By discoman on Tuesday, July 31, 2001 - 05:21 pm: Edit

Just seen a new chev blazer this morning. What an ugly (can't say truck) vehicle. Is it possible to bolt on any more plastic shit than that ? Is this Americas answer to suv's It makes a j**p grand cher. look nice. Why when Americans build car's they think the more plastic and shit they bolt on it looks better ? What's with turn signals in the side mirrors for. Is that for all the dumbass people who don't know where they are turning ?

By Steve (Steve2) on Tuesday, July 31, 2001 - 08:47 pm: Edit

brought to you by the same people who made the new escalade. apparently there is an appetite in middle america for clapped out mall trolleys. look at the avalance and even better - see how the hummer 2 looks. what jokes. obviously i am biased as i think the land rover products have a timeless handsomeness. what designer on crack made the sequoia and when did near sighted people start choosing side moulding width on the new rav 4? seen the update to the nose of the xterra - trying to make it look like the liberty. and even though the new liberty grows on me a bit everyday - it still screams kia sportage.

the new ford explorer looks ok - but compared to a series II discovery - it's a trollup in polyester. i have a series one disco and i admire it everytime i get in. personally i think the range rover is the most handsome of the line, but in a familiy of all beautiful children - it's hard to pick favourites!

steve

By gp (Garrett) on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 02:47 am: Edit

i have to say that my favorite neat-o car/suv would be the Aztek (sp?). and wow.....the really cool pop out tent in the back for billy and his 'partner'. i mean it is so hip and cool i cannot take it. but even better was the dateline 5mph bumper test. that whole thing is plastic to. surprised it didn't bounce off that pole more. still did tons of damage though.
i just cannot get over that people can actually go to a dealer, walk in and say, "hey now there is nice looking car." what....are these people crack babies or something.
i know, i know.....we all have opinions and different strokes for different folks, but there is a difference between walking the fine line of good taste and taking a running start and pole vaulting over it.

By Bud on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 04:31 am: Edit

If you have been keeping up with the latest auto show news, you already know that the Aztek will be one of the LEAST wierd looking SUVs out there in a couple of years. In a way, I like the LR philosopy of minimal style changes. Look how long the RR Classic body style lasted. The only vehicle to be in the Louvre, too. And true, Garrett, most folks are wowed by looks and not style. If you watch enough Sci Fi movies, you are bound to think that an Aztek in the car of the future. Of course, if you look at DiscoWeb enough, you are bound to think a Disco is a handsome, capable off-road vehicle. We are what we eat.

By gp (Garrett) on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 05:06 am: Edit

well unfortunately you are right. most americans like that sort of 'style' or look. i mean all you have to do it look outside and drive around a little......conversion vans and wal marts. not to say those things do not have there place, but not on every other corner. i live in a town where we are proud to say that our wal mart was the most profitable last year. (due to the 40K students here). and people are always telling me that "well we cannot afford and nice looking car like yours" Yeah.....and then they go and spend like 25K on grand am. and i paid $18K for my SE7. i deal with this mentality all the time as an architect. good design does not cost any more than bad design. it is just what people want and like in my field, my projects are only as good as my clients. i cannot help if they want a 10 story building with mirrored glass from top to bottom and orange arches covering the entrance. they get what they want......well sometimes. when you have tons of work you can at times tell a client to take a hike and visit someone elses office. or talked them in to something else. but we are minimalists for sure. not to say we don't encourage change or new ways of thinking. like you said about the LR philospy....minimal in changes is right or maybe just subtle ones along the way works too. but regardless, it seems like our society in this country at least does not find any worth to permanence. and with permanence you usually find great and simple forms in all structures.....be it a building or vehicle. these toy cars will hopefully come and go. just like Vanilla Ice and if we're lucky the Aztek and other such pretend cars. i will step off my soapbox now.

By Bud on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 05:11 am: Edit

Gee. I wonder what the folks at our local Wal*Mart are saying about our Disco spending 5 days a week in the Associate'a parking area?

Bud

By Anonymous on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 05:25 am: Edit

nothing wrong with the attitude that an Aztec looks 'cool'.
I too get the same comments from people. you must be loaded to buy a Land Rover. Why try and change their minds? Hey man - I can just make good deals with dealers!!!

or ....ya the Land Rover is just like your new blazer except for almost .......everything!

