Hard to believe, but we’re coming up on the twentieth anniversary of the last iMac G3 leaving the factory. For someone my age, it’s just another discontinued computer product living in a landfill now, but for many of younger generations this colorful and fun translucent Apple product was an important and still-missed landmark.
sources: Wikimedia, Apple
This fact was made know to me in recent comments pertaining to eighties and nineties design. A reader asked rhetorically ‘where his translucent purple car was’ that he had expected to see in the future (which is now). Our own Mercedes Streeter then stepped in with this comment:
So..did she want me to design a car inspired by or based on the G3? Here response to me was that she was ‘half joking’, but that infers there’s at least one half of her that wants to see that. I mean, we have to at least TRY to make the girl happy, right?
If we’re going to make this car, it might as well be produced by the company that made the inspiration for it. I mean, Apple has been considering making a motor vehicle for some time now, and we’ve seen a number of concepts. What if Apple had released a car about two decades ago that played on the aesthetics of their personal electronics?
Steve Jobs would have been still alive during this time, and I am certain he would have had a lot to say about this product. Jobs seemed to have had an interest in cars, though by the year 2000 he was pretty much driving only V8 powered Mercedes coupes around without license plates and parking them in handicapped spots. I can virtually guarantee one thing- Steve would NOT want this car to look like anything else available at the time. The latest concepts I’ve seen for the Apple car generally seem nice but very much car-like. As with Elon and the Cybertruck, I can see Jobs going so far as to create something controversial just for the sake of making people lose their shit.
The Apple Car would be an EV, and while it wouldn’t have nearly the range of current cars we know from the GM EV-1 that a lot was possible with even the technology of the time. The Apple Car would be designed with upgradeability in mind, knowing that the battery technology would improve exponentially over time. In all honesty, it’s likely that Apple would at least start out with leasing the cars so that upgrading would be possible. Again, Jobs would have wanted this product to be revolutionary in terms of the way vehicles were sold; you would be ‘subscribing to a transportation system’ and not ‘buying a car’. “What will it take for you to drive one of these Apple Cars off of the lot today?” would NEVER be asked at an Apple Car Store.
A fully translucent car would be a difficult thing to do, but then even the iMac was selective in what was actually see-through and what only seemed that way. I’m envisioning a white plastic-covered lower section on every one sold, with a bubble-shaped top featuring a lot of glass tinted in one of the available colors (darker tint in back or on the sides in states that allow it). Below the beltline, it looks like more color tinted windows continue down, but it’s a ruse: it’s just translucent material with opaque plastic an inch or so below the surface.
The tires are color-coordinated rubber, available only through your Apple dealer so it would be just like owning one of Steve Job’s computer products where you’re stuck with buying his expensive-ass proprietary shit. Essentially anything and everything on the car would be proprietary, so you just couldn’t go to AutoZone and find replacement parts, but you wouldn’t have to since an AppleCare service package would be mandatory.
This color coordinated rubber is also used on the front and rear bumpers. These would be the same piece used front and back; scuffs could theoretically be rubbed out. Ingress would be through gullwing doors, since every megalomaniac that makes their own car from Delorean to Bricklin to Elon HAS to have them- it’s some kind of unwritten law, like how the top left drawer in your kitchen legally needs to be filled with a dead flashlight and hex wrenches from your last IKEA builds.
Besides the G3 shape and materials, Apple would want a few other tricks on the car as well, and I found inspiration from an impressive toy by industrial designer Patrick Callelo called Automoblox. This wood and plastic toy is made of modular components to allow you to turn a coupe into a sedan, a truck, or a number of other vehicles:
source: patrickcallelo.com
It’s an idea that only the Nissan Pulsar NX ever offered in production car form, but Apple would do the same with changeable back sections that you could choose when purchasing the car or buy later to convert your vehicle. You bought the sedan model, but you just had baby twins: time for the van rear body component. Maybe your Apple dealer could even rent you a different back for the times you need it?
Inside, there’s four seats and the cargo area in back is complemented by a frunk under the windshield which is accessible by either and opening front panel or a front hatchback (haven’t decided yet):
The dashboard is deep and has the gauges up front in your line of sight, while controls sit on a panel between the front seats. It’s an Apple product, of course, so forget your CDs and cassettes; there’s a recessed place to put your iPod in to play iTunes. Note the video screen that would only be visible to the passenger (but would likely only work when the car was not moving based on most state laws). Major controls are below the airbag on the steering wheel, and window and door controls flank the ‘gear shift’ buttons. Note the arrow push buttons to control air flow and temp of the HVAC.
