We seem to have sunk into an amphibious mode this morning, although we got our feet wet earlier this week with that seminal and still most-built floating car, the VW Schwimmwagen. But Hanns Trippel saw civilian potential, and convinced the Quandt Group (BMW) to back production of his Amphicar design. Although it floated well, enough, the business case for it didn’t.
If anybody will again blather about a “weak yen” that has been “manipulated by the Japanese government,” then I’ll personally come visit, with the intent to insert a sock in the mouth. For reasons explicable only to forex mavens, the currency of the economic basked case Japan keeps on getting stronger. Japan’s car manufacturers think this will continue, and they are taking precautions. More precisely, they are taking production out of Japan. (Read More…)
Where else would someone take a brain fart and actually build it? Yes, combine a boat and a hyper long stretched van, and turn into the Boaterhome! Fame and fortune are just a prototype away. Actually, twenty-one were built. And now JDK Enterprises wants to revive the plan, and build an even bigger and better Boaterhome. Some brilliant ideas just won’t go away, despite the many intrinsic challenges. Here’s one: Guess which axle drives this behemoth? (Read More…)
The precise evolution of the SUV, like all car genres is debatable, but there’s no question that the International Scout is the critical link between the military Jeep and the modern SUV. It was the first vehicle of the genre to be designed from scratch to meet the anticipated growth in the off-road capable civilian market, and it clearly was the template for its many imitators: Ford Bronco, Range Rover, Chevy Blazer, Dodge Ramcharger, as well as the Mitsubishi Pajero/Montero (and others). True to its name, the Scout led the industry into the land of milk and SUV profits, even if it bowed out early. (Read More…)
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