Ripe for the scrapheap?

[expat]

Wasn't the Morris Minor one of the few cars that was designed to be repaired? Still see a few about today.

Quite a few products could benefit from a modular design but it goes against the principle of consumerism, everything in modern life is pitched in such a way that the average person needs to keep working in order to keep the economy going, we can’t have people stepping out of line and retiring early can we.

I'd guess that you see Minors around still because so many of them were made. But it's a good point. The Citroen 2CV was also made to be repaired, by a ham-fisted French farmer with a limited set of tools. The trouble is, it is higher-tech that has given us today's cars with longer life and lower fuel consumption.

But cars should not need to be replaced often, just for image. The Model T Ford didn't come with built-in obsolescence: a 1909 Model T was pretty much the same as a 1910 Model T, and a 1911 Model T wasn't much changed either (except that it had front doors). It was General Motors that invented the "model year" to persuade people to keep replacing their cars.

bye GM


As for consumerism, supporting the economy, and (especially) early retirement/withdrawal from the workforce, I agree too. Right now a big recession and bench time must be impacting on a lot of our plans.....