The Tow Files: Hot Summer in the City

[DGoddessChardonnay]

How can any car painted British racing green be ugly?

As for uncomfortable, I never make that judgement until I have sat in it. I have been surprised by the comfort levels of cars many times, and not always pleasantly.

True that.


A car can look like it would be so much fun to ride in but if the seats aren't comfortable, the ride sure won't be.

Case in point: years ago (about 20 or so) my aunt and uncle were babysitting her grandson's Porsche 944 sportscar (he had just enlisted in the Navy and was out at sea for a few months) and they were driving it around some. They still had the car when my uncle took ill and had to go on LOA from his job for a time and they had to move in with us for a few months. Car looked nice on the outside . . . graphite gray/black interior. I'd say it was a early 90's model IIRC.

He drove me to work a time or two in that car . . . the seats are hard as bricks . . . no cushioning to speak of or any type of lumbar support. I almost had to have a crane to get me out of the damn thing . . . .I was that stiff after that short ride!

You'd think as much as my great-cousin was paying for the car, he'd have a more comfortable ride. I've been more comfortable in Mom's 1979 Ford F100 pickup.

No thanks. If I had that kind of money, I wouldn't waste it on a tuna can like a Porsche.

[xxscooterxx]

I say this as a totally not a car person but *raises hand*.

Honestly the car in that picture looks ugly and uncomfortable to me.

I like to look at 'em. Thats about it.

[Sliceanddice]

How can any car painted British racing green be ugly?

Well one also say it puke green with acid mixed in but the best way I can describe how it looks to me, is that it looks like a English bulldog who was the subject of over inbreeding, hit with a car and his shoulders heal wrong. There is something cute in there but it's buried under so many horrors and suffering that it's painful to look at.

[dalesys]

... buried under so many horrors and suffering that it's painful to look at.

For fence jumping oooogly there's always the S'itrun DS.

DS for the target market, D**b S***s, apparently.

[Ironclad Alibi]

My vote for ugliest car goes to the Dolo.

[Nunavut Pants]

... Porsche 944 sportscar ....
You'd think as much as my great-cousin was paying for the car, he'd have a more comfortable ride. I've been more comfortable in Mom's 1979 Ford F100 pickup.

There's an old saying: "Horses for courses." That is, something can be good at one aspect of what it is supposed to do, and not very good at another aspect. Comfort was not the first priority in its design brief. Nor the third. Nor the twentieth.

Take the F100 and the 944 to a track (one that turns both left and right!) and you would see what the 944 was designed for. Unfortunately good on-track performance very often comes with a lack of comfort.

[wolfie]

There's an old saying: "Horses for courses." That is, something can be good at one aspect of what it is supposed to do, and not very good at another aspect.

Yep. The B-17 was a LOUSY primary trainer (too complex for student pilots, too expensive to operate). In the same vein, if you're trying to blow up factories in the Rhur Valley, you can't do much worse than a Piper Cub.

Similarly, a 379 Pete is a VERY poor choice for a commuter vehicle. Lousy fuel economy, and can't get into a lot of commercial parking lots. On the other hand, you don't even want to TRY hauling 20 tons of paper rolls using an Elantra Wagon.

[Argabarga]

Having owned a 944, the seats are the creation of a sadist, the ability to take flat corners at 60 without spinning into ditches are the creation of the gods..... gotta sacrifice somewhere.

[protege]

While I admit that my MGB GT isn't the fastest thing out there....it is one of the most comfortable cars I've owned. Of course that's probably because I modified the front seats before they went back in. Rather than deal with sagging seat straps (the rubber things the foam cushions sit on), I chose to have the seats fitted with plywood bases. If I hadn't, I'd get a sore back every time I took it for a spin.