By gp (Garrett) on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 05:55 am: Edit

ps: i am not busting on wal mart.....i go there for oil and other such things here and there. i just don't like their overall attitude and many of the folks that shop there.......at least here in central PA. i give kudos to a state like vermont though that requires wal mart and all other big box retail to substantially improve the 'look' of their stores. no vast parking lots with a few whispey trees here and there and white quartz gravel for mulch. much nicer spaces for the most part. but when you walk in there and buy a $10 lawn chair that is what you get.......and more than likely will end up at your curbside in a matter of a few months. just wasteful consumers i think. overpackaged crap in all honestly. we want more, but willing to pay even less. quality vs. quantity. and then this same attitude carries over to the spaces we live in and around. blah blah blah

i am not really trying to change anyones mind, but in some cases it is part of my job. or at the very least to show people or companies alternatives that they thought were not possible. and i am not saying that everyone should think or do what i do. (this is not a perfect world ) but much of what i do before i go about designing something is try and get people away from thinking they way they are use to. people tend to associate with what they are use to seeing around them and in many cases (like where i live) the spaces and architecture are in the shitter. so when the bar is set so low and not many people are raising that bar where are we going? my goal is to always present practical and yes affordable alternatives. but i have really yet to see much of this in the auto industry. if i were to go out and buy a new affordable car i think i would get a ford focus wagon. not much out there for me.

ps: bud... how did you score that space!!!

i really have to do some work. nuf for today.

By Bud on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 06:05 am: Edit

My wife is a Dept. Manager.

By gp (Garrett) on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 06:17 am: Edit

sorry. it is just the way i feel about the place. nothing personal about your wife or anything like that. just in working with them in the past in vermont and other areas they just have very little respect for what i am trying to do as a professional. and i have much respect for the blue collar working folks that bust their asses off in order to save up for something they have had their eye on for a while. but i am sympathetic to those who spend their hard earned $ on something that will not out last their tank of gas. i have gone through this when i was in college and had very little $ myself. much of it just ended up in my dumpster down the road. but of course wal mart is great at producing jobs as well.....so it is and win/lose situatiion and i am just telling my side of it.
sorry i got off track and went a ramblin on about this. i would rather talk about my truck anyhow.
and again nothing personal bud. sorry if it was directed that way.

By Deep Throat on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 06:43 am: Edit

The new plastic craze so evident in the world's automakers' designs is actually a clandestine effort funded by the UN to phase metal out of vehicles altogether. The world's supply of metal is desperately needed to protect Earth from hostile space aliens that are quite perturbed about all the bad press they received in the whole Area 51 deal. The metal will be used to construct a shield all around the Earth, "Just like the Death Star in that neat Star Wars movie" one UN official is quoted as saying. Unfortunately, this effort by the world's leaders went awry with the Aztek. Top Secret reports by UN officials were uncovered by the National Enquirer; they reveal that the Aztek is the only vehicle that has actually been proven to induce nausea in controlled lab experiments involving small mammals. The concept vehicle was originally designated the Pontiac Abortion since it was so undeniably ugly, but it was feared that feminazis and other same-sex partners would not drive a vehicle with such a controversial name. The code word "Aztec" was chosen for this metal-replacement pilot program in a subtle reference to the Mesoamerican Aztec empire, which was wiped out by Cortés, much like we will soon be wiped out by the aliens.

By Bud on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 07:51 am: Edit

Garrett - It would take a lot more than that to set me off. Most of the folks that work at Wally World are well aware of the impression many folks have of them. Some good, some bad. Some good stores, some bad. Dianna is fortunate to work for one of the best WM managers in the company. Although the color scheme on the outside is pretty much the same, what's inside can be drastically different. Like LR dealerships. I work part time at Lowe's. Same deal. Some good, some not so good. Some folks love 'em. Some don't. Of course, not all of the big stores look the same any more. Zoning requirements and such. We saw a couple of Wal*Mart stores while on vacation that were very well disguised. I wonder what would happen if you could do that with vehicles. "Well, Sir, here in Opelika all the SUVs have to meet our vehicular appearance codes. You can drive a Land Rover Discovery if you want, but the body will have to be modified to look like a Pontiac Aztek......." ;>)

Bud

By C. Ross on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 10:26 am: Edit

Guys, I feel the same way. I drive a pickup in my day job and was rather excited when I heard of the Avalanche concept. I would be driving one right now if they wouldn't have "Aztec'd" it out with all of the body molding and fru fru. On the other hand I think the "Aztec" concept is on target, the packaging of it just sucks. I think people are looking for something different, that makes them stand out from the Accord, Camry, Taurus, Grand Cherokee's of the world. I try not to drive any of our Rover's on the job site or to meet clients. Almost everytime I do someone has to comment on my expensive Toyota "Range Rover".

The pickup I drive was over $30 grand new (I bought it used for 1/2 that)and no one thinks twice of the trade contractors driving $40K Powerstroke diesels. I bought all 3 of my Disco's for less than one of those Super Duty trucks. Of course my D90 doesn't fall in that category.

