ປະເທດລາວ, ວຽງຈັນ

Quiet street in Vientiane, capital of Lao P.D.R.

In fact all the streets in that city are quiet. There are only few buildings with more than 3 floors and lots of green everywhere, like what you see on the picture. Another thing I liked was that there are plenty of vintage cars around - most of them not kept in collectors' garages but still being used on a daily basis all around the city. Like this Mitsubishi Colt Galant Wagon from around 1970.

Although I did not consider these cars particularly beautiful when they were new I am now fascinated by their innocent charm and I'm happy every time I see one. That's because they appear so light and simple. The cars of today look much too heavy for me, that's why I don't have one. Look at the white Hyundai behind: It looks twice as heavy as the Mitsubishi and it probably is, although technology allows much lighter materials to be used today. And the function of the two vehicles is exactly the same.

Car designers of recent years must have realised somehow that they were going in the wrong direction, that's why they invented the retro car. But they didn't get the point. Retro cars look as heavy as anything on the streets today. BMW's Mini looks like an overweight version of the original one and has nothing of its charisma. The New Beetle ist just an obese eyesore.

Although I must admit that some retro cars do look cute I generally have problems with the idea. The original Beetles, Minis and Cinquecentos are classics today because they are symbols of their times, witnesses of an age when everything was simpler and more straightforward. And, yes, not so postmodern! Can something ever be a classic that tries hard to look like something else? I doubt it. Can something be a classic that wants to evoke an age it wasn't part of? No - the real ones will always be better at evoking anything than the copy.

It's a bit like a Quentin Tarrantino film that tries to evoke the magic of a 1970s B-movie. These old films have charm because of the context of their age, the limited budgets and tons of unintentional beauty. In other words, what we love about those films are those elements that were not intended - and exactly because they were not intended! Now Tarrantino seems to believe he can recreate this charm by copying some superficial formal elements of these films - but it just comes out as forced and artificial.

Ironically, an indirect successor of this Mitsubishi, sold between 1995 and 2004, was called Carisma - and it was probably the most uncharismatic car ever produced. Why don't the car makers of today produce a straightforward and very light car with state-of-the art materials and simple but modern technology? It wouldn't need the treatment of expensive designers. No "design elemets" please! I would buy it. I'm sure it would have good chances to become a classic in another 2 or 3 decades, just like this nice little Colt.

Taken on: November 28, 2010

Tags:

Laos

Lao P.D.R.

Vientiane Capital

Mitsubishi

Colt

ປະເທດລາວ

ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ

ນະຄອນຫຼວງວຽງຈັນ

ວຽງຈັນ

Capital City

Vientiane Prefecture

Mitsubishi Colt Galant Wagon « less

Sets appears in: • cars • ວຽງຈັນ / Vientiane Capital

Groups appears in: • Laos Images • Small Cars more » • Antique Common Cars • Japanese Car Lover • Autoshite « less

Camera: Nokia N97 mini, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec, 5.2mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Nokia N97 mini
Aperture:	f/2.8
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1000)
Focal Length:	5.2mm
ISO:	100
Flash:	Auto, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	picnik.com
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