𝙕𝙡𝙂𝙕𝘼𝙂 𝟘𝟙𝟝: So-So

⚑ Nerd on site! (The nerd is me.)

Me at 2 PM: ಠ_ಠ

Me at 4 PM: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Me at 8 PM: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

If you were up all night praying for my router to fail completely today, thank your saints: you did it!

Sure, today’s issue of ZIGZAG has taken longer than expected to send out—in all fairness, I wasn’t expecting to spend my afternoon revamping the entire home network!

cont’d below

Back in early October, I sent a banger of a newsletter that featured the 2022 Ford GT LM Edition: the company’s final batch of road-ready race cars.

I didn’t write much about that car because its 3D printed dash plaque is gimmicky and let’s face it: my time is better spent dreaming of les deux chevaux.

In October, Ford and its build partner (the multitalented Canadian company) Multimatic had actually tucked a single line in its press release about this car:

“In addition, the Ford GT Mk II, a limited-edition, track-only GT co-developed by Ford Performance and Multimatic also concludes by the end of the year with a total of 45 vehicles.”

Recessions are apparently happening, interest rates are rising, belts are tightening—and yet you’re still looking at the 2023 Ford GT Mk IV, to be built in a series of 67, “a number honoring the original 1967 GT Mk IV race car,” according to the release.

Either the first release included two typos, or the business case was revised based on more demand.

These cost ~$1.7 Usd. apiece, you must apply to buy one—not to shame the wealthy but—who f*****g cares anymore? Here’s how I see it:

Guys: the ’60s are dead. Your heros are on their way out. I have resounding respect for what the Ford GT program was able to achieve…five years ago.

For a team that claims to be at the forefront of performance and technology, take a cold shower: this is incredible talent and energy squandered in service of a V6 fidget spinner for the ultra-rich.

Let’s get this climate emergency sewed up and y’all can go back to reviving yet another ghost of Carroll Shelby’s past. If Multimatic (and Ford) is looking for an actual challenge that’ll benefit millions (not thousands), I hear solar cars could use some help…

❍ LIMITED EDITION FORD GT MK IV IS THE ULTIMATE TRACK-ONLY FORD GT, UNCONSTRAINED FOR EXTREME PERFORMANCE • Ford

Truly: mad respect to the Sono Motors team for accomplishing what they have so far with the Sion solar-powered family car.

The rotten cherry on top? We all get to watch the moment most of its workforce is told the ship is taking on lots of water and it’s listing—employees may want to figure out where their lifeboat is.

Back of the envelope math suggests the operation is asking for far less than major manufacturers would spend, say, to greenwash PR initiatives over a single year.

My mental calculations think the company is still missing a piece of the puzzle: Local Motors-inspired miniature manufacturing plants so that the Sion isn’t distributed from a central, costly, facility.

Local Motors is dead, too (2007-2022)—partly because it had a few great ideas, manufacturing…and no mainstream products. Sonos has a mainstream product, but no manufacturing.

Instead of asking buyers to subsidize the car, I would be curious to know how governments would respond to the project.

Sonos Motors could test the old-school economics of shipping factory “kits” overseas, allowing access to its intellectual property, and charging a 7 or 8-figure sum for the privilege, thereby providing a turnkey method for multiple countries to be less dependent on oil imports.

If it is about survival, Sono Motors must be less precious about its intellectual property and more committed to seeing the concept through to production: a solar car for all.

Anything less isn’t disruptive enough.

↬ WE FAILED - This could be the end of the Sion • Sono Motors

see also :: Wait, what is going on? • Sono Motors (website) :: News: Financial situation and transparency • Sono Motors