Besides tire tread details, another thing I've never seen pop up in an automotive rendering is the car's underside. Few consumers that aren't mechanics will ever see the underside of their own car, and thus it doesn't need any design.
That may change. The UK has seen an uptick in what they call "cat (catalytic converter) theft," particularly from SUVs and delivery vans, whose high stance makes the theft easy:
These thieves are not sophisticated. Any vehicle with ground clearance can have the catalytic converter ripped off within seconds, according to the police, as they typically use plumber's pipe cutters or a cordless saw to slice through the exhaust and supports.
...Cats are mainly being stolen for their precious metal value—if properly recycled they can be worth between £50 and £100.
While the thief stands to make 100 pounds at most, it can cost more than 2000 pounds to repair the damage, which has fleet owners particularly worried. When you own dozens of trucks with enticingly high ground clearances, cat theft costs can skyrocket. And while the problem is just now seeing an uptick in the UK, it's been a problem Stateside for years.Even still, the problem presumably remains too local for global car manufacturers to notice and effect any design changes, so aftermarket companies have stepped in with their own solutions. Toledo, Ohio-based CatClamp manufactures a cage (photo up top) made from hard-to-cut aircraft cable that encircles the converter. British delivery company GeoPost has designed their own solution for their trucks in the form of a lock that makes the hood more difficult to open, as thieves typically pop the hood first to release a mechanism that makes the catalytic converter easier to remove. Neither of these are bulletproof solutions, but are simply ways to slow the thieves down and get them to move on to an easier mark.
Our proposed solution: Have all delivery trucks modified by east Los Angeles gearheads who have experience installing low-rider kits. The trucks go HSSSSS and sink to the ground when parked, so getting underneath them is impossible. It's a win-win!
"And unloading packages is a snap! Thanks!"
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