First Love — The Honda Element
I am a shameless Subaru fanatic (Outback), which recently spread to my brother (Crosstrek) and now my father (potential Forester). I like Subaru because they’re durable, pragmatic, adventurous, and unassuming.
Yet my recent trip to Seattle rekindled an old love for the original durable, pragmatic, adventurous and unassuming vehicle, the Honda Element. I saw the Element everywhere!
During school, I was mocked for admiring Honda’s oddity: “it’s a box Bhavin”. Sure, but, the vehicle represents my love for grounded versatility.
The Element’s floors are rubber so you can take the seats out and hose out debris. It has tons of room, enough make it into a camper with beds as folded seats. It can go off road…while it may not have the coveted Subaru or Audi all wheel drive, it works. Also considering its safety, reliability and fuel economy, the Element came with a lot to offer. Unfortunately, despite the dedicated fanatics, production ended in 2011.
Encouragingly, Seattle remains as the Element hotbed because perhaps it represents Seattle’s culture for purpose. Everything about the city had intention and thought on how the system should work. The people are the same way and it reflects in their consumerism, like the Element. Although this is coming from a Torontonian who has select words for Toronto’s “approach” to design and development.
As I head home to my Subaru, I wonder if I would have an Element in 2018? Definitely… but first, I may have to move to Seattle and get a doggo.
Word count: 249
Twitter: @bhavprajapati
