Making my way through Asia (and grad school) one adventurous step at a time.

Monday, October 08, 2007


Adventures in Concept Cars...

Perhaps this has been all over the news in North America, but I just saw it for the 1st time tonight. It's Nissan's concept car: Pivo. The cab swivels, and each tire has its own motor: no axles! The driver never has to back into a parking space. Just spin the cab and wheels around, and go in forwards, or sideways - whichever direction is preferred. I thought it looked pretty nifty. The fact that it looks like a cartoon bubble makes it a little difficult to take seriously. You could easily make the mistake of thinking it's made by Mattel, not Nissan. I don't know how it would handle on a highway, but as a city car, it would certainly have it's benefits. (I'm envisioning the parking garage at Costco on a Saturday afternoon.) Those of you at home with sprawling parking lots are probably thinking "What's the big deal?" Those of you here, picturing crowded, screechy parking garages are thinking "Oooh, I could swivel my way into that tiny spot in the corner!" Really, think of all the great things that swivel: office chairs, giant binoculars at scenic tourist spots, Elvis' hips. I've digressed. If you want to check out some Pivo videos, you can find them on both YouTube or Yahoo videos.


2 comments:

norquay said...

It will also be great for those people who haven't parallel parked since their drivers exam. Whoa - nothing ages you like realizing it was nearly 20 years ago!

Janice said...

Oh my goodness... now that you mention it, I've been driving for almost 17 years. I've been a driver for longer than I was a non-driver! Eeek. (However, I still parallel park on a regular basis.)