Form & Function

[Micrashed]

I like my things to have function as well as form.

 

I like pretty things, but wont entertain them in the house unless they fulfil a function also. Take my razors - I have a few vintage Gillettes, my prized is a 1923 Deluxe New attached to a 2012 UFO bronze handle - it looks pretty and shaves great.

 

The French driver of this at my local today seemed very bemused as I photographed it and gave him a big thumbs up saying "tres bon", "bien" "une pint et Cidre" and any other French phrase that sounded enthusiastic.

 

Would I buy one - Oh yes.

[ProgRocker]

*nods* It would certainly give the Citroen Berlingo a run for it's money. Perfect taxi fodder with a 1.5 dCi engine.

 

I'd also like to see the Dacia Logan (Sandero saloon) come to the UK too. But given the lack of popularity of small saloons in the UK, I doubt that it will.

[Cavcraft]

Aren't Dacia about to burst into UK showrooms shortly, I think mostly because of the demise in sales of quite a few Renault models in Britain?

[Partridge]

Yup, very early next year the Sandero is due to be launched here.

[phil_lihp]

I think it already is, I followed a shiny new Duster through town the other day, although Dacia might already have competion in the bargain basement stakes as last week I was following what I thought was a new Izuzu Rodeus but turned out to be a Great Wall Steed. Had no idea they were available here.

 

On that note, I fully concur on function-before-form - last year my local garage was out of loan cars so I got a Mitsubishi L200 pickup. Ordinarily I dislike these, adorned in chromed accessories and fat, useless road tyres but this was a farmyard spec, no shiny bits, windy windows, vinyl seats and rubber mats and I have to say I loved it, seeing as it was quite obviously designed to go anywhere it would fit and get revoltingly dirty inside and out. It even had a massive iron girder bolted to the back with a towbar attached which looked like it was designed for pulling down houses.

[Mr Lobster]

I've said it before but once / if they start importing Logan Estates I will be beating a path to my local Dacia dealer with a deposit. Just makes such a lot of sense and would be mega useful.

 

I'm quite tempted by the Duster tbh. £8995 less VAT makes a very cheap new business workhorse. Base spec, 1.6 petrol on steels in white obviously.

[Morgan84]

To be honest,I think we in the UK miss out on many good vehicles offered in other European and Asian markets

[meshking]

I think I'm going to wait a few years and px my volvo for a used duster. Having been in many well abused dacias in Istanbul, should be amusing to own one.

[Lacquer Peel]

http://www.euroncap.com/Content-Web-Art ... afety.aspx

 

Won't somebody think of the children?

[Cavcraft]

  Lacquer Peel said:

http://www.euroncap.com/Content-Web-Article/42264995-5e6e-4d2b-abf6-6c2032783494/dacia-budgets-on-safety.aspx

 

Won't somebody think of the children?

 

 

Pah, all you have to do is make sure you don't walk out in front of one.

[barefoot]

Can i just add that technically it's "form follows function" this is all a bit Bauhaus, but

it's designed primarily to do a job & that's why it looks how it looks

 

I will now drink equally copious quantities of wine

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

  Lacquer Peel said:

http://www.euroncap.com/Content-Web-Article/42264995-5e6e-4d2b-abf6-6c2032783494/dacia-budgets-on-safety.aspx

 

Won't somebody think of the children?

 

  EuroNCAP said:

Whereas three stars may satisfy Dacia’s own limited ambitions, consumers are once again called upon to opt for safety, with plenty of other vehicles in this category scoring five stars this year.

 

Hey, EuroNCAP, you're being paid (by us, apparently) to test cars and give them star ratings, not editorialise about their buyers. As long as we've got the information it doesn't matter if we want to buy a three star Dacia or a Golf which you awarded five stars because it plays a trumpet sound through the headrests if the driver tries to adjust the seatbelt while moving.

[Spiny Norman]

Almost pocket money cheap, from £69 a month.

 

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/dacia-sandero-from-69-a-month/264579

At that price you really can't lose, OK so it'll have zero resale value in 3 years but even if you weigh it in you'll still only have lost £6k, more than a £14k Fiesta will shed in the same period.

