28 Mar 2015 – Driven To Write

Unforgetting: 2007 Dodge Caliber

Or Calibre, if you are writing using British English.

2007 Dodge Calibre interior. Image: Edmunds.com

I only remembered this one because I saw an example other day. I didn’t know what it was so I thought it must be one of those Chrysler things. Or Dodge things. Or maybe a Plymouth. Whatever. There was a time when American car interiors were cherishably bad. They might have been a bit careless but they had a humour and brio to them. The Calibre’s is simply bad and dispiriting but is a great example of when simple (good) becomes banal (not good). All the great simple designs have a twist or an inflection or a grace note. This set of straight lines (above) is Continue reading “Unforgetting: 2007 Dodge Caliber”

Unforgetting: 1989 Mitsubishi Galant 4wd 4ws

Obviously I haven’t forgotten it. But nearly everyone else has.

Around the late 80s the Japanese car industry had a thing about technology. An arms race between Honda, Toyota and Nissan had the firms vying to outdo one another in the levels of fiendish ingenuity they could tempt customers with. An economic boom drove this boom in engineering silliness. Whereas in Europe and the US the late 80s economic expansion meant more cubic capacity, the Japanese tended to focus on all the other areas of the car. It led to some wonderful creations, hopeful monsters like this all-wheel drive Mitsubishi saloon. Continue reading “Unforgetting: 1989 Mitsubishi Galant 4wd 4ws”

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