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Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

eupolicy.social

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Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

#331

Post by Aurornis »

MobiusHorizons wrote: post #321
Aurornis wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wonder how differently cars would be built, if instead of maximizing for value extraction and crap nobody needs, they instead were optimized for utility and maintenance (and sure, fuel economy, aerodynamics and some sane environmental stuff). Auto manufacturers already have stripped-down base models of their entry-level vehicles. Many have commercial versions of their vehicles, especially trucks and vans, that ar…

And yet I personally know more people who own iPhone minis (myself included) now in 2026 than that own pixel phones of any model. I think the data is distorted by the fact that most people who want things like that also don’t typically buy new (especially with cars). I did buy my iPhone 13 mini from Apple directly, but I bought it after the 14 line had already been released.

HN commenters and their friends are an extremely biased sample set.

The sales numbers don’t lie about the global demand though.

Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

#332

Post by JohnLocke4 »

haspok wrote: post #251
Fischgericht wrote: post #206

I can confirm all of the findings. My first car I got in Germany was a C15. I used it to transport server racks, but also had a mattress in the back and had my first sex on it. On muddy festivals where others cars got stuck, I was able to get out easily. Repairs were dirt cheap. It also had a tow bar, and was able to pull a 1.5 metric ton trailer to get equipment to a computer party. And I still was able to do 160 km…

My first car was a rusty 20 year old Renault 5, in which I barely fit myself, so no sex in the car for me. (But my grandma had a flat that she did not live in during the summer months... hmm... sweet memories... excuse me, what were we talking about again?)

At first I wanted to write a comment about how cars and sex are apparently very well linked. Upon thinking it over once more, it appears that the real link to sex is privacy, which is of course obvious. Thinking over it once more, we're brought back to the real selling point of cars: total privacy. Public transport is on paper really good, but it is totally devoid of privacy - which means that it is bad in reality. In other more provocative words, public transportation is bad because you can't have sex on the bus

Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

#333

Post by formerly_proven »

Aurornis wrote: post #328
nottorp wrote: post #291

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depending on the weather, heated mirrors may be a safety feature. I'd very much like that for rain/foggy days for example.

This comment section went from “I don’t understand why car makers don’t sell a cheap stripped down car without luxuries” to “Heated mirrors and seats are very important” very quickly. HN comments discovering in real time why the stripped-down base model vehicles don’t actually sell. People like those luxury features and they choose to pay extra for them.

Same procedure as every year, James.

Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

#334

Post by jijijijij »

Fiveplus wrote: post #12

The C15 represents a time when a vehicle was a tool. I feel vehicles want to turn into a subscription service these days. I still see these running in rural Spain and France, usually held together with wire and hope, clocking like what 400k+ km? The XUD diesel engines are practically unkillable. They have no ECU to brick, no adblue sensors to fail and put the car into limp mode and thankfully none of those DRM locked…

> The C15 represents a time when a vehicle was a tool.

I don't think that's true, the car as mere tool is romantic anachronism. Back then, cars were central identitarian elements to the post-war, western promise of salvation. Whole cities were torn down and rebuild to fit the car. The car had ideological significance. I think, identitarian attachment to the car is actually less today, but due to the historic importance and focus, cars have become unconditional necessities in many places.

I think the reason, you frequently see "old cars as tools" in southern Europe still, is the fact most regions there only started industrialization after 1970 and were/are still greatly underdeveloped/relatively poor, compared to eg. early industrialized nations like Germany, which are super car-centric. They suffered less car adaptation at the time and as a consequence e.g. SUVs would be rather impractical in some places with extremely narrow streets. Additionally, (remaining) farmers in e.g. Germany are almost exclusively rather rich entrepreneurs managing industrialized food production on flat, boring lands, than "poor peasants" caring for traditional farms in remote villages living off tourism somewhere pretty.

Probably less due to zeitgeist/mentality, but rather geography, historic economic abilities and availability.

Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

#335

Post by tibbydudeza »

Fiveplus wrote: post #12

The C15 represents a time when a vehicle was a tool. I feel vehicles want to turn into a subscription service these days. I still see these running in rural Spain and France, usually held together with wire and hope, clocking like what 400k+ km? The XUD diesel engines are practically unkillable. They have no ECU to brick, no adblue sensors to fail and put the car into limp mode and thankfully none of those DRM locked…

C2V ?

Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

#336

Post by nandomrumber »

everdrive wrote: post #87
Fiveplus wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That would be the absolute dream engineering brief. If I actually sit down and design that vehicle, it would have something like this. List, off the top of my head. 1. You keep the modern metallurgy and the crumple zones. You keep ABS and basic traction control because they are solved problems that save lives without needing cloud connectivity. 2. Instead of a 2000 USD proprietary touchscreen that will be obsolete in…

How about an option just to have one of those old Ford radios with the huge buttons you can push with gloves on? And maybe an aux-in?

So long as it also plays cassettes.

My first car had the mechanical radio buttons and cassette player, I think you even had to turn the cassette over when one side ended.

Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

#337

Post by Fischgericht »

JohnLocke4 wrote: post #332
haspok wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My first car was a rusty 20 year old Renault 5, in which I barely fit myself, so no sex in the car for me. (But my grandma had a flat that she did not live in during the summer months... hmm... sweet memories... excuse me, what were we talking about again?)

At first I wanted to write a comment about how cars and sex are apparently very well linked. Upon thinking it over once more, it appears that the real link to sex is privacy, which is of course obvious. Thinking over it once more, we're brought back to the real selling point of cars: total privacy. Public transport is on paper really good, but it is totally devoid of privacy - which means that it is bad in reality. I…

Public transport porn is actually a big thing in the Czech Republic, at least according to my bookmark collection.

Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

#339

Post by kstrauser »

jeron wrote: post #318
kstrauser wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, the normal size truck actually carries the things you want to transport, if you move their handlebars. You’d pay an extra $7000 because… you don’t like to pack?

Buying secondhand, the F150 is actually cheaper. I neglected to mention this but there’s a lot more used F150s than Rangers on the market

Ah, I could see that point.

Re: Allow me to introduce, the Citroen C15

#340

Post by prmoustache »

testing22321 wrote: post #302
nothrabannosir wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a Panda from the early 2010s and that was my exact thought reading this thread: sounds like a fiat panda. Surprised to see this downvoted. Did they change so much?

Downvoted because they’re non-existent for north americans

Aren't the Fiat 500 and Panda the same car but with only a neo retro design on the former?
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