• EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.netM
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    5 months ago

    The entire point of using unpainted stainless steel on the cyber truck was because the DeLorean used it. seen-this-one

    Why did the DeLorean use it, other than for stainless steel’s superior flux dispersal properties making it the only choice for a car-based time machine in 1985? It’s durable and really easy to clean, so basically a surface you never have to worry about other than just simply washing it every day or two, something people tooootally would do. The DeLorean had absolutely absurd priorities for 1981, wanting to be a fast and sporty but also highly fuel efficient car that required as little maintenance as possible. It failed on all of these fronts, of course. It was largely regarded as a joke or a flop, and the choice of a DeLorean for Back to the Future, especially paired with Doc’s comment, “The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?” was intended to be a joke about Doc’s lack of understanding of style. People did laugh at his dumb car choice in 1985’s theatres.

    The DeLorean was an early 80s bazingamobile that failed at everything so hard it took one of the most celebrated car designers of the time, John DeLorean, out of the industry completely (and embroiled him in cocaine trafficking, the most 1980s crime ever.) History rhymes, so I can’t wait to watch how this absolutely destroys the last remaining true believers in Elon.

    • YearOfTheCommieDesktop [they/them]@hexbear.net
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      5 months ago

      yeah I kinda figured it was just elon’s ego/bazinganess

      inshallah-script it finally takes him out either literally or out of the spotlight

      Amazing that people thought “ah yes, all you have to do is wash it twice a week or more and not let it get too wet for too long” was lower maintenance than a paint job

      • EmmaGoldman [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.netM
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        5 months ago

        Yeah, it was really one of those things where the boss man says it must happen so, therefore it must happen, even if he’s blatantly wrong and it’s a terrible idea.

        John DeLorean was basically the Musk of the early 80s car manufacturer scene, but actually had some engineering chops which is why his meteoric rise wasn’t just purely based around a reality distortion field or having a shitload of money to do whatever he wanted, but gradually became a problem of both of those over time.

        The actual DeLorean car was a great example of the sunk cost fallacy and the bad idea creep that’s basically guaranteed to arise from cultivating that sort of cult of personality. It was supposed to release in the mid/late 70s, and be an affordable car that was class-revolutionising for the best fuel economy, speed, acceleration, safety, and ease of ownership. (Any of that sound familiar?)

        Instead, the car came out several years later than it should have, was marketed with the dumbest campaign of all time (gold plated cars), and achieved none of its intended goals: it instead trailed behind the competition in every single category.