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--- The News Page ---
On this page you can read frequently updated news on many
topics. Often the news will be on car related matters.
Feel free to e-mail
us with any news you feel deserving of inclusion on this page.
--- The News ---
Monday 14th August 2006
Why do they make them ugly?
That is a question that has been baffling me a long time. I mean, when
one designs a new car one may just as easily make it beautiful as ugly. Is it because most
other cars are ugly and one does not want to stand out?
At best, most cars are just bland, not beautiful at all. Look at the Holden Monaro.
As shapeless as a cowpat. Its grille, well, it has one. But what a shapeless mass. Why did they not make use
of the opportunity and design something beautiful?
True, beauty may be in the eye of the beholder. But the criteria for beauty have been
discovered in most cases. One example; the ideal female naso-labial angle (angle between the upper lip and the
bottom of the division between the nostrils) is 110 degrees. For a male it is 90 degrees.
Female film stars used to adhere to that "requirement" slavishly. Nowadays they don't, anymore.
Helen Hunt's naso-labial angle looks to me very close to the ideal male 90 degrees. Not that she is not
pretty...
What I am getting at is that there are criteria to which anything we find pleasing to
behold must conform. In cars symmetry plays a big part. Also, of course, it must look the part - capable of
doing what cars are supposed to do, that is go and go fast. That is why more sports and racing cars are
considered good looking than family sedans and station wagons. It is easier to design a low-slung, two door with
fast looking, flowing lines. Inside space is not the main consideration.
But still, most manufacturers can do better. I came accross a piece by the person responsible
for the new Volvos some years ago. That was just as they were starting to look really well. This person said
that when designing a car, one might as well make it look good. Amen, brother! Volvo's sales picked up from that time
onward. The new Mazda 323 looks beautiful from behind - they don't have the grille right. Mazda 323 is selling well.
The old Mitsubishi Magna was as ugly as sin with that huge split in the grille. No wonder they had problems selling them.
The new model looks much better. The petrol price rises won't be doing the sales figures of big cars any favours, but
I wonder how the sales figures of the new, better looking Magna compare to those of the old, ugly, Magna.
It is not as if car manufacturers have to re-invent the wheel - discover what a beautiful car looks
like from scratch. There are many examples, some surprisingly old. They should examine these, find out what makes
these cars beautiful and build that into their new designs. Double headlights are hard to beat, in my book.
Below is a list of links to pictures of beautiful cars. Some may have overdone certain design aspects,
but they all have what it takes to turn heads. And they are not all sports two seaters. Have a look.
Another question: why should anyone photograph a dark car against a dark background, sometimes
even with the light coming from the front? The amount of potos I had to go through before I found these few! And some
of them are no master pieces. And the frills on the websites. Audio and video most likely designed by a group who had
smoked something potent. Our connection is super-fast wireless broadband. So, that is not the problem.
Whatever happened to good old information clearly presented?
Friday 11th August 2006
24/7 Roadside Assistance
The 200th online sale of our stand-alone roadside assistance package was made. Our 24/7 Roadside Assistance website is now well established with a steady flow of visitors generating a steady stream of online sales.
By the way, cars4us had 750 visits in July.
Here is the link to 24/7 Roadside Assistance. Have a look.
Friday 11 November 2005
24/7 Roadside Assistance
Get around the clock roadside assistance in emergencies. Be prepared for your holiday trips. Go to our sister site and join online.
Click here
Thursday 23 June 2005
Some dealers report enquiries originating from cars4us and some say they never get an enquiry originating from cars4us. How does one account for that?
Here is how it works: there are hundreds of vehicles on cars4us. If a potential car buyer selects what he is interested in there will most likely be a few vehicles of the same make, model and year having done much the same mileage. The prices, however, can vary greatly. Now, is this potential buyer going to contact the dealer with the lowest price or the one with the highest price? It is as simple as that.
Friday 18 February 2005
We are now past 500 vehicles and more coming. We are now active on the Centeral Coast and the Mid North Coast.
Thursday 20 January 2005
400 Vehicles! Cars4us will soon actively recruit dealers on the Central Coast. Expect to see a sudden sharp increase in vehicle numbers soon.
Monday 10 January 2005
Dave Evans just sold his first car off cars4us, congratulations Dave
Monday 13 December
Well, we've reached 300 vehicles. We also had feedback on dealers being . It is likely that some cars have been sold as a result of them having been on cars4us. We will have to confirm that.
Sunday 5 December 2004
As you most likely know, we have safely surpassed the 200 vehicle mark. Cars4Us has been up less than a month. At some point the number of vehicles will start to increase exponentially - that means really fast.
Thursday 18 November 2004
The press advertisements should have started yesterday in local papers. I have not checked. Towards the end of the week and next week, and regularly after that, these advertisements should be in eight newspapers. The radio advertisements should start early December.
As you can see, cars4us is up and running.
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