Sometimes I question the value of the work I do. I think this isn’t particularly unusual or unhealthy, really. Periodically, don’t we all want to take a moment to assess just exactly what it is that we bring into the world? Do we not want to be more than pliant machines with gooey insides that transform food into stools? Doesn’t everybody want to produce delight, wisdom, joy, comfort, justice or whatever along with a healthy assortment of stools? I know I do. And that’s why I’m here today, pointing out to you that this illustration of a 1954 Panhard Dyna’s seats sure remind me of some sort of baked goods. Whew. Mission accomplished!
I mean, look at those two cushy-looking bench seats! There’s something about that color, yellow darkening to a golden brown at the extremes, that is a dead ringer for some nice, dense pound cake. Even the buttons on the seat covers read like perforations that are sometimes punctured into cakes or whatever, for reasons that are clearer to someone who knows more about baking than me. Crackers have them, too, and if you want to know why that is, stay tuned for our upcoming subsite dedicated to crackers and cracker-related culture, The Crackhead.
The illustration style of this brochure is lovely, having a sort of midcentury kid’s book feel about it. Accuracy is attempted, but nobody is losing sleep over photorealism. I know this general design of car is often called “jell-o/jelly mold” style, but somehow this illustration really pushes that idea, as this feels like maybe it could be Jell-O:
I’ve always loved these interesting little Panhards: they’re a lot of car for a little flat-twin air-cooled engine, and they drive with all those French car characteristics of strangeness and comfort. I got to drive one, once!
I also appreciate the Dyna’s novel approach to taillight design, which seems to be dividing the functions of taillights and then assigning those jobs to tiny red lights sprinkled all over the rear quarter of the car:
Indicators are up on the fender tops, by the rear window, brake lights are little strips above the license plate, and taillights are inset in the bumper guards. Weird!
Thank god torch. I like the car news but i appreciate at least 2 funny columns a day. Some of work for a living and need comic relief. This did 1.
“Crackers and cracker related culture, The Crackhead”
This is what I come here for, ha ha…keep it up! Looking forward to that subsite…
Those seats look buttery smooth.
I have been trying to be good and at the very least live a carbon neutral life. Unfortunately l have a methane leak.
Disabled Panhard on the side of a scenic French country lane:
French Mechanic: Don’t you love zee baked-good-like seats?
American Driver: Just fix the damn thing!
Throw some strawberries and whipped cream on those seats and you’ve got a refreshing summer dessert.
They look just like Walker’s Shortbread.
(Adds to supply list for making gingerbread cars next Christmas.)
Indeed they do and now I’m hungry.
Mmmmm, hard pancakes.
https://i.imgflip.com/9czz.jpg?a468336
I definitely get a Walker’s Shortbread vibe from these seats.
Here is a car made of cake,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIGrM8AwUHc&t=60s
That is all. Nothing to see here, just move along.
Holy shit. I expected a mini car cake from a mold, not a full size culinary car creation.
That’s the sort of attention to detail I can sink my teeth into
#Chef’sKiss
Those seats may look scrumptious, but I bet they feel crumby.
A cookie is a cookie, but a Panhard seat is fig and cake. (Yes, they remind me of Newtons)
Pound cakes? Jell-O? Sprinkles?
I think Jason was craving dessert when he wrote this.
They may look like cakes. But my Grandpa’s dog said they taste like chicken. My wife Connie says “not that there’s anything wrong with that.” Discuss amongst yourselves…
Like chicken? You rely on the word of an animal which licks its own stool-hole?
-not that there’s anything wrong with that, either…
Hey I was like 4 years old! And the dog was smart.
If my only purpose in life is to consume resources and produce stool, then I should have have my mission accomplished for the day sometime in the next 60 minutes.
Mission has fallen significantly behind schedule. May require prune juice intervention.
Regarding holes poked in baked goods- Holes poked in something like a pound cake are made so that whatever glaze you’re using can penetrate the outer layer and soak into the interior of the cake. The holes in crackers and other flat baked goods is called ‘docking’ (stop snickering!) and serves a couple of purposes. One is to allow steam to escape during baking, and the other is to help lock the layers of dough together. That way you wind up with a relatively flat finished product that is still light and crispy, but not puffed all the way up like a pomme soufflé.
I never knew I wanted to know that!
Huh.
Boy, the Autopian(‘s commentariat) sure is fulfilling the education part of its mission.
I’ll never look at a graham cracker the same way now
Thanks that was enlightening!
Yes, they remind me of these I buy every time I’m in France.
Mmmm, biscuits…
Also I love how they have drawn that little car so long and sleek, and filled it with those tiny 1950ies advertising people 😎
Wow dude, that’s some low quality biscuit there! If you go to France, you owe it to yourself to buy some off a proper bakery!
I didn’t say they are the only ones I buy…
But they are nice to have around as 5Bs (beach-bike-boat backup biscuits) 😉
The seats are surprisingly comfortable though we’ve not yet taken our ’54 Dyna Z on any road trips so a final verdict still awaits. One of my kids and I are in the midst of getting the Dyna Z back on the road though it’s taking a while partly due to my kid frequently working overtime and partly due to the logistics of getting parts; so far we’ve had to order parts from France (natch), Italy, Germany, Spain, the U.K., etc, etc. Looking forward to getting it back on the road. It’s the same color as the one in the video; the color is actually even prettier in person, pictures & video simply don’t do it justice. Yeah, colors are among the strengths of French automotive manufacturing from the 1950s through at least the 80s and even 90s before everyone started going grayscale.
As for the taillights, there was indeed some variance, especially in the early years of the Z, but that brochure may be inaccurate as I’ve not ever seen any actual pictures of any Dynas with taillights in the bumper guards. The lights on the rear quarter panels usually served for both turn signals and taillights. And I’m given to understand that those lights were shared with some Maseratis. Talk about parts bin raiding…
I saw Twinkies right away.
“Garcon, two orders of Fillet of Twinkie for dessert please!”
Cake? I think they look like buns …for your buns…
I call heated seats “bun warmers”.
I once rode in a Panhard. Those seats, like the seats in damn near every French car ever, are really easy on the posterior!
The illustrator appears to have lengthened the PL17 by several feet. A frustrated stylist, maybe?
If you enjoy seeing the creative use of plastic in automotive interiors, the Panhard, like Citroen DSes of similar vintage, are the cars for you.
The more important question is: should cars have seats that look like baked goods? And the answer is yes. And, the answer to your obvious next question is: yes, of course they should be representative baked goods from the manufacturer’s country of origin. As the Panhard is French, this is clearly some type of madeline. Wait, no it’s an eclair, you fool! Let’s all take a moment to thank Jason for this crucial journalism – a light in these dark times.
To take this one step further, I’d like it if the seats also smelled like the baked goods they appear to be.