Personally I'd still have a grand's worth of snotty old luxo-barge and keep the rest for beer & hookers but I bet we'll be seeing a hell of a lot of these things on the roads next year.

[Negative Creep]

  Peter said:

  Lacquer Peel said:

http://www.euroncap.com/Content-Web-Article/42264995-5e6e-4d2b-abf6-6c2032783494/dacia-budgets-on-safety.aspx

 

Won't somebody think of the children?

 

  EuroNCAP said:

Whereas three stars may satisfy Dacia’s own limited ambitions, consumers are once again called upon to opt for safety, with plenty of other vehicles in this category scoring five stars this year.

 

Hey, EuroNCAP, you're being paid (by us, apparently) to test cars and give them star ratings, not editorialise about their buyers. As long as we've got the information it doesn't matter if we want to buy a three star Dacia or a Golf which you awarded five stars because it plays a trumpet sound through the headrests if the driver tries to adjust the seatbelt while moving.

 

How did anyone complete a car journey in the pre NCAP days without exploding into a ball of flame? Must have been a pain having to navigate the mangled wreckage and bodies clogging up the streets.

[warren t claim]

  studebaker hawk said:

Almost pocket money cheap, from £69 a month.

 

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/dacia-sandero-from-69-a-month/264579

At that price you really can't lose, OK so it'll have zero resale value in 3 years but even if you weigh it in you'll still only have lost £6k, more than a £14k Fiesta will shed in the same period.

Personally I'd still have a grand's worth of snotty old luxo-barge and keep the rest for beer & hookers but I bet we'll be seeing a hell of a lot of these things on the roads next year.

 

£69 a month??? I want to be a Dacia salesman. £2.20 a day for a new car is stupid cheap.

[Junkman]

I'm the exact opposite. Form is everything. For me, cars can't be bizarre enough. That they actually do work is secondary.

 

This is my all time favourite:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Funcion? Who needs bleeding function?

[John F]

Er... me.

 

I wouldn't give that purple horror space on the drive.

 

Each to their own though, eh?

[RichardMoss]

Sir Sydney Camm, legendary designer of the Hurricane, Typhoon, Tempest, Seahawk, Hunter, Kestrel and Harrier (to name but some) is quoted as saying "if it looks right, it will fly right" and with his designs it was always true. Below are Hurricane, Hunter and Kestrel

 

Not Hawkers, but conforming to the same philosophy: Mosquito, Canberra, Comet, Victor, VC10 (x2 because I used to fly them!)

[whitevanman]

/\ agreed

[Justin Case]

If it looks right,etc, also appies to boats. Not as beautiful as those planes, but no vessel combined form with function as perfectly as the Thames Sailing Barges:

 

 

They could sail up the narrowest creeks around the Thames estuary, carry vast loads of hay to feed the horses of 19th and early 20th century London, yet only needed a crew of two. I can't think of anything other than a Land Rover (surprised that hasn't been mentioned yet) that was more perfectly fitted to its task.

 

Oh and back to shite, the £69 per month Sandero needs a deposit of £1845; perhaps we should start a thread for the best buy for £1845

[Bobthebeard]

I have owned two Citroen XM's. The form was in every way perfect!

The function was intermittent

[John F]

I've had a very large sex wee over those epic aircraft. Thunk! Back o' the net.

 

I'd also add the Hawker Fury to the list...

 

 

Re. boats, the form / function thing doesn't seem to apply here so much... e.g. Chinese junks are great boats from many perspectives but look shit.

[vulgalour]

Form and function perfectly combined.

[Tonka]

Dacia is being heavily promoted as Renault's new budget brand as if they have no previous history in the UK, are they trying to distance themselves from the Denem and previous Duster...........

[bub2006]

I prefer something functional in my line of work. Ideally just cheap to run! The robin is noisy,bouncy cold and uncomfortable compared to a modern car but does 50-55mpg around town,74 a year tax and is quite nippy. I used to own a g plated polo 1.0 that was more noisy and uncomfortable and not as economical as the robin. That's why I said modern car because its not actually that bad compared to small cars of the same age.