The ’key’ for the car would look very much like the hated hockey-puck mouse that came with earlier G3s- maybe Apple could even get more life out of the molding tool by using it for this purpose. A round charger that could be portable or mount to a wall bracket would also be needed for home or office.
source: wikipedia
Speaking of the hockey puck mouse, the Apple Car would offer a ‘single pedal’ mode as an option for driving. Similar to hand controls for cars owned by paraplegics, releasing the gas pedal would apply brakes (or regenerative braking) depending on how much you lift your foot. It might be great for driving in traffic or other situations, and it would DEFINETELY be the kind of love-it-or-hate-it thing that Steve Jobs would go nuts for. Drive different, y’all.
As mentioned earlier, the buying process would be unique, and the cars would be offered through Apple ‘megastores’ that would combine computer equipment showrooms with the vehicle distributors, and even Apple Cafes at Megacenters. You belong to Steve now!
I do think that if such as car existed, there would have been superfans that would make Tesla Stans look like casual owners. Followers of the black turtleneck-clad messiah would flame anyone online that offered even the slightest criticism of their translucent candy colored machine. Maybe Elon wouldn’t have even tried to hit the market if Jobs had channeled his inner Henry Ford and we had a rainbow spectrum of tire smoke on our streets.
One last thing: had these been produced in 2001, I am hoping that today there would be derelict examples of iCars in each available color and every bodystyle moldering in front of Mercedes Streeter’s home.
all illustrations by The Bishop
a Front Hatchback ?
Since a Hatch Back is a hatch in the back… something similar in the front must be called a hatchfront.
( not really serious about it, just having fun with a language that’s not my native one )
As someone with a collection of various Mac’s, I love this. I do feel like the frunk should be a pop-open tray. Slot loading didn’t exist for the iMac’s debut. Imagine a giant teal central bumper that you press on and a giant loading platform pops out like a big tongue from the front. I also think that a click wheel would have been the only way you access all menus and controls in the car. Instead of replaceable modules, there should be a fleet/education version available that is more reminiscent of the Molar Mac. https://www.macstories.net/mac/the-power-macintosh-g3-all-in-one/#:~:text=The%20Molar%20Mac%20was%20an,case%20of%20function%20over%20form.
“The Apple Car would be designed with upgradeability in mind”
Why would Apple break with tradition and make something upgradeable?
ncrbrit- you can upgrade software on Apple machines, right? This is sort of the same thing, except it involves a $15,000 battery pack that you’ll end up paying $25,000 for over time with the subscription program. Don’t worry, you’ll still get screwed, I promise.
Being an Apple product, does that mean the windscreen will crack when you hit a pothole and require an appointment for repair at the AppleCar store?
I’m assuming it will also be electric and use a proprietary power cord that frays to the point of needing replacement every 6 months. Except for European users whose cars will utilize a standard charger.
Rief- you can only use ApplePower, which is also a subscription and ‘Applefies’ the electricity you get from your power company.
I think Steve jobs would have wet his pants at the sight of a giant glass cube being used as a vending machine for cars. He was stuck on simple shapes either round or square. Hell, he tried to sell a NeXt cube, Mac Cube, the block shaped Apple stereo (iBlock) and the Mac Mini continues. After he bought out Carvana he’d stuff those cubes with Jonny Ives designed colorful lozenge shaped “cars” missing some vital tech like a steering wheel, that leaves everyone who expected one to be branded “luddites”. Women would love them because they’d be targeted at women, as he was always clear that he did that because women value design … and the men followed. The Bishop’s take on a bejewelled Previa is right smack on as women are the prime deciders on these vehicles.
I can hear him now: “We’ve simplified the car! From today forward the world will drive by pointing one finger in the direction they want to go”.
This really feels like exactly the sort of concept car that absolutely would have been trotted out at the Detroit auto show in 1999, get a lot of buzz, then never be seen again
For proper Steve Jobs approval for an Apple iCar, it would have a minimal amount of buttons and cooling fans
Zero cooling fans, because they’re too noisy. Also, I feel like every single feature in the interior should be controlled by a single click wheel with endlessly nested menus.
(clicks this article)
(looks at who’s responsible)
… if y’all will excuse me for a bit, I have to replace every computer two different people own with an iMac ‘grape’ spec. I’m sure all of the modern sites will work fine with a 13.8″ 640×480 display and a whopping 64MB of memory.
Oh, and 56k dialup.
After seeing the comment from Mercedes I was hoping you’d do this. I find the lines of the van remarkably appealing and love the frunk with the front panel opening and gullwing doors. I don’t see Apple offering the different body styles as Apple has historically been all about “you get what you get and you’ll like it”.
