________ ________ ________
2018-04-25 / \/ \/ / \
/ __/ /_ _/
So I've been thinking about cyberpunk / _/ / /
cars. I mean, I was kinda thinking about \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
cars in general because my father-in-law is / \/ \/ / \
a car guy and also I could really use a car / _/ /_ _/
to get around Washington but anyway; I was /- / _/ /
thinking about cyberpunk cars and now I'm \________/\________/\___/____/
going to write about cyberpunk cars.
I had a search around and put out an open question on the Fediverse as to
what they'd consider a cyberpunk car and the results are pretty polarized
between the futuristic cyberpunk aesthetic and the function over form
cyberpunk mindset, it was quite interesting and I feel like what I want kind
of straddles the line between the two.
As a base I'm kind of torn, one one hand you want something that's hidden-
in-plain-sight, something like a late 90s Chevrolet Caprice or Buick Century,
something so uninteresting as to be invisible to anyone who wasn't looking for
it.
A little while back I was reading a bunch and watching videos on people
living in "stealth" vans; vans either specifically designed to look like they
belonged where they were or vans designed to look so nondescript that no one
would even notice they were there. It was really quite interesting and I
learned a lot about how to be invisible in a Walmart parking lot hahaha.
A quick aside: This is something I'd like to try at least once in my life
hahaha, living out of a van for a few weeks, I think it'd be challenging and
pretty eye-opening, although obviously less so knowing I can just pack up and
go home any time I like.
On the other hand, the flip-side of the aforementioned deliberately
uninteresting is something, obviously, interesting.
Personally I don't really feel the "futuristic" look, the sleek and clean.
Although it does have a place in the cyberpunk aesthetic it's stuff that to me
belongs to the high class, the corporates and the non-combatants, not the
street-level low life. There's two ideas that I find fit my daydream of
"interesting", that sit in that middle ground between aesthetic and mindset;
something post-luxury or something commonplace but out-of-place.
Post-luxury is pretty self-explanatory, a luxury vehicle being used by less
than luxury types, a really good example of this is the stylish '60s Lincoln
Continental in The Matrix, out-of-place is taking something that you'd see
everywhere somewhere and putting it somewhere else, for example transplanting
a Toyota Crown Comfort, a common Chinese red taxi, into the United States
where they're far less common. It's not an especially interesting car but out-
of-place it'll raise some eyebrows.
Ok now you've got a ride, what are you going to cram into it?
Here's where I'm going to embarrass myself, because a lesson I just refuse
to learn is function over form, I just don't give a fuck hahaha. Back in the
early naughties I was deep into RantRadio and Sean Kennedy's various shows and
stuff and he really beat function over form into you but, I dunno, I just love
the shape of things and I love things that serve a purpose no one really
needs.
I should do a post about RantRadio one time, hold me to that.
So anyway, I'm gonna want some ridiculous shit in there.
In-car fax? Check. In-car video phone? Check. This is shit I've wanted in a
car since the 90s, hardly relevant now but I've gotta have them. Re-purposed
in-car terminal, like a Motorola D-1118 or Motorola MDT-9100 - doing what, I
don't care, they just look fucking cool. If not that then a nice mounted
laptop.
Battery power to run it all when the engine is off, discreet solar panels
on the roof or something I can fold out when I need a bump.
CB radio, radio scanner, ham rig, all that cool shit. Some kind of internet
connectivity, an LTE device and a handful of anonymous SIMs to juggle, plus a
wireless adaptor and a couple antennas, one for wardriving and a directional
one to hit those known open networks from far away.
What have I missed? Tool kit in the trunk, space license plates? Hahaha.
EOF