Putting the cart around the horse

November 26, 2007 6:34 PM

"NATURMOBIL is about to pioneer in the state-of-the-art, first ever advertising promotion by means of traveling around the world with the vehicle that is nature-friendly that preserves the welfare of the beings and the environment. NATURMOBIL will soon to be the byword in every household globally." If Fleethorse, LLC meets their modest goals, the world's first advertising-funded horse-powered car will be followed by horse-powered buses and taxis.
posted by ardgedee (10 comments total)

Hm, those modest goals wouldn't include 'perpetual motion' and 'basic web design' would they? The FAQ isn't, and the entire concept seems, well, flawed.

Not to mention, cooped up in an enclosed space with a working horse? I thought the stale french-fry and soda dreg smell in my car was bad...
posted by pupdog at 6:46 PM on November 26, 2007

I told granddad not to sell the buggy-whip factory.
posted by jfuller at 6:54 PM on November 26, 2007

Well, it's interesting. I tend to wonder though whether putting the horse inside the vehicle and then actually driving it via electric motors is superior to just having the horse(s) pull it directly. Obviously there's going to be substantial inefficiency in the motors/battery/generator system, so there's always going to be less power going to the wheels than if you just had the horse tied to the front. Obviously with electrics you can make it go faster, but only for short periods (you have to keep the average energy consumption less than what's produced by the horse less inefficiencies).

Also, seems like horses might not be the best animal -- since you don't really care how fast they can move, but rather how much energy they can produce, wouldn't oxen work better? I've always heard they can pull a lot harder, but just can't go as fast.

But I'll give them points for novelty, in a certain 'Mad Max'-ish way.
posted by Kadin2048 at 6:59 PM on November 26, 2007

"The French are mounting a transport revolution led by the humble horse, using it in more than 70 towns to pull schoolbuses and to collect refuse."
posted by stbalbach at 7:04 PM on November 26, 2007

You might have noticed that none of the pictures have an actual horse in them. I swear this must be a joke. This, by the way, is my favorite quote from the site:

"So while your services or products being advertised and paraded by the Naturmobil all over the world, you also have the assurance that this vehicle is nature-friendly and can support tourism in the most unfathomable way."
posted by The Light Fantastic at 7:14 PM on November 26, 2007

I personally like the quote: By clicking on each of the pictures enlargement is possible."
posted by grooveologist at 8:43 PM on November 26, 2007

I swear to God, when I first saw this I pronounced it to myself as "Naturistmobile".

This is a great parody, with well done illustrations.
posted by Tube at 9:03 PM on November 26, 2007

This is a hilarious parody.

Horses are not a good means of transport for a number of reasons. This site briefly covers some of them.

At the turn of the nineteenth century, New York City's infrastructure relied upon disease-creating entities such as the horse. Between 100,000 and 200,000 horses lived in the city at any given time. Each one of those horses gave off 24 pounds of manure and several quarts of urine a day.

5 million pounds of manure a day.

I can't imagine being trapped in a vehicle with a horse, either. What happens when it goes berserk, as horses are occasionally prone to do?

It would make awesome excuses for missing appointments. "Sorry I'm running late- my car freaked out about a leaf blowing across the road and wouldn't stop."
posted by winna at 10:24 PM on November 26, 2007

It would make awesome excuses for missing appointments. "Sorry I'm running late- my car freaked out about a leaf blowing across the road and wouldn't stop."

Yeah, must've been the wrong kind of leaf.

/Semi-obscure UKism
posted by greatgefilte at 10:47 PM on November 26, 2007

The horses would have to yoked, or the treadmill at a much steeper angle than seen on that website.
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:34 AM on November 27, 2007