Unlike the vast majority of your interiors I don’t love it, but oddly enough I think I don’t like it because it’s true to the Apple vision and it is too uncomfortably realistic in its flaws. That pod station absolutely would have existed and it would have aged horribly (nothing uses those 30 pin connectors anymore, and I say this as the guy still using an ancient iPod Classic with that connector). Likewise the arrow buttons and the uglified take on a single spoke Citroen steering wheel are plausibly horrifying.
Origami- you got that right. My wife’s decade old Mac is sitting in a corner of the office and it has that silver keyboard with the nearly flush white buttons; hard edged and clean looking but I just HATE to use compared to an old-skool thick IBM type keyboard. A little later than the iMac design language but I used this as an influence on the flat-planes-and-screens approach to the interior. Which, like you, I’m not really nuts for.
And just like with my old iMac (orange, baby!), third parties will eventually sell color-matched accessories of things you actually need in the concurrent real world. Like a spare tire.
Jack- there’s a reason I put a standard Apple store right next to the car store.
No spare tire- you need to go online and make an appointment with a Genius Bar to be ‘rebooted’
It’s funny how back at that time, Apple was as “forward looking” as ever, but it didn’t object so vehemently/angrily to others supplying more pedestrian elements to accompany its futuristic experiences. Sorta the last gasp of Apple’s original ’70s California mojo.
I had a printer and an external floppy drive in translucent white and orange to accompany mine, b/c it was 2000 and we still used those!
Your daydreaming designer has invented the 1986 Pontiac Trans Sport concept, to a nearly identical degree.
EssExTee- I know, once I put a ‘back end’ onto an upsized G3 as a nose cone that’s what I was thinking myself. I loved that concept, and talk about a thing that lost almost everything in the translation to a production car.
There was an episode of 30 Rock where they try to invent a new microwave and groupthink it, adding doors and wheels and such until they realize “we’ve invented the Pontiac Aztek.”
If i know my scifi, and i do, the panels need to be see through from the inside but blocking anyone from seeing in. So colored mirrored panels, yes i would go there.
Re: that last sentence. My first thought was that you could build one hellacious Harlequin 20 years out
So much fun! I hope the welcome tune is, “She’s A Rainbow.”
iwannadrive- remember that the main lower body you can get in any color as long as it’s a white that turns sickly yellow over time.
The OG iMac was the computer that brought internet to our home back in the day, so this post hits me right in the nostalgia bone. My sister still has it as an ornamental piece, because the screen died ages ago, but the last time I checked the mouse and keyboard still worked. And my very own first computer was a G3 Indigo, with the slightly revised design and the slot-loading cd drive (and, sadly, the then-new optical mouse instead of the hockey puck which I always loved). Writing this on a 2017 iMac, and there’s four more Apple laptops within arm’s reach (and another I can’t reach in the room I’m in), so it’s fair to say it left a bit of a mark.
DoYouHaveAMoment- I do wonder if there are places that will take G3 bodies, rip them open, retrofit a flat screen and modern internals from some generic laptop? Shit, you could just put a Microsoft Surface like I am typing on now in place of the old CRT screen and get the old keyboard to work with it.
My only criticism is that Apple would never ever have offered the flexibility of changing the body shape to change your car. You would HAVE to buy a new one to get a different body shape, even if it was all just bolt on stuff. Ever tried upgrading the storage on your iPhone? Otherwise I like it 😀
The bonus is that you could get all your aftermarket parts from AliExpress for real cheap, they would just break real fast!
Drad- I think that offering different back bodies would work but, just like the Pulsar NX, the whole changeability-thing-after-you-purchased-it would not last (I think Nissan dropped the WagonBak after the first year?).
Like the Smart Car, I think an open roadster would also be needed.
Or subscriptions! Yes pay money every month and we will deliver different colored body panels to you.
I think you nailed it except for the expandability part. Apple of that era often released products with limited capability and no upgrade path such as the first Macintosh. Jobs was all about the sleek and sizzle but often skimped on the meat. There was a large hacker community adding memory and disks to entry-level Macintosh and iMacs.
SquareTaillight- you’re probably right but Steve could occasionally be swayed. Supposedly he INSISTED that the first Mac NOT have a fan since ‘he didn’t want the sound’. Eventually someone asked him ‘do you like the sound of burning cicuit boards, Steve?’ and he relented.
Besides, he would have dug the revenue- that new battery pack would likely have cost as much as the car itself so you’d never ‘pay off’ your iCar; you’d just have a recurring payment each month that goes up and up.
The whole fan thing: A larger grille with fans running at lower RPM could have made things quieter. Of course, back in those days, all the electronics generated stupid amounts of heat due to inefficiency, not like today where the efficiency is there if we didn’t try to run everything at the ragged edge.
