We found out this week that Porsche is considering smushing together its Panamera and Taycan lines into one car in order to cut costs and lineup complexity. Which nameplate, drivetrain or platform will win out is anyone’s guess, but who doesn’t love a Frankenstein’s monster, car or otherwise?
It’s a unique approach to streamlining complexity in a very complex business. There are a lot of automakers that could learn from this approach, both to simplify lineups and improve vehicles that are lacking in some way. I’m not usually a fan of giving away good ideas for free, but I think we can give automakers a hand here if it means better cars. So what do you think? What two cars would you mash together to make one, better car? This can either be in the pursuit of simplification, like in Porsche’s case, or to create something totally new and unique from diametrically opposed models.
Why do you need all these trucks anyway?
Honestly, I do get why the Ford Maverick exists, it’s a tiny truck built on an the same platform as the Escape and Bronco Sport, two wildly popular vehicles for the Blue Oval. It’s not the bloated F-150, which has ballooned in size even in its lightest-duty versions. The Maverick, however, is a mess under the hood with not much power, and its 4.5-foot bed is tiny. I’m not normally a truck girlie, but what I really want is for Ford to build a new Ranger. Older Rangers were more useful than the Maverick but not a rolling announcement about the size of sexual organs I do not possess. They’re just so tidy while also being useful. When I see one on the road, I mourn what we’ve lost. Ford, do this thing. Mush together a base F-150 and Maverick and there you go, a truck fit for a 1990s queen like myself. Maybe even offer it in fun, wild colors, like the original Ranger.
What about you? What two cars would you mangle together to make a more perfect union of machine?
