Stüf Stuff

Last Friday, we preached the gospel of Chromeography to the citizens of Berlin. Hear the short story of how the site came to be and learn a little bit about car emblem design and history.

Subaru Sambar and American (GMC?) pickup truck. A few years ago I spotted these two friends in my Oakland neighborhood. I so wanted to put that little Sambar in my pocket, but all I could take were a few photos. My shot of the lovely chrome badge ended up in a variety of Subaru newspaper ads and online promotions.

Driving the Subaru XT was like playing a 1980s-era arcade game. Demo.

The inside of the car had many aircraft-like features such as pod mounted lighting, climate control and wiper controls. The standard tilting-telescoping steering moved the instrument panel to keep it lined up with the steering column when tilting. The shifter was joystick-shaped and had a thumb trigger interlock and “on-demand” four-wheel drive button. Turbo models featured a sort of artificial horizon orange backlit liquid crystal instrument display with the tachometer, boost indicator, temperature and fuel gauges seen as three-dimensional graphs tilting back out to the horizon. Demonstration of Subaru XT digital instrumentation The aircraft cockpit approach reflected influences from Subaru’s parent company Fuji Heavy Industries, which also manufactured aircraft, such as the Fuji FA200 Aero Subaru.

The XT was loaded with features rarely found on small cars, such as a turbocharger, a computer-controlled engine and transmission, adjustable height suspension[1] and an optional digital instrument cluster. The air suspension was inspired by various manufacturers who used Hydropneumatic suspension, such as Citroen, and Mercedes-Benz. The XT also had some features found on few other cars, such as an electronic in-dash trip computer, retractable flaps covering the door handles, and a single wiper blade for the entire windscreen. Pass-through folding rear seats and racing style front seats were standard equipment.

(image via Product Design Data Base)

Subaru Sambar promotional image, 1962 (via Product Design Data Base)

Subaru 360 promotional image, 1958 (via Product Design Data Base)

George Barbaz concept for Ford, 1946

Honda Fit, the New Civic Wagon

Bill is a 1990 Honda Civic Wagon. The name was embroidered on a classy carpet dashboard cover when my sister and her husband bought the car, and it stuck. I inherited Bill in 2002 and adored him. He’s reliable (like any Honda), functional, and despite his compact size (shorter than most sedans), he can lug around quite a bit of junk. Even as the odometer neared the 250,000 mile mark, I was vowing to never buy another car until I found one like Bill.

I found that car when Honda released the Fit. The 2007–08 Fit was a design that had been in production in Japan and Europe for years. It finally arrived in the U.S. just as our backwards country was finally catching on to the worldwide small car movement. Of course, it’s not as sharp and boxy as my beloved Bill, but not quite as conventional and bulbous as most of the lame cars designed in the last 20 years. Unfortunately the 2009 redesign took a turn in that direction.

The Fit is essentially the return of the Honda Civic Wagon, which they discontinued the year after Bill was born. Miraculously, they share the same engine and cargo capacity, form factor, and very similar dimensions. I couldn’t have found a better successor.


	1990 Civic Wagon 2WD	2008 Fit Sport

Original MSRP	$10,325	$15,270

Tech Specs
Engine	1.5L I4	1.5L I4
MPG Hwy	34	34
MPG City	31	28
Transmission	5-Speed Manual	5-Speed Manual
Horsepower	92	109
Fuel Capacity	11.9	10.8
Turning Radius	32.2 ft.	34.4 ft.

Interior
Front Headroom	39.4 in.	40.6 in.
Rear Headroom	38 in.	38.6 in.
Front Legroom	41.2 in.	41.9 in.
Rear Legroom	33.2 in.	33.7 in.
EPA Cargo	21.5 cu.ft.	21.3 cu.ft.

Exterior
Curb Weight	2335 lb.	2471 lb.
Wheelbase	98.4 in.	96.5 in.
Length	161.7 in.	157.4 in.
Width	66.1 in.	66.2 in.
Height	56.1 in.	60 in.

I have the Sport model with an angular body kit, fog lamps, extra speakers, and a spoiler, because I find spoilers on hatchbacks to be ridiculous and awesome. More pics.

So what happened to Bill? He’s still in the family, so to speak. He was adopted by my good friend, Frank Grießhamer, a type designer at Adobe. Frank has already treated Bill well with repairs and upgrades. It feels good to know my old pal is only a short trip to San Jose away.

Fahrzeugübergabe!

There’s only thing left to do: swap out the horrendous Fit chromeography and replace it with the old Civic emblem.

Vespa 400 ad. (via popcards.fr)

The Fiat 500 is now available in the US. I am so glad there are car makers willing to go back to classic forms in the right way. Like Maury told me, “It’s only retro in its purity.”