Microcar instead of a Toad?

[Jeremy]

       "The English and the Americans are two peoples divided by a common language."   Same word, different usage.  I you have a 100 foot yacht and there's a small boat for your cook, housekeeper, and butler to go ashore and obtain food and supplies, in the US it's a "dinghy".  At least, that's what my cook, housekeeper, and butler call it.

Yes that is one kind of dinghy, but only one kind. This is equally-much a dinghy (in the US too), but your cook and housekeeper probably wouldn't like it:



I'm not sure whether the word 'tender' is commonplace among US boaters, but it specifically means a small boat that is carried by a much larger boat (or sometimes towed behind, but that's very bad form). A tender is a dinghy, but a dinghy isn't necessarily a tender.

In fact, studying the million different ways tenders are carried by yachts throws-up some ideas about how a car could be carried by a bus. How about collapsible davits attached to the rear-end, or even a fold-away crane mounted on the roof...

https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1440&bih=793&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=vUpbW8XuMKuIgAa0go64CQ&q=tender+in+davits&oq=tender+in+davits&gs_l=img.3...60920.69567.0.70190.19.19.0.0.0.0.153.1251.14j3.17.0....0...1c.1.64.img..3.2.208...0j0i30k1.0.G2WV9s5Df8w#imgdii=EflguXoJTGRGLM:&imgrc=NFR_fYle56gk3M:

[chessie4905]

Our tenders hauled coal or fuel oil behind steam locomotives.

[Oonrahnjay]

Our tenders hauled coal or fuel oil behind steam locomotives.

      They were driven by engineers.  "The English and the Americans are two peoples divided by a common language."

[Jim Blackwood]

I can't see "Tender" ever catching on as the name for a car carried by a bus. "Dinghy" sounds OK for that though. Not as good as "Toad" for a towed vehicle of course, that would be hard to top. But if you don't like it, call it whatever you want. One thing for sure though, it isn't a Toad.

Anyway, something like a Smart car should be really easy to winch up onto the back end of a bus. Not the roof, just lift the front end until the rear wheels and bumper clear the ground by a few inches and tie it off. It'd need wheel ramps to protect the bus bodywork, a winch on the roof, and tie down points but the wheels are so close to the ends of the car that it wouldn't need much at all for ramps.

Jim

[windtrader]

Since this thread has gone seriously off course and into boating. Boats like Zodiac and Avon are great where portability is a requirement. Just stuff an inflatable car into the bay and all is solved.

[Jeremy]

Wouldn't surprise me if there was somewhere a fully-working car that packed away into a small space when not being used, and then had to be inflated when you wanted to drive it. All-round airbags too...

There's also the Rinspeed Presto, which gets shorter or longer depending upon whether you need two sets or four:

[Jim Blackwood]

Don't think I'd want to be a rear seat passenger in that one.

Jim

[chessie4905]

Too cutesy to be in it or around it.

[windtrader]

Jim,


Great idea, you have an MG? Just cut in half and install some slide so it shrinks into the bay! Pu the windshield on a hinge and good on height.

[Jim Blackwood]

It's too wide.
The blower scoop sticks up too high.
It's too long and has no back seat so there's nothing to cut out.

http://forum.britishv8.org/read.php?2,274,page=27
look for the photos at the bottom.

BUT, if it wasn't over 13 ft long I'd consider hoisting it up on the rear of the bus.

Jim

[Dave5Cs]

So like that hasn't been done this is ours.

[Lifes2short4nofun]

One of the many reasons I own a bus is the safety vs a sticks and staple MH.  Seems stupid to spend the money to be safe to get to the campground to have the possibility of passing away from pulling out of the campground to run to the grocery store in a micro /mini /smart car.   We flat tow a Hummer H2 

[windtrader]

Love it, such an obvious observation!

[Jim Blackwood]

Safety is one thing. OTOH, a bus is way more durable than a S$S and should therefore be less prone to various types of failures. Provided it is solidly constructed of course. For instance, roof leakage should be much less of an issue. There is at least *some* basis for arguing depreciation of a bus should be less than a S&S also, whether or not that really is the case. Still, let's face it, in a major collision at speed nobody in either rig is going to fare well so the best tactic is avoidance. That tactic works equally well in smaller vehicles. For decades I have driven little British sports cars and ridden motorcycles so I know how this works. Yes, your Hummer might save you under certain circumstances but it is far better to stay out of those circumstances. Whether your bus would or not is quite a large question though. Not a whole lot there protecting the driver compared to the mass of the vehicle. So if you are a safe bus driver it means you are always aware of everything around you and drive so that not just you, but those others have a chance if something goes screwy. And if you already drive this way, a small car poses no challenge. The vulnerabilities are identical if you drive to avoid minor damage as conscientiously as you do to avoid death. After all, minor damage of a bus is really not so minor.

I really do not see this as being a valid argument at all. Do you go to a campground with the intention of spending your days there commuting through heavy city traffic?  If so you have my sympathy. My use of a Toad has always been to get around on surface streets and back roads and maybe an occasional jaunt onto the freeway, preferably at any time other than during the rush. If you aren't on vacation what's the point?

I asked my sister if she felt comfortable in her smart car on the freeway and she said absolutely. They do have a rather good safety rating, much better than the older cars I tend to drive.

Jim

[chessie4905]

On the freeway?
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