleged, trunk?
  • the coolest thing about smart fortwos is that they can park perpendicular between two parallel-parked cars, IMHO.
  • As long as you leave me enough room to get my truck out...'cause you'll lose that battle.
  • If they had them in the US, and if the Missus and I weren't planning on spawning our own brood, I would totally be down with trading one of our cars for a SmartCar, just for getting around town. They look fun to drive, too.
  • Augh, so much Law of GVW going on. This is why I hate being a pedestrian; I know y'all have no qualms about running me over, because LOL you're (slightly) bigger than me so I totally deserved it LOL better get out of your way LOL. /sidewalkrage Fun article. It's the Isle of Misfit Toys!
  • It's a proven fact, if you're bigger you totally have the right to run people in smaller cars over. See also US foreign policy.
  • Small cars have the right to run over bigger cars, too. It's just that they don't often exercise that right.
  • /rimshot
  • see: Faulkland Islands
  • Ah, I did so want an Isetta all those years ago. They were probably hard to exit from gracefully, since the door was in front, but they had a raffish quality about them that appealed. They kind of look like a prototype for the Smart Cars. Maybe BMW should resuscitate the brand.
  • Oh, and did you know that BMW was known as Borgward Motor Werken back then? Humble beginnings. (Sorry, I was a fan of non-US cars back then, before the Volkswagen made it ok. Just had to share.)
  • Is that Isetta the car that Mr. Bean was always pushing around?
  • The Smart is a perfect second car for the city but there are several very similar cars, such as the Pontiac Wave (sold, but not made by GM) from other manufacturers that offer slightly different configurations, depending on your exact preferences. As far as safety, the cage on a Smart apparently stands up extremely well in collisions with even large trucks. You just don't want to get the Smart pinned between another large vehicle and a solid object, like a bridge abutment. That will make the Smart go squish, but realistically less of a concern for city driving.
  • As far as safety, the cage on a Smart apparently stands up extremely well in collisions with even large trucks. As I understand it, they kind of skitter away from impact like whiffle balls. Which is good enough for me. But the squishing part...everything was going so well until the squishing part.
  • I suspect that little car, while fuel efficient, wasn't built for full grown people. I'm 6ft 4in and often feel cramped in normal size cars. Also, I've said it before and I'll say it again, scooters and mopeds make you look like a dork. I don't care how many dorky people in Europe drive them, they still make you look like a dork! I only drive once every week or so, therefore, I don't feel too guilty about my 1990 Dodge Dakota. If I ever get a job that pays more than $12,700 a year, I'll probably buy a VW turbo diesel. Untill then, I'll just walk to campus.
  • Only dweebs and the homeless walk, jc. You could at least summersault or something.
  • Sorry Pete, my button seems to be stuck in "post twice" mode. Same with you, fimbulvetr? Perhaps it's the evil Wendell's fault! Off to the Petemobile.
  • Sorry Pete, my button seems to be stuck in "post twice" mode. Same with you, fimbulvetr? Perhaps it's the evil Wendell's fault! Off to the Petemobile.
  • I've said it before and I'll say it again, scooters and mopeds make you look like a dork. Well, yes, a little. The BMW scooter looks nice and all, but if you actually see it rolling down the street, yes, looks a little silly... I mean, if I have the cash for one of those, I'd better get a small car so as not to get drenched by the rain, eh?
  • Proof that scooter riding is cool- Google results for "cool scooter" :2,060,000 Results for "lame scooter": a mere 387,000. Someone owes the cool scooter riders of the world an apology.
  • jccalhoun. Having dorky opinions makes you a dork.
  • Is there some sort of West Coast hip hop slump that correlates to the hummer sales slowdown?
  • Bzuh?
  • Everyone knows that if something really is cool then you don't need to go online to talk about it. Therefore, the presence of things relating to cool scooters online only reinforces the fact that scooters are not cool and are, in fact, dorky.