Ross

By 94Rover on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 10:42 am: Edit

Hey C.Ross, that comment hits on target....
When my wife and I were house shopping our realtor requested that I not drive the RangeRover....I really couldn't relate to that comment, after all he was meeting us in his "new" 1999 Toyota Avalon.....He just purchased it two days before he was meeting us, and it was the XL(top of the line model)
What is with non-Roverites thinking that our modest vehicles are still in the 40K-50K bracket.....It alarmed me to think that we wouldn't be able to have our bid accepted on our townhouse because I drove a 1994 Range Rover Classic....Now I'd understand if it was a 1971 Series Rover fully restored, but a 1994 Range Rover Classic? I was sitting beside a Heavy Duty something at a stop light and it was totally outfitted(ARB bullbar, Winch, Super Size BFGood's, some kind of cool rear bumper, some chrome steels, recovery points galore, and it was "king crew cab" or whatever you call it....I don't usually pay them any attention, but this particular one was A-1, I think I'll find a way to purchase one one day...do you think they will ever be a fad like the current rush to buy S.U.V's? Would you guys drive one as a non-worker, daily driver.....

By Jon E. Yermo (Jon) on Wednesday, August 01, 2001 - 08:19 pm: Edit

I think the stigma on LR ownership is quite real, and can make things difficult if you're not careful. When I hit 30, I decided it was time to upgrade my ride from Mitsubishi to Land Rover - in a $17K 95 Discovery 1 (re-conditioned by iMotors, RIP).

I made the unfortunate mistake of driving it to work when the president of my company was out to visit from an undisclosed location in the very upscale suburbs of AZ. I'm in middle management, and his eyes immediately widened at the sight of the "Range Rover" I apparently could now "afford".

After some good-natured ribbing, I still came away feeling a little guilty for having one tangible perk at the age of thirty. In the meantime the prexy drives an RX300 (AWD model) at just this side of $35K and the VP is in a beater Durango (front-wheel drive *whatever?!*) that starts at $28k.

I work my forty, and spend all my free time with my wife and daughter, my life is good. I really resent the guilt-factor and polarized attitude about the LR marquee though!

God Save Land Rover!

-Erik

By Bud on Thursday, August 02, 2001 - 05:08 am: Edit

As with all products, there are basically two reasons to choose one particular brand over another - because of what it does, or because of what it represents. If you don't, or haven't, owned the product, you are left with your perception of what it represents. Non LR owners go to the movies and who drives Disco's and Range Rovers? Money people. They go to the LR website and dig around and find "schools" for LR owners that have a daily cost of more than my mortgage payment. And, how many of the readers on this list have ever waved at a passing RR, only to be ignored. Obviously, I am excluding frequent contributors to this site. At any rate, the company and a certain segment of LR owners promote the holier-than-thou concept. I tend to think that its not right for me to point fingers (or finger) at those who, due to their own lack of understanding, think that "I" think I'm special because we choose to drive a vehicle for what it is, not what we think it is. I think I have confused myself now.

Bud

By 94Rover on Thursday, August 02, 2001 - 05:33 am: Edit

I follow you Bud....My 94 is just a 94 Range Rover...I value it more than the 740iL, more than a 99Holland&Holland, etc....its worth about $11,000.00 BlueBook, $65,000.00 to me....Do I think its better than all the current "new" S.U.V's, well for what I use it for...yes, what others think of it, it depends....I was leaving the parking lot the other day after work and I was waving goodbye to this REALLY GOOD/FINE LOOKING young "professional" lady who drives a '00 MBCLK420 convertible(I hope my wife doesn't want to see what I was discussing today) who mentioned jokingly of course that she wanted to switch vehicles one weekend so that she could experience Roveritis.....A sticker that I had on my Classic earlier in the year......She said she thinks my RangeRover is way cooler than the new ones, that it reminded her of "some type of Army vehicle", now my smile was about the size of my 16' wheels, but I assured her that her ride was far superior on pavement...she shrugged it off, saying "naw" everybody has one now.... and I was completly flatterd of course, not because I was being a "bad Boy" but because she knew that my Rover was unique.....not that it had some kind of prestigious value to it, but just because it was unique....I don't park beside her MB anymore.....My Rover may turn up missing.....
My point is, we know what our vehicles are worth, but isn't it good to know that everyone isn't getting paid to appraise our Rovers for a living....Damn, I can't even keep it dirty without my neighbor making stupid comments about how if he had enough money to drive a RangeRover how he would always keep it clean.
Silly man.....he drives a freaking 99 Acura RL...

By discoman on Thursday, August 02, 2001 - 02:05 pm: Edit

Bud; you have a good point , when I first bought my Disco I would wave to other Disco owner's. Do you think they would wave back ? NO they must think I'm a idiot or something, and yes at work everybody asked how I could drive a Range Rover arn't those thing's worth $ 100,000 cnd. I just answerd yes they are and that I sell crack on the side.