#commuter car

[vehicle-research]

Why are Viking cars two-seaters?

Nearly every scratch-built Viking car is a two-seater - Why?

If you look at most cars going down the road today (and in the 1970s when the VRI was started) you will see that most, with the exception of a driver, are empty. Despite decades of crisis: rising fuel prices, waves of earth consciousness, governmental heavy-handedness, and acknowledgment of global warming, this given hasn't changed very much.

In the 1970s, the average car in Washington State on the highway contained 1.3 people and were used primarily for commuting. So part of the ethos starting with Viking II was to build a class of commuter car that addressed the 1.3 passenger requirement.

This allowed the design to be optimized for the way it would be used in the real world and allowed for ultimate package efficiency - lighter weight, compact design, and simplicity. All serve the defined 1.3 passenger requirement for a vehicle design.

Few two-seaters were offered by manufacturers in the 1970s, primarily only in the sports car sector (if you exclude the ultimate two-seater - the pickup truck), so the preliminary VRI designs were aimed at creating a new class of vehicle - the compact commuter. This seemed like a good idea to the various State of Washington agencies that were funding the VRI programs in the early years.

By use of lightweight materials and good aerodynamics, they competed positively in the sports car sector too. These same characteristics allowed, with the use of modest engines, low emissions, good fuel economy, and peppy performance. All in an efficient package to put a smile on their 1.3 passengers driving to work, or zooming down Washington Highway 9...

[bauliya]

gotham has the most walkable car-hostile infra of any major US city because its resident billionaire oligarch has 10 tiny children who constantly run in the streets at night

[vintagecamping]

Riverside car camping outside Greenwood Village.

Colorado

1959

[captainjonnitkessler]

People who live in cities will be like "I don't know, that's so far to drive . . . I mean it's practically all the way across the city . . ." and they're talking about something 18 minutes away

[felikatze]

Things the TAZ Vs Dracula characters have turned into:

Lady Godwin:

Frankenstein monster

Horse

Brother Phileaux:

Pinocchio puppet boy

Interim Turbo Cardinal

Crawford Muttner (Call him Mutt)

Kitty Cat

King of England

[love-too]

Hey little gay people in my phone, can you wish me good luck for tomorrow?

[catenary-chad]

I've alluded to the concept a number of times, but here's my redesign for OLC Belle the Sleeping Car wildly roleswapped into a Momma/Poppa figure for Electra, as Belle the GG1. You could probably give her a better name, but Belle is passable enough since all locomotives in the US have bells, I mainly kept it to preserve the flow of her song (see below cut for her version!). Based on their status and appearance in their absolute final running days in 1984. They may look glossy and pretty (if a WILD time warp) but they were on their absolute last gasp physically at this point after running for nearly 50 years, due to a lack of suitable replacement. Her dress follows a similar logic to Greaseball's outfit in that it represents the streamlined cowl, which is why she's less mechanical than most.

Personality-wise, she's also oooooold and based on Ella Fitzgerald, even more heavily than OLC Belle since she's fits perfectly with the time/place/personality of the GG1s. Both started in the mid-30s in New York City, and were noted for being "effortless" and almost unparalleled in their field. I tend to imagine her playing more on the "cute, humble, and improvisational" side of Ella, entering the big race just to have one last good run before she retires, and forgetting lyrics and making up something that sounds natural. In my mind she wins because the tracks are rough and winding, which she's far more used to that the other Nationals, with how decrepit parts of her Northeast Corridor were in the 80s and still are now- experience is a quality that counts for a lot!

She toes the line between OC and AU since she's such a twist on the original but stays largely true to her general concept. I'll call her more of an AU and say anyone is free to use this interpretation if they want, I'm not possessive of it at all.

Realistically she'd be dead as a doornail after 1984 (GG1s will just never run in preservation, they were in such bad shape and would need so much work to function on modern systems you may as well build a new replica). But make a cheeky joke about Controls' mom "sticking the old shell on a new body and not telling the kid" and she can come back. I like to think she'd have a flirty, playful rivalry with Momma/Poppa, she'd make Light At The End Of The Tunnel a duet about how steam is great.... for power plants! The Pennsylvania Railroad just stopped getting more steam engines when it electrified lines vs axing them so she wouldn't have any historical antagonism with them.

Here's my rewrite of Belle's Song largely following the original format, but now about the real history of the GG1s

Speed and youth ain't everything

Experience is a quality that counts for a lot

The sad thing 'bout experience is

By the time you've got it

It's usually all you've got...

I'm Belle, Belle, Belle, the GG1

Had my fifty years of fun

My frame is cracked, I’m almost done

Though in my heart, I long to run

I hauled the folks, I hauled the freight

I made good time, no need to wait

Just couple up and ride with me

I’d get you where you want to be

Once I was the hope for the future, wires run from coast to coast

Service every hour, to everywhere, hauling the post!

Now it’s just tragic…

The war then came, it all fell down

Restriction made the new tech drown

Let autos win, pave over it all

Watched the railroads slowly fall

Still I was a real mainliner, they struggled to replace me

Ran commuter trains into the ground

Down by the sea…. At least it was scenic

Oh, Belle, Belle, Belle, the GG-LOST

I’m worn down, yet I’m still boss

I may not be first class, but I'm not yet worst class

I can still take you when the night is dark

I’m withered, but I ain’t lost my spark

[crippl-hacker]

Kill counts on Mobility Aids: cool, funny, fighting back

Kill counts on Cars: stupid, worrying, an actual threat

[freakartack]

i used to listen to cricket’s smooth moves voicelines on repeat for hours and hours while i drew and looking back i think all of the art i made during that period was worse because of it

[ispyspookymansion]

youre all fake car haters. its all We Need Better Trains!! and then you wont even get rid of your car in a POLL?? shameful

[alongtidesoflight]

prayer circle i wanna talk to anora tonight so y'all need to send me the prayers babes

[aeb-art]

most normal interaction on a subway (another earth bot has invaded my sketchbook)

cat belongs to @8um8le

[tarantula-hawk-wasp]

start my first full-time job tomorrow 😱🫣🤢☠️

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

while we're on the topic of evermore the album and evermore the song, one thing that only really struck me recently despite evermore being my favourite album and evermore battling it out with ivy on any given day as my favourite song off the album are the faint sounds of the birds chirping at the beginning of the song. Like, willow kind of feels like stepping into the forest in the night, and evermore is finally stepping out of it in the daylight. The clouds have lifted, the sun is out, the noise has dissipated, and you're left alone with your thoughts in this vast expanse outdoors. It's such a good representation of the journey throughout the album and the time period.

idk thinking thoughts about evermore my beloved