Wednesday, February 2, 2005

Car Culture

VW's bud vase is great example of whimsy in bloom on the open road

By Ann Job

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Carmakers do a great job giving us practical, useful features like cup holders, cargo covers and conversation mirrors.

But I wish they'd think about adding a whimsical touch now and then, too.

Just look inside the cars that a lot of us are driving and it's easy to see that Americans crave whimsy.

We add cheap novelties to our vehicle dashboards and dangle "charms" from rearview mirrors.

Come to think of it, when was the last time you saw a Volkswagen New Beetle on the road with the vase on its dashboard empty? Introduced in 1998, the New Beetle comes standard with a small bud vase positioned to the right of the steering wheel.

I've seen flowers tucked into this built-in bud vase. I've seen pens and pencils in there. I've seen glittery pieces of jewelry.

Last week, I spotted a New Beetle with a collection of small, international flags in the vase. I'm not sure what that meant, but it was colorful and different.

VW spokesman Steve Keyes says he's seen cigars tucked into the New Beetle vase.

Some people even change the contents of the vases seasonally.

My neighbor, for example, puts new silk flowers in her New Beetle every few months to reflect the changing seasons. What I find intriguing is she doesn't necessarily do the same for the flower arrangements inside her home.

Keyes said the feature was added to the New Beetle because a porcelain vase had been offered inside the Beetle in the early 1950s.

"It was somewhat of a nod to the past," he said.

Of course, these days there's plenty of legal language in the New Beetle owner's manual warning drivers about putting distracting items into the vase.

Maybe other carmakers think a vase is too sissy -- even VW hasn't put them into any of its other cars, after all. But there are modern and masculine ways to add whimsy.

With the growing number of vehicles offering voice recognition technology to help drivers make phone calls or navigate, why should we be limited to a digitized-sounding voice in response to our commands?

I'd much prefer a voice that sounds like actor Humphrey Bogart. A Hollywood star of the 1940s and '50s, the deep-voiced Bogart could get me focused on driving first thing in the morning with his famous line from the 1942 film "Casablanca": "Here's lookin' at you, kid."

Other drivers might want to hear comedian Jay Leno's distinctive voice or that of rhythm and blues star Usher..

Such whimsical features fit into the whole customizing trend that automakers have been talking about for years.

And they're much more creative than another set of fancy chrome wheels.

Ann Job is a California-based freelance writer. She can be reached at annjo84@hotmail.com.