Does talking about the "personality" of a car still make sense today? The opinions of potential buyers are actually different despite the body lines being very similar to each other. This applies to all manufacturers excluding supercars or muscle cars, where one can still be recognized Corvette From one Mustang or, a Maserati from a Porsche Panamera. In fact, today many components and platforms destined for the common market are even the same and the imagination is only in changing some shape or detail to create a certain difference and aerodynamic optimization.
In past years the car probably represented who you were and your choice was more linked to expectations and driving satisfaction, today it represents, with a certain sadness, a useful accessory capable of transferring you in comfort and safety.
On-board connectivity is one of the most requested and indispensable pieces of equipment in terms of driving safety and attention, but a curious and bizarre test was carried out in England. There scrapcarcomparison, last year, wanted to determine the psychology (and psychopathy) of the English buyer (which in my opinion is a little different from us), revealing the type of driver based on his car choices. These, in a market that we could define as having little stylistic imagination, intuitively fall on the type of engine, the brand and even the colour. Engine and brand can in fact be the guarantee of a good purchase, while the color - perhaps a little bizarre - opens up many psychological assumptions about the "quality" of the English motorist. However the red colors seem to be in line with the gold ones at the top, green and brown in the middle.
A Daily that is not a Daily
Exactly, he is the performing Light Multi Purpose Vehicle now known as MUV 4x4, potential replacement for the good VM90, the M40E15-WM present today in 23 world markets. Regarding the lack of imagination in modern automotive lines, we debated for a long time with the MUV, making it difficult not to call it Iveco Daily, a vehicle from which it derives stylistically anyway.
Tactical military vehicles, unlike civilians, fortunately maintain their own personality, which is mainly followed by practicality of use. We can propose a few simple examples with the Otokar defense line where, the "light APC" equivalent of the Lince, maintains a design and above all an unmistakable front that characterizes the Turkish production of armored vehicles. Or, by analyzing the types of Oshkosh defense armored vehicles it is not difficult to understand that the pencil of the project is in the same hand. The same goes for the French Arquus defense (formerly Renault Trucks Defense) perhaps by snooping around one Scarabee. However, despite the strong resemblance to the big delivery vans of Amazon, the MUV is also serious in Sweden.
MUV 4x4 to Northern Europe
With the agreement signed between IDV and the FMV Swedish Defense Materiel Administration, the Italian company will supply up to 3.000 light vehicles for the Swedish Armed Forces. We will start gradually with a first batch of 400 vehicles. The agreement provides for four years of supplies, i.e. until 2027, but also the possibility of extending them for another five years. There are 12 variants requested including the troop transport series, the health one, the communications station, the logistics one and even variants for the transport of dogs.
The MUV complies with military and NATO standards and despite a softer line and with a little less personality than the VM90, it turns out to be an absolutely very robust vehicle and in step with the times compared to its predecessor. In fact, we recall the interesting maximum capacity of 7 tons with a payload of 4t and the possibility of also operating with NATO fuels. The transmission full time (permanent like the latest VM90 series) has three lockable differentials (front, centre, rear), plus a transfer case with power take-off.
Equipped with a 1 hp FC3.0 180 engine, the MUV does not feel the embarrassment of its military platform on demanding terrain off road where, its ground clearance and angles make all the difference. The same lively engine together with the rear rigid axle suspension and independent wheels at the front guarantee dynamic and safe behavior to the MUV (after all, like the Daily) on asphalt and at speed.
Returning to the imagination in planning, what to add that is not very innovative for a tactician? Well, maybe the color.
Images: IDV / web
