Yup! With the exception of the somewhat weird-looking headlights, I think that Rivian’s styling is very good, and their truck is certainly a lot more functional than Melon Husk’s very… I’ll try to be polite… “unusual-looking” truck.
I acknowlege Elon Musk’s probably a genius . . . compared to me, anyways 
. . . and his cars have changed the automotive industry, imo, but I can’t stand his personality and it’s one of the major reasons I’d rather buy an EV sold by someone else
5 Likes
That looks like some kind of Studebaker truck, maybe from the 1950s, and that design has aged well. I especially like the chrome wheel covers and whitewall tires.
I personaly don’t care for wheel covers or the whitewalls but I do see a touch of the mid 50’s Dodge PU.
It’s one of Studebaker’s Champ pickups, which were made from 1960-64 by putting the front clip from a Lark sedan onto Stude’s existing light truck chassis.
You have a good eye, Terry!
Because of Studebaker’s ongoing financial problems, when they came up with the concept for the Champ pickup, they sourced the boxes from Chrysler, as it was originally the box used on 1959 and 1960 Dodge pickups.
But the “Spaceside” box is wider than the cab, so it never looked quite right. Also, the character line on the box does not match up evenly with the character line on the cab. The cobbled-up appearance was a result of Studebaker being forced to leave the Dodge box “as is” to reduce design costs.
Yup!
Purebred nailed it.
I also thought that Musk was a bright visionary from the software industry but today I’m beginning to see him as just another “Right guy in the right place” who’s trying to parlay his success in one field to other fields where he has little experitise.
History’s littered with examples, an example for car guys is when Ford decided to enter into and briefly dominate the then cutting edge airplane industry with their Ford Tri-Motor but was crushed by a little outfit owned by an aero engineer named Boeing.
Just my opinion but I suspect that in the future we’ll be looking back at Tesla the same way we’re looking at the Tucker and the Bricklin Safety Sports Cars, interesting ideas but unable to compete.
Only time will tell, but–based on his “success” with X (formerly known as Twitter, and now facing massive advertising departures as a result of his recent posts), I think that this is just one more billionaire who allows his impulses to get in the way of good business decisions.
And, let us not forget that he was not the founder of Tesla…
Ousted Tesla Cofounder Sounds Off on Elon Musk, Tesla, EVs.
Maybe pick a different example. By the time ww2 rolled around, ford was pretty good at airplanes. Something like one every 90 seconds rolling off the line. Made good tractors too despite John Deere and all the others.
As far as musk and x goes though, read the lawsuit and what the bonkers media matters was up to with advertisers.
I have a story about that ford tri motor, the famous flyer max Conrad, and my dad but it would be off topic.
Musk didn’t design the cars, he hired talented people to do it. Same for SpaceX. He understood next to nothing about both markets. Musk did know how to hire people that could make the businesses work.
Okay
Thanks for the information
But his personality hasn’t changed, in my view
So I’m still very unlikely to buy one of his cars
2 Likes
I have no interest in Tesla cars. But I also have zero time for Mary barra and think her days are numbered. Still that wouldn’t dissuade me from a Gm.
Don’t buy a Ford either. I’m sure there are other company leaders that are or were jerks and you may not want to buy their products either.
1 Like
I’m not disclosing details . . .
But for personal reasons, I consider Elon Musk far worse than Henry Ford
To be more specific, I was very strongly and personally offended by many of Elon Musk’s actions and statements, even though we don’t know each other
That wasn’t really the case with Henry Ford, even though I agree he certainly had his issues, to put it mildly
So I’d be more likely to buy a Ford, versus a Tesla
Even though you may not understand my decision, I hope you’ll at least respect it 
6 Likes
One night in the late 1950s I was driving my father’s 1955 Mercury station wagon, black with faux wood sidings, with him as the passenger. We came up to a traffic light behind a new Ford sedan. I knew every car on the road as a teenager. It had been raining. The Ford’s tail lights came on. It, the left one directly in my vision absolutely blinded me it was so bright and a huge circle compared to any tail lights at the time!
The other night I was driving from the grocery store on the six lanes of two-way traffic and it came to me that maybe people are now buying new cars not because of their designs (most appear to me to look like fart bubbles in a bathtub) but because they are fascinated by the fantastic array of weird tail lights far beyond any Christmas tree lights! Front lights getting that way as well. Video games??? 
1 Like
Useless?
Every ounce of gas not burned is a victory, for you and the environment!
2 Likes
The tradeoff is more wear and tear, and hence more frequent replacement, of car starters.
Y’ can’t win!
2 Likes
It’s the computer and its programming that lets them simplify the mechanical and electrical systems, yet improve the performance characteristics.
1 Like
Yeah, the tail lights and head lights on many new cars do not appeal to me at all - from the standpoint of practicality as well as aesthetics. I will consider headlight performance ratings at the IIHS website for any future car purchases. There’s a wide range of performance.
And I wish that steel wheels and moderate profile tires were available on more than just the lowest trims of the cheapest, most basic cars.
2 Likes
Ditto on that!
1 Like