# Remember when concept cars were cool, futuristic machines? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2007, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923 "2007-01-14T10:24:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923/21 "2007-01-15T00:43:55Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] It would boggle my mind if it were somehow capable of pulling an Airstream trailer. I somehow just doubt it has the horsepower. [/QUOTE] How about an [Airstream Bambi](http://www.vintageairstreamer.com/stella/stella.htm)? FWIW, I’ve heard that people pulled teardrop trailers (admittedly lighter than even the tiny Bambi) with MGBs that put out 95 hp. ---
**Author:** ![brendon\_small](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brendon_small/32/17101_2.png) [@brendon\_small](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brendon_small)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923/22 "2007-01-15T04:34:02Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] It would boggle my mind if it were somehow capable of pulling an Airstream trailer. I somehow just doubt it has the horsepower. [/QUOTE] This was the first thing I thought! Maybe they pulled some old Airstream trailer out of a trailer-park in Missouri (no offense Missouri, just first state that came to mind) and put a motor on it! I think that is exactly what Ford wanted it to look like…numbskulls…heh Brendon ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923/23 "2007-01-15T08:07:04Z")
[QUOTE=Nanoda] **OMG check out [_the inside_](http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/detroit-auto-show-ford-airstream-concept/)** :eek: :eek: :eek: The hideous, hideous continuation of _red…_ the gawd-awful seating arrangement… the cameras-instead-of-mirrors-cause-it’s-kewl… the… _thing_ in the back seat!!! I thought when they said ‘lava lamp’ they meant some type of screen-saver for the rear-passenger screens. But no. It’s a 2’+ lava lamp. [/QUOTE] I’m sure that [this](http://inmod.com/ballchairs.html) was the inspiration for the interior. (_Not_ the blond.) I think that this concept car could be considered the most expensive suicide note in history. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923/24 "2007-01-15T08:37:41Z")
Okay, listen up, Ford. If you’re going to build a boogie van, you’ve got to get it right. First, the windows in the back are too big. You don’t want people looking in while you’re shagging your old lady. Make the windows in the back much smaller, preferably in the shape of a teardrop or a heart. Second, where’s the fun fur? The dash must be covered in fun fur. And we need a mirror ornament - preferably a plastic Jesus, a hula chick, or a set of fuzzy dice. There’s no waterbed. You cannot have a boogie van without a waterbed. The old lady digs a waterbed. Now you’ve got a chance to use 21st century technology to solve age-old boogie van problems. For example, for extra space the back seats should fold - and turn into a bong. Advanced air filtration could be employed to avoid clouds of smoke pouring out of the van when you open the door to let your buds in. And dudes, where’s the 8-track? Smokin’ in the boogie van with the old lady - and without 8 tracks of Jimi tellin’ the man what it is with his axe? That just harshes the customer’s mellow. A nice touch would be to actually engrave the ‘Keep on Truckin’ guy right into the back bumper. Failing that, we will accept a Road Runner on one side and a Coyote on the other. Because Loony Tunes are trippy when you’re spacin’. If you do sell these things, you might want Ford Credit to tighten up just a tad on the leases for this one. Trust me, Wild Thing and Flower won’t be in their current jobs as long as you would like to believe. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923/25 "2007-01-15T11:24:13Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] I’m sure that [this](http://inmod.com/ballchairs.html) was the inspiration for the interior. (_Not_ the blond.) [/QUOTE] Damn you, **Tuckerfan**. Now I want to redecorate my apartment in that cool early-sixties Modern style. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923/26 "2007-01-15T13:37:35Z")
So…the front seats encapsulate the driver and passenger before they eject, so’s to protect them from the air blast of Mach 2+ flight, right? Seriously, though…can’t we just take today’s tech, and build production versions of concept cars from 15 years ago? Now they wouldn’t look too out of place on the road, and they’d work. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923/27 "2007-01-15T14:20:28Z")
[QUOTE=Ranchoth] So…the front seats encapsulate the driver and passenger before they eject, so’s to protect them from the air blast of Mach 2+ flight, right? Seriously, though…can’t we just take today’s tech, and build production versions of concept cars from 15 years ago? Now they wouldn’t look too out of place on the road, and they’d work. [/QUOTE] Because that would make sense. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923/28 "2007-01-15T14:35:54Z")
[QUOTE=ASAKMOTSD] It would boggle my mind if it were somehow capable of pulling an Airstream trailer. I somehow just doubt it has the horsepower. [/QUOTE] Dude, it has a range of 25 miles. Hook up a trailer to it, and you’ll be lucky to clear the end of the driveway. They call it an Airstream. That is no Airstream. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2007, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923/29 "2007-01-15T14:54:57Z")
This is what happens when the marketing department is in the design shop, breathing audibly down everyone’s neck. Everything is familiar. but nothing is fresh. It’s a car designed not to be driven or wanted - not even to be bought - only to be sold. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/remember-when-concept-cars-were-cool-futuristic-machines/387923.md?page=1)