We filled conveyors, we met production, foremen didn't waste words

[austin_dern]

There was one more bit of news of interest at my niece's birthday party, but it came from my brother-in-law's quarter. He and his wife did arrive, finally, and in a brand-new car, a Ford Something. It's their big minivan-style model, whichever it is. The buying of this felt precipitous to me, but I say that about most any purchase actually completed the same month planning for it began. I mostly knew about it because my brother-in-law tweeted about it. A lot. However much you're thinking he tweeted, he tweeted more, making points of emphasizing how he had found in Ford's inventory exactly the car he wanted yet dealerships insisted they couldn't get it, so he ultimately went to a dealer on Staten Island to get the car now as opposed to, like, a week from now, which wouldn't seem like an excessive wait to me. I admit there may have been reasons I did not know for the rush. In any case Ford and Hardees Corporate Twitter Headquarters took the chance to congratulate him.

But he's quite proud of it, and took the time to give me a tour of its many features while my sister sat on the brink of nodding off in the back seat. The dashboard features are the big showy thing with satellite navigation and voice-activated radio systems and weather forecasts and traffic reports and all that. And little details of the design seem nicely considered, such as a small divot in the center-seat armrest where cables can be run from an iPod-class device to the power and USB ports buried within in a smooth and logically compelling fashion.

The feature he really wanted to show off, but couldn't because it was only 5 pm, was the lighting scheme. Apparently Ford installed multi-colored LED matrices in pretty much every nook and cranny of the car, and set an easily switchable control on the dashboard. So at night when you have the door open you can, with the flicking of a finger, make the door lights change from blue to dark blue or purple, or even to non-blue-ish colors like green. It does seem fun in a kind of Automan way, but he was much more enthusiastic about it than multi-colored lights seem like they should be. Do not take this as indicating that I'm not jealous.

Trivia: From 1925 onwards Model T Fords were again available in colors other than black, specifically: dark Arabian sand with light Arabian stripe; gunmetal blue with French grey stripe; Niagara blue with French grey stripe; dawn grey with French grey stripe; or, again, black. Source: Ford: The Men And The Machine, Robert Lacey.

Currently Reading: Life With Lancelot / Hunting On Kunderer, John T Phillifent / William Barton. It's an Ace Double and don't ask me how you're supposed to order the titles. Lancelot is itself the fusion of three stories, in which a Space Agent killed in a starship crash is rejuvenated by nigh-omnipotent aliens who, since it's easier this way, put him in a pretty much indestructible body and send along a representative who'll whip up or just morph into anything he needs for the problem; now, will he be able to outthink the poor natives of Space Camelot, Space Rome, and Space Arabian Knights with nothing but the author's thumb on the scale in his favor?

Comments

[bunny-hugger.livejournal.com]

I shall indeed take it to mean you're not jealous, since clearly envious would be the appropriate emotion!

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

Oh dear! Yes, you're absolutely right. Please don't think I'm envious of all the cool stuff in my brother-in-law's car.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

The Ford Fiesta also offers that color-changey stuff as an option, which I'm not sure I'll spend the extra on in the probable even that I'll buy a 2014 Fiesta after my remaining 20 test drives and waiting until Meefer hits a vehicular point of diminishing return. (I'm hoping to complete most of that test driving later this summer; but I'm also ready to, say, buy a Fiesta on Thursday if there's immediate need. For a car I'll drive until I'm 50 though, i want my options carefully considered.)

Ford is rather coming out with very good car, and has been since about 2006, really. I've been thoroughly impressed at their recent lineup.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I must admit if my car-buying drama were unfolding this year instead of 2009, I'd have a much harder time coming to the same decision. The Scion tC still has many of the advantages which brought me to it in the first place (flat, reasonably low price, for example, and the front- and back-seat moonroofs). But the new model years have been made subtly but appreciably uglier, and the creature comforts particularly in the Ford line have vaulted far above what was available a few years ago.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

The Scion tC is on my current top-three, along with the Fiesta and Nissan Qube. (That's out of Ford, Nissan, GM[*1], Dodge, and Toyota/Scion thus far.) I've still got test-drives plenty yet, and hopefully another 20,000 miles or so to go before I do sell Meefer the Escort, so I have time.

--Chi
[*1] Which means Chevrolet, really; and I need to revisit there because they only really had the Aveo, and the Cruze is newly out and could use a look.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

The Qube caught my eye, although that was late enough in shopping that I wasn't likely to change my plans. Also I don't think it was available in a moonroof-equipped version. But the transparent corner in the passenger's side rear really appeals to me, as that part of me which wants as little obstruction as possible.

Sometimes I suspect I'm an easy touch for any car that looks weird enough, but a glance at the Aztek proves that no, I like stuff that avoids being generic but it still has to not be hideous.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

I.. liked the Aztek myself. It hit my ugly/beautiful juncture well. *shrug* on the other hand, the Smart cars fail. Angular seems to win with me.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I think the Aztek might have had a chance, but the end is just too abruptly vertical and reaches the wrong height. If it were lower the car would be more coupe-like; if higher, the car would be more minivan-like, but as it was laid out it just reached bad. The Prius pushers that rear end as high as it can go, I think, before hitting and unpleasant zone (and that may be a bit high yet).