Oh What a Feeling...

[Satty]

Mine has a hula girl on the dashboard. Not really, but it should.

There is at least 1 Prius Convertible and 1 Prius Limo. I think there are threads on here about both of them.

Edited February 23, 2009 by Satty

[Robert Hall]

Here's a Prius w/ an ultra aero body kit by Auto Labo:

[Satty]

Wow, if it weren't on a white car that showed ever panel gap, that might look ok.

[balthazar]

Whatever...I'm sure you have pictures in your files, since you seem to know everything there is know about automotive history...

You made the statement, dude, so you've seen the proof. I questioned it because I haven't. You know way more than I do on this one. Again- would love to see some pics 'on the same scale'...

[Intrepidation]

Man I'd hate to have to back one of those vans up...or be seen in one.

[Intrepidation]

Here's a Prius w/ an ultra aero body kit by Auto Labo:

Toyota Insight?

[Robert Hall]

You made the statement, dude, so you've seen the proof. I questioned it because I haven't. You know way more than I do on this one. Again- would love to see some pics 'on the same scale'...

Hardly...I'm talking about stuff I vaguely remember seeing in car magazines 25+ years ago. I'm sure they exist...there were a lot of outrageous van customs in the '70s...and it's all subjective, anyway..what might seem outrageous to me might be mild to your expert eyes.

[Satty]

Man I'd hate to have to back one of those vans up...or be seen in one.

Outward visibility is overrated, just throw it in R and whatever happens, happens.

[Robert Hall]

Man I'd hate to have to back one of those vans up...or be seen in one.

Those vans remind me of Pokemon characters...very pointy

[balthazar]

Hardly...I'm talking about stuff I vaguely remember seeing in car magazines 25+ years ago. I'm sure they exist...there were a lot of outrageous van customs in the '70s...and it's all subjective, anyway..what might seem outrageous to me might be mild to your expert eyes.

At least you've seen them. I haven't- nothing close. Was hoping to learn something new.

BTW, doesn't 'subjectivity' at some point become objectivity ?? Say, calling something black "white" ?

Or calling a loud paint-jobbed, stock-bodied van w/ side pipes & one with the surface area DOUBLED by 2 dozen 6-foot fin & blade & dorsal extensions and 5' foot overhang additions 'the same scale'.... or does it REALLY take "expert eyes" to see the difference there?

C'mon, man, get real .....

[Robert Hall]

At least you've seen them. I haven't- nothing close. Was hoping to learn something new.

BTW, doesn't 'subjectivity' at some point become objectivity ?? Say, calling something black "white" ?

Or calling a loud paint-jobbed, stock-bodied van w/ side pipes & one with the surface area DOUBLED by 2 dozen 6-foot fin & blade & dorsal extensions and 5' foot overhang additions 'the same scale'.... or does it REALLY take "expert eyes" to see the difference there?

C'mon, man, get real .....

Well, customizing is very subjective...I'm not sure how one can get objective about it. Some people find George Barris' customs of the '50s-60s fantastic, I find most of them hideous. Same with chopped '49 Mercurys. One person's gorgeous custom is another's nightmare.

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I have to admit, though, when I was 9, I thought a '70s Dodge Tradesman panel van w/ bubble side windows, chrome wheels, and side pipes would be a very cool thing to have. Saw something like that in a Dodge 'Street Van' ad for dealer-installed custom parts. Something like that now would have a wierd kitchy appeal today, wouldn't it?

Edited February 23, 2009 by moltar

[balthazar]

Here, IMO, is how you get objective about customizing. Your personal opinion may be that you hate both aesthetically, but as far as calling them to be 'on the same scale'- I cannot see how you can equate the 2.... even from a guy who regularly spots front fender-to-wheel spacing differences in FWD & RWD sedans :

Typical '70s custom van:

> different grille, some molded fender flares, different side/rear windows, sky's-the-limit paint. Except for the fiberglas'd-in flares, the body is stock. One could build this in a few weeks... and in the moonlight, you prolly wouldn't pick it out from stock.

japanese custom van :

This is thousands of hours of fabricating work, and hundreds of hours of paintwork. Months & months of full-time, full-crew work. In the pitch-black, you'd think it was extra-terrestrial.

These 2 fads are light-years apart in how far they take the factory piece, and how far they depart from a recognizable vehicle. Both may be tacky, but 1 you can no longer take thru a drive-thru, into a garage, under a low overpass or put into a legal parking spot.

Edited February 23, 2009 by balthazar

[Robert Hall]

Here, IMO, is how you get objective about customizing. Your personal opinion may be that you hate both aesthetically, but as far as calling them to be 'on the same scale'- I cannot see how you can equate the 2.... even from a guy who regularly spots front fender-to-wheel spacing differences in FWD & RWD sedans :

Thanks... the short fender-to-wheel spacing is probably the most off-puttng aspect to me about typical FWD proportions..

This is thousands of hours of fabricating work, and hundreds of hours of paintwork. Months & months of full-time, full-crew work. In the pitch-black, you'd think it was extra-terrestrial.

These 2 fads are light-years apart in how far they take the factory piece, and how far they depart from a recognizable vehicle. Both may be tacky, but 1 you can no longer take thru a drive-thru, into a garage, under a low overpass or put into a legal parking spot.

Yeah, that's kind of an extreme example...but the typical Japanese custom vans are probably closer to a US counterpart, lowered, custom wheels, custom paint, maybe a mural or two.

How about the wild Japanese semi trucks with all the chrome and dozens (hundreds?) of lights across the front? Nothing like that here..

Edited February 23, 2009 by moltar

[Cory Wolfe]

Arguing about vans. That's a new one.

[balthazar]

No: arguing about perception - a really really old one.

[§carlet §wordfish]

Actually it's not that bad looking.

But still pathetic.

[Robert Hall]

Actually it's not that bad looking.

But still pathetic.

Remember the convertible version? I used to work w/ someone that had one, and someone w/ a Corolla FX16 (the one shaped kind of like a Gremlin). Also knew someone that had an '86 Corolla SR5 hatchback (the last generation of the RWD models), years before they became cool and much sought-after.

[Sixty8panther]

Back about a decade ago, when I JUST got into the car business

and started working at my FIRST job as a Chevrolet salesman,

we had a Used Toyota Paseo.

It was, BY FAR, the biggest piece of $hit on the lot.

I mean it was SO bad, it made the Kia Sephia & first gen. Neon

with three times the milage that we had, look & feel like they

were S-class Mercedes by comparison.

The Paseo was a great example of Toyota already going donwhill

after their smoewhat decent bang/$ in the 1970s & 1980s.

After a few experiences in that Paseo I would honestly rather

have a Razor Scooter than drive another.

FYI: it only had like 60,000 miles on the clock.

[Robert Hall]

Speaking of Toyota strangeness, I had a friend in college that had a then-new Tercel, must have been around 1992. It was a 2dr with different seatbelts on the left and right--since the driver had an airbag, there was a normal 3-point there, but the passenger had a motorized belt. Wierd. Nasty, cheap gray plastic inside also (did they inspire GM for the cheap arsed interiors in cars like the Cavalier or vice versa?)