Response to comments

I just wanna respond to a comment Laurel made. She pointed out that Hybrid buyers are sending market signals to manufacturers that show the need for alternatives to the status quo. This is my response.

I agree with you to a point. Buying a hybrid sends a market signal that a real alternative to SUVs needs to be made available (I don't consider sport-wagons with muscle car engines an alternative), but I fear that the signal being sent is that a high-tech, environmentally costly alternative is the only thing that will fly. If I ruled the world, or at least the car industry the market signal would be for a simple, cheap, super-reliable car. Think VW Lupo, or Smart-car, but even those aren't quite right. I don't mean to bag on hybrid buyers too much, but I get more frustrated with them than SUV/gas guzzler drivers for the simple reason I feel like they *want* to do right, but haven't done enough research on the problem. And that mindset is what gets us in serious trouble (think Cane-Toad, or Eucalyptus, or Broom, or MTBE, or Catalytic Converters, etc.) The one-problem solution (particularly with technology) usually ends up causing larger, harder to control side-effects. See MTBE, where in an effort to control air-pollution (which could've been controlled in a number of ways, it just happened that MTBE did it, and was a waste product of refining fuel in the first place so the Oil companies were happy to sell it at a huge markup) has now caused tremendous ground water contamination, and even the State legislature is having a hard time getting it banned. I fear similar problems will show up with hybrids, when there are less energy intensive/toxic solutions to the fuel-effeciency issue.
But hybrid owners do mean well, and I don't want to take issue with their intention, just the manifestation of that intention. I think the real short-coming is that there aren't really any cars available in the states that can send the correct market signal. Hybrids are, for some, the closest, best thing.

Having said that here's my idea for a car:

Small (think A-class Mercedes, or Smart, or Lupo), hyper-effecient (perhaps bio-diesel, which shortens the carbon cycle to years instead of eons, yes there are problems with particulates, and land being used to grow fuel instead of food, but that's another rant), built with minimal materials, and minimal frills. No power windows, no central locking, no lcd screens, or navigation crap. It would be the most efficient motor in the least chassis possible and still hold 4 adults. Also it would need to have 2 decent cup holders. Come on, you can't have a car without freaking cup holders. Get rid of A/C and bring back the wing-window.

Make the car in such a way that there are very few components to break. Electrical stuff (windows, locks etc) always seem to go bad after about 10 years/100k. Think about how this car will drive in 30 years.

Use materials that are either highly recyclable with low-embodied energy, or renewable. Wool carpets? Cellulose/composite interior panels (dash, door panels etc), how about a bamboo sheet headliner? Interior lighitng by LEDs (low energy needs, long long life?) Fabric seat covers (hell, for west-coast hipness, make it undyed, organic cotton or something) Make it really boxy (which is coming back as a design style anyway) which would keep manufacturing costs down. Make it cheap but good. The problem with the lower end of the market is that the cars are usually crap (Yugo, Geo Metro comes to mind) but engineers are getting around that problem (Kia, Hyundai, Others). Think Ford Fiesta but with greener materials. That car was great and they last a suprising long time. Think of it like a ford Fiesta if Whole Foods was building it.

Case in point: I have a 1972 BMW 2002. Now it's just about perfect except that I bet it's emissions are terrible. But it was also built before they started worrying too much about smog. Imagine the same design brief, with some modern engine management controls. It is faster and handles better than almost any other car I've ever owned, and it's owner serviceable, and easy to park. I just wish it had some crazy-hyper efficient low-pollution bio-diesel motor.