Letters.(Letter to the Editor)

Hy-wire act with no net

Am I the only enthusiast with the feeling that fuel-cell cars like the Hy-wire (AW, Jan. 13) are soulless? Add automated driving controls and driving a Hy-wire will be as much fun as riding a horizontal elevator. I don't understand the fixation on ``exploring the ways in which cars might become more appealing.'' One ``appealing'' aspect is interchangeable bodies. Do you think Porsche is going to neutralize its automotive pedigree by building bodies that can be installed on any generic ``skateboard'' chassis?

Enthusiasts revel in cars due to their character, design and mechanical sophistication. I don't see a fuel cell, electric motor and solid-state processor ever equaling or replacing those automotive characteristics we enjoy.

Isaac Martin, Sherman Oaks, Calif.

The idea isn't that new. GM wants to return to the car as ``automotive fashion,'' like it was from about 1941 up to the '70s. GM took essentially a common chassis with slight variations between lines, and with a variety of engines, dropped different bodies of whatever was in fashion at the time onto it. They're repeating this concept with today's ``platform'' front-drive cars. With the Hy-wire, they have refined this concept to a very streamlined and simple assembly. I read an article in a recent Scientific American by some of the engineers who are working on this project and essentially that seems to be their goal. Not to produce a better car especially, but to invent something they can produce for years on end with no major technical changes or challenges once the hydrogen hurdle has been jumped.

David Carlock, Hazel Green, Wis.

Found: a GTO rival