Turbo buttons on x86 PCs anyone?
Old odd Jobs was all about planned obsolescence. Nothing works after 6 months of leaving the factory. This is what kept hackers from even trying to skin the apple. But a $1000 phone that lasts 6 months?
I agree. Expandability was nearly eliminated when Jobs took back Apple and relegated expandability to only Apple’s high end computers. The only way I was able to expand my G3 was to put in a larger hard drive.
Could take the theme one step further and put translucent tires on the car. https://www.odditycentral.com/auto/goodyears-long-forgotten-illuminated-tires.html
I mean, rubber isn’t naturally black anyway. I do know that at this point colored tires have a poor lifespan and are crazy expensive, but in quantity almost anything is possible. I mean, an iPhone would be a $25,000 item if they only made a few thousand of them.
You could likely get aftermarket tires but they would void the warranty (plus it’s all part of Apple Care and you’re paying for it anyway). Plus it would be like those fucking Michelin TRX tires they had in the early 80s on Mustangs and such that were all metric (which, honestly, seems logical since why have metric tire width but the diameter in inches like all tires now?).
“Designed with upgradability in mind”? Have you even used an Apple product?
You goto the Apple Store, and buy a new Apple. That’s the upgradability.
This is awesome. Your best work yet!!
Except for the “comupter” legend 🙂
GranulatedMiscarriage- ‘computers’ are PCs. Steve refuses to call his products by the same name, hence ‘comupter’
For your amusement, an old joke from the 1990’s:
At a computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated that “If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1000 mi/gal.”
Recently General Motors addressed this comment by releasing the statement: “Yes, but would you want your car to crash twice a day?”
IF MICROSOFT BUILT CARS…..
1.Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car.
2. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason, and you would just accept this, restart and drive on. (various systems failing that work when you restart)
3. Occasionally, executing a maneuver would cause your car to stop and fail and you would have to re-install the engine. For some strange reason, you would accept this too.
4. You could only have one person in the car at a time unless you bought “Car95” or “CarNT”. But, then you would have to buy more seats. (new subscription services to access certain features)
5. New seats would force everyone to have the same size butt.
6. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast, twice as easy to drive – but would only run on 5 percent of the roads.
7. The Macintosh car owners would get expensive Microsoft upgrades to their cars, which would make their cars run much slower.
8. The oil, gas and alternator warning lights would be replaced by a single “general car default” warning light. (I give you the Check engine light)
9. The airbag system would say “are you sure?” before going off.
10. If you were involved in a crash, you would have no idea what happened.
Very old joke but surprisingly accurate to this day.
We’d likely get some of the most distinctive startup (and shutdown) chimes like we haven’t seen in a while if Microsoft did a car today. But probably a lot of denied warranty claims for blown out speakers if you left the volume up when doing so…
Now do the 2nd generation iMac! I’d love to see a blob-stick-rectangle-based car.
https://i0.wp.com/sixcolors.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/imac-g4-montage.jpeg?ssl=1
It would totally be on-brand for Apple to sell a car that only had one pedal, even though everyone is used to having at least two and would feel lost/nervous without more.
That being said, I do really like single-pedal mode in my Bolt and have to remind myself when driving other cars that the brake pedal isn’t optional…
When I had the Honda e just before Xmas it took me about five minutes to get used to one pedal model and I used it exclusively for the rest of the loan.
Please tell me you’re going to write a review of that experience?
As a Gen X’er with an unironic love for G3 iMacs and all their wonderful colors, 10/10 would buy and drive this van. I love everything about it and insist that frunk access be available through the headlight panel as shown above. I mean, just look at how damn cute that smile is with the panel open! It’s clearly saying (in the voice of HR Puff-n-Stuff) “Hey there friend! Jam your stuff in my mouth! Yum yum yummy yum yum!”
DarKhorse- you had best download the Witchiepoo protection package
I had a G3 Powermac I bought cheap in about 2010, still working fine. Trouble was it came with the 21” studio CRT monitor, which needed to be moved into position by crane and transported by Chinook.
On the plus side the rays from that bad boy meant I never need to put the central heating on and I can now see through walls.
My brother had a G4 PowerMac. Great exterior case design. With the proliferation of glowy translucent and transparent cases in the PC build community, I kinda wish there was an iMac style case that you could mount a ~ 21″ flat panel into and have all your components hanging out behind tinted plastic. The dimensions would be ugly though. With the modern aspect ratio of screens, it would be wide and squat. Oh well.
Would car play still be broken half the time?
“I’m writing this on a Mac, but still…”