So OK, I sort of get the joke.  But, is it based on reality?  Have significant numbers of American men already decided that hybrids are not masculine-looking (and straight-looking) enough?

On a theological note, does the hero-slacker, who sort of looks like a slightly fleshier Hugh Grant, ever actually meet the Devil in the flesh, to whom he is enslaved?  Or is it the pattern that the Devil always appears in uncanny forms, such as lightning bolts and possessed cars?

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

Yes, we see the devil -- he's played by Ray Wise, of Twin Peaks fame, and his portrayal is delicious -- it's one of the things that elevates the show above mediocrity.

As for whether hybrids are seen as "chick cars," I imagine that depends heavily on what region of the country you're in and who you're asking.

grist.org

Doesn't that mean that they emit the same ammount of CO2 per overall capita.

Doesn't that actually make it pointless to buy green cars, in absence of increased CAFE legislation.

-David Ahlport

Hybrids are also SNAG cars.
google.com/search?q=snag+sensitive+new-age+guy+prius

In fact the whole "hybrid" thing is very femine.

Hydrogen fuel cells are the new power plant for muscle cars.

Can you imagine the Pontiac GTOH2 ?

I can.

If we're really lucky, it'll convince Ford and GM to start making more hybrids, too.

As for the other...  Don't worry.

I promise you, that video has sold at least a couple of dozen Priuses.

For the sort of person who relates to White & Nerdy, portraying a Prius as a symbol of geekdom will make them want one.  Macho guys measure their genitals by driving big, powerful cars and trucks.  Geeks measure theirs by being unabashedly geeky.

I can also promise you Weird Al knew that.

Talk about the latest wing nut fantasies you have aquired from listening to limboob.  That will take the performance pressure off little "rush".  Pop some hillbilly heroin, have a smoke, and relax.  

If she is still interested, your "date" was probably more masculine than you are.

http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog John Schneider, Northern Wisconsin

they're not going to make more SUV's next year just so they can sit on the minimum CAFE.

Toyota doesn't see it that way.

They have been actively grabbing truck marketshare away from as GM, Chrysler, and Ford.

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/10/15/what-is-the-truth ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/03/opinion/03friedman.html ...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119180150077351770.html?m ...

-David Ahlport

.. The author questioned why Toyota, which he cites as a fuel-economy and environmental-technology leader that popularized hybrid technology with the wildly successful Prius, opposes the most aggressive increases in CAFE.

...Like other major automakers, Toyota is in the business of offering a full lineup of cars and trucks to meet the needs of American motorists. Its success is the result of listening to customers and offering products they want. Those who point to average fuel economy levels in Europe or Japan overlook the real reasons these markets are different: higher fuel prices, steep fuel and vehicle taxes, different driving conditions, smaller vehicles and dramatically different customer tastes. There are no mandated minimum fleet standards comparable to our CAFE requirements.

Like it or not, Americans will continue to need and want variety, including pickups and SUVs. Nobody forces cars and trucks on consumers. They vote with their wallets.

...Toyota believes it has helped lead the industry in that very positive direction. But you can't bankrupt the industry if you want it to invest in our environmental future. When a leader such as Toyota says the bar has been set too high, it just might be set too high.

Irv Miller
Group Vice President, Corporate Communications
Toyota Motor Sales, Inc

http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/10/03/nrdc-slams-toyota ...

It's pretty sickening.

-David Ahlport

The Santa Monica Daily Press' Kevin Herrera reports that the rally, held in front of the Santa Monica Toyota dealership, was full of picket signs and calls through a megaphone. The issue is AB 1439, a now-contentious state bill that required (it was passed in 2002) the California Air Resources Board to "devise standards to reduce motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions." An EPA waiver was applied for, and things have been held up ever since, with Toyota one of the forces working to stop implementation of AB 1439.

GreyFlcn - I'm not denying that Toyota is an auto corporation. They're in it to make money, not to save the world. And I'm sure as %#$!! not defending their business practices. Just saying, buying a hybrid doesn't encourage them to make more gas guzzlers.

Toyota can afford to make every car it thinks will sell. If I understand it correctly, they could make all the hybrids they wanted, and those could rot on the lots if no one wanted them, and they could still make the appropriate number of gas guzzlers to sit on the CAFE minimum.

But they're not going to do that unless they think those gas guzzlers will sell. If the MARKET Average Fuel Economy is higher than the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, they're going to raise the bar to meet the market.

All buying hybrids does, from a business standpoint, is encourage them to make more hybrids. And if enough people do it, it might eventually even get them to make fewer gas guzzlers.

Pathos,
it is kind of fun to imagine how "chick car" and "big dick machine" might be translated into Italian.  A somewhat easier term, which I guess is an equivalent of "big dick machine," easier on account of its basic international etymology, is "penis-mobile," which has been around for a long time now.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

Well, if you feel you have to drive a Cadillac Escalade you probably have a very small "ranch" indeed. The Prius like the Mini-Cooper could be marketed as the vehicles for guys who know how big their ranch really is.

Tom Hanks drives an electric  Scion Xb. Jay Leno drives a huge v-12 roadster. Need I say more?

Put the Carbon Back