I recently saw an eye catching photo of a sculpture that was created using lost and discarded plastic hubcaps. My first thought was that it was a really creative (and profitable) way to recycle.

My second thought was that hubcaps are an absolutely pointless car accessory.

I am too lazy to do proper research tonight, so I am simply assuming that the vast majority of hubcaps on new cars are plastic. If I am wrong, please tell me.

hupcap

In these hard economic times, the concept of the ‘base model’ car should be revisited. The new cars that are languishing in dealer lots have a lot of extras that have been deemed as ’standard equipment’ over the last few decades. I haven’t been new car shopping for years. The 18 year old Skoda that I owned in Malta didn’t have hubcaps or power steering. I don’t have a car here in Tunisia and the public transport is reliable and cheap enough that I have no plans on buying one.

I remember car shopping in 2003. I wanted to lease the cheapest, most basic car possible. The bottom line on a Toyota ad pulled me in. It turned out that power brakes and color-matched bumpers were extras and that there were no cars on the lot without these extras. I didn’t buy a Toyota.

When I was a kid, I lived in a farming community. Farmers at the time got tax breaks on their new trucks but they had to buy them without certain options. The auto dealers in town were aware of the situation and they were ready to supply the truly basic trucks. Wouldn’t it be cool if consumers started asking for cars without unnecessary plastic junk like hubcaps?

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