Comments on: Artikcar by Ben Wilson

By: J*

J* — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 17:32:39 +0000

lacks 4 of these:
http://www.monkeylectric.com/products.htm

I like it (despite the bad reviews I agree with ie: loss of the pushbike assets) but I don’t get it for the “handles”: they seem to be underneath the seat? how does it feel after a little ride?

By: Paul / HP Velotechnik

Paul / HP Velotechnik — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 14:28:06 +0000

Hey Ben,

I love your new design – so recumbents will finally be even more visible than those fancy cars. How do you like the seat? ;)

By: sis

sis — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:29:28 +0000

super cool

By: Joe in MS

Joe in MS — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:02:53 +0000

It’s attractive and kind of cool. I’m not a big fan of recumbents but that feature may contribute to its low-slung sportiness even though it would reduce its visibility in traffic. I really like the neon outline and I’m sure it will be a nice entry in the parade.

Frankly (and this isn’t a criticism of this design but of the greed of the manufacturers of such), 4-wheeled bicycle-type cars (see for example http://www.rhoadescar.com) would probably be wildly popular and an ecological boon in urban or residential areas if they were (a) more practically-equipped with a parcel basket for shopping, and (b) priced more in line with what they actually are — basically two bicycles stuck together. As Henry Ford once said, “It doesn’t matter how good of a car you build, if it can’t be sold for a price the public is willing to pay for it.”

By: mook

mook — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 15:08:09 +0000

Naylor – it’s not a mobile work of art, the first words of the article are:

“British designer Ben Wilson has designed….”

No matter how artistic the intent of the work and designer, it’s still a practical object for use in a city, so he should have considered the practical elements as mentioned by others.

I like the work though in a purely visual way. Wouldn’t like to use it much though.