Dog Friendly Concept
- See "external links" below for dog-friendly concept car photo gallery.
In 2007, the Honda Element won the Dogcars.com's "Dog Car of the Year" award. Honda chose to follow up on that with a concept vehicle unveiled in 2009 New York Auto Show specifically designed for canine transportation. It includes a "pet restraint system", an extendable cargo area load-in ramp, a 12V DC rear ventilation fan, second-row seat covers with a simple beige dog-outline pattern design to match the bed cover fabric, all-season rubber floor mats with a toy bone pattern, a fan, and "Dog Friendly" exterior pawprint emblems. A spill-resistant water bowl, also included, can be placed into a nook in the corner of the pet bed.
The second row pet restraint system is a small net crate suitable for cats or small dogs, which can be belted into place. It straps directly to the lower portion of the seat and the captive animal cannot see out the windows, unlike the pet "booster seats" sold by pet-supply vendors specifically designed to allow small dogs to see through the windows and sniff the incoming airflow.
The pet bed is a thick cushion for the whole of the rear cargo area. The cargo area pet restraint system consists of netting on the sides and the top of the dog bed, as well as a zip-up fourth side to be secured after the dog is loaded. Unless the top of the restraint system can be opened, which is not clear from the press release and accompanying photos, it severely limits the ability of the dog to see out the side windows or rear window.
However, the concept vehicle does not include an element much requested on sites dedicated to Element owners with dogs: roll-down rear windows, which would allow dogs to put their noses outside. The concept vehicle's windows remain the pop-out vent type.
The package is dealer installed and retails for $1,000.
Read more about this topic: Honda Element, Advertising and Marketing
Famous quotes containing the words dog, friendly and/or concept:
“I’m not going to call a dog ‘Dog.’ I suppose if she were a baby you’d call her ‘Person.’”
—Warren Beatty (b. 1937)
“Cold and hunger seem more friendly to my nature than those methods which men have adopted and advise to ward them off.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The new concept of the child as equal and the new integration of children into adult life has helped bring about a gradual but certain erosion of these boundaries that once separated the world of children from the word of adults, boundaries that allowed adults to treat children differently than they treated other adults because they understood that children are different.”
—Marie Winn (20th century)