Fiat 500, Beetles, BMW Mini and Europe today
I saw one of those new Fiat 500s the other day. They're little gems, beautifully made and finished. This one had leather seats and automatic air-con and a chequerboard roof. It was stunning. We've all seen those swanky Minis. How class are they ! And then the Beetle. I looked at one when I was shopping for a left hand drive car. I was very taken with it but the boot was too small for us and I am not sure about a two door car with our offspring. It was a beautiful car, though.
The original 500, Beetle and Mini were very different, of course. They were all designed to be basic, functional transport for car-loads of people to get a devastated Europe on the move again. Remember how you could stuff things under the back seat of the Mini ? Those huge door bins ? The shelf across the front of the car ? The wire to open the door ? Simple, robust, practical, hyper-modern and as cheap as possible ! And they did the job.
Today's 500, Beetle and Mini are almost the absolute opposite. Smart, classy, opulent, chic, retro, high-tech. If you want cheap and practical you look elsewhere !
To me it's a sign of how Europe has changed. Now Europe is rich. Qualities that once would have been almost laughable have become very important. And yet people want retro, they want to identify somehow with the tradition and heroism of the reconstruction years.
Almost as if we know that with all we have gained we have still lost something important.
The original 500, Beetle and Mini were very different, of course. They were all designed to be basic, functional transport for car-loads of people to get a devastated Europe on the move again. Remember how you could stuff things under the back seat of the Mini ? Those huge door bins ? The shelf across the front of the car ? The wire to open the door ? Simple, robust, practical, hyper-modern and as cheap as possible ! And they did the job.
Today's 500, Beetle and Mini are almost the absolute opposite. Smart, classy, opulent, chic, retro, high-tech. If you want cheap and practical you look elsewhere !
To me it's a sign of how Europe has changed. Now Europe is rich. Qualities that once would have been almost laughable have become very important. And yet people want retro, they want to identify somehow with the tradition and heroism of the reconstruction years.
Almost as if we know that with all we have gained we have still lost something important.
Comments
Anyhow, just wanted to register my appreciation of your post. There; done it. Easy.