This thread has made me realize something I had never understood before: the only thing truely "new" about the Elio, is that it is a three-wheeler which will be mass-produced like other modern production cars. It is the combination of Mass Production + Three Wheeler that is new.
Related to that; I really like that the Elio has "boring" traditional car lines, instead of Xtreme! Kool! lines, or harkening back to turn-of-the-last century Morgans. I love the look of the Morgans, but this thread has made me almost sick of seeing themThat said, I don't think the Elio's popularity would be hurt if/when kit manufacturers start coming out with alternative body styles for it. I can see a 1930s styling kit as being a pretty obvious development (replace hood, front fenders, mirrors and rear skirt).
Yes, absolutely. The other almost new concept is 'the car pays for itself in gas savings alone'. Which does depend on how far you drive vs the price of fuel vs price of the car. The combination of things for a true optimal commuter have been talked about, prototyped, and even promised by various 'visionaries' but never seriously attempted at an efficient mass production level.
Paul for EM, is one of the few innovators in the world who actually calculated these things together and had the knowledge to confirm the viability. And one of the few with the ability and willingness to carry it off.
An entity like GM may have calculated/demo'd the engineering, but never wanted to discover or document that people would actually buy it in mass. So from my suggestion that people hear only what they want to hear, what did the major makers hear? 1) nobody (not enough) would want one, and 2) the price can not be all that low (sales high enough) and still show profit. Which is all they wanted to hear, and tried to assert was true. Both turn out to be false (if you have the willingness to break the trend).
So for this thread, and in-fact all my own styling research, I wanted to over-turn the expectation that nice acceptable styling ( to the public taste ) could not be implemented in the optimal commuter platform. Elio proved at least one acceptable styling (and package) was doable at a mass level. I typically want to show others are possible as well.
And right as well, "Extreme Kool" is inherently too extreme, but can be used to inspire an acceptable body art. Looking at these images you can assess the failures, but also reverse that to hint at how to succeed.
Agree #3, Way too many Morgans, but it does indicate something that attracts interest. But is this more of a niche interest or of a mass appeal?
