I suppose it shouldn’t be that surprising given how long the show has been on, but I still find it kind of remarkable how much automotive content the long running animated sitcom The Simpsons has provided. We’ve run a number of Simpsons–related car stories here over the years, and I did more back when I was at The Old Site. It’s a surprisingly rich source of car material, but I think there’s one car-related topic that has rarely been talked about, even though it’s related to what is arguably the Simpsons most famous contribution to automotive culture.
That most famous contribution has to be The Homer, the car conceived by Homer Simpson himself and built by the Powell Motors corporation, the Detroit-based carmaker helmed by Homer’s long-lost half-brother, Herb Powell.
You remember the Homer, right? This glorious monstrosity:
This is, of course the best known of the Simpsons-imagined car. Well, maybe the famous “put it in H” car is a close second, but still. Oh, and the Canyonero, of course. This is the one everyone knows.
As an aside, I’m going to throw in this Insta reel I made of Simpsons characters that share names with cars:
View this post on Instagram
That was fun, right? Sure it was. Okay, back to the fictitious Powell Motors, which is not to be confused with the real-world Powell Motors, a deeply strange and remarkable company that built trucks from wrecked Plymouths.
But we’re talking about the fictional Powell Motors, specifically the cars shown and mentioned in the season two episode, Oh Brother Where Art Thou? There’s actually a good number of other Powell cars shown in the episode, even if the Homer is the only one to get any real attention.
In fact, we see what appears to be Powell’s entire 1991 lineup: 
There are 10 cars there, and going clockwise from upper left, here’s what I think we’re looking at: a compact sedan, a compact two-door wagon/shooting brake, what I suspect is a larger, mid-size four-door sedan, then two mid-size coupés featuring what look like composite headlamps and somewhat more aerodynamic front ends; then a minivan, a full-sized upmarket sedan, a full-sized upmarket coupé, what I suspect may be a pickup truck, and finally an SUV.
It’s a pretty full lineup!
None of these are discussed in any real detail, but we do get a little more information about an upcoming Powell subcompact model, likely to compete with small, fuel-efficient Japanese imports:
That car is the Persephone, and with its boxy design and tiny wheels it kind of reminds me of another car, one that would be a very improbable inspiration: a Czech Velorex 435-0:
I doubt this was intentional, but it sure looks like that little vinyl-bodied Velorex. And, as a commenter pointed out, that should be 435, not 453 in the graphic, but I don’t feel like changing it.
Very little is noted about the car aside from that it’s small, efficient, and named for the mythological figure Persephone, who, in Greek mythology, was the goddess of spring and was abducted by Hades to become the Queen of the Underworld. This is all explained with a pedant’s delight by one of Powell Motor’s annoying and smug Harvard-educated executives:
Did the Persephone even make it to market? It doesn’t seem like it would, after that meeting. I do like how the number six was indicated with those fingers, though.
It’s also worth looking at the version of the Homer that Powell’s designers came up with before Homer demanded more styling input:
Honestly, it’s not bad! The front end reminds me of Saturns of the era, and I think the bubble top works pretty well with that central bar and the overall proportions of the car. Maybe Powell Motors would have survived if they incorporated Homer’s ideas into a car with styling that was more sleek and less unhinged?
It’s hard to say for sure, of course, but I do think they had a potential winner here.
Top graphic image: 20th Century Fox
This made me think of the old simpsons road rage game.I remember it being fun. Now I want to play it again to see which cars were in it
The second Herb Powell episode reveals the name of a Powell hatchback model:
Herb: “I used to own a successful car company. My strategy was giving them Japanese names. You guys ever drive a Tempura hatchback?”
Unhoused person #1: “Oh, yeah. Sure.”
Unhoused person #2: “I got hit by one of those.”
One thing I don’t get, is that Herb was apparently adopted by parents of modest means and had to pay his own way through school, so where did Powell Motors come from? He’s maybe in his 40s in that episode, so did a recent college graduate from a non-affluent background just start up a major automaker from scratch in the 1970s? Was the company founded in the 1980s and effectively brand new, but already struggling? The company is presented as though its a long established Detroit legacy automaker, part of a sort of Big Four, but that would have meant Herb growing up privileged, in a family with multigenerational industrial wealth
Maybe he waa exaggerating and BSing about his life just to add extra venom to his tirade to his out of touch executives
In the second Herb Powell episode he explains that the strategy behind his success was using Japanese names, like the Tempura hatchback.
Has basis in reality, same thing Currys did in the UK with their store-brand Matsui electronics
The named the brand after a notorious war criminal to boot! General Matsui commanded the Japanese forces that committed the Nanjing Massacre.
The Director of Currys at the time said the company “had been unaware that Matsui was a Japanese surname and certainly had had no idea about the war-criminal connection.”
Strangely, that sort of thing never caused any issues for Mattel
Maybe he’s supposed to be like Elon Musk, who it is well known grew up in poverty and pulled himself up by his bootstraps.
The entire Powell lineup was clearly on the K-car platform.
As for the Persephone, it also looks a ton like the Greek DIM 652, but I think the Velorex might be a closer match aside from its absurd levels of oddness.
There’s a used car lot in Portland called Powell Motors, with a few locations around the city. As Matt grew up here, most characters are named for streets in Portland (Flanders, Terwilliger, Lovejoy, Skinner), so I often wonder which Powell Motors came first, as both are named after Powell Street.
Are there Simpsons tours? As someone who was downright tickled when 7-11 created some Quik-E-Marts as a movie tie-in, I’d really enjoy seeing Lovejoy St, etc.
Not that I’m aware of. I’m in the middle of house hunting and I’m having a hard time not wanting to buy the one I saw on Terwilliger Blvd just to call it the Sideshow Bob house.
Instantly knew this would be a Jason article.
Same.
I am probably the only person who has a replica Powell Motors Monroney sticker.
We need a picture!!
Fun fact – the Acropolis is actually right smack in the middle of an urban center surrounded by modern buildings.
Yes, there’s a number of restaurants with outdoor seating with a view of it. The light it up with different colors at night.
On a similar note, the great pyramids and Sphinx are also on the edge of the city. Best view facing the Sphinx with the pyramids behind and to the right is from the 2nd floor of a Pizza Hut. They light the Sphinx up too (or they did) with a laser show of cheesy narration, but you have to buy tickets for that.
The rooftop bar at our hotel had a view, less than a 1/4 mile.
The Velorex in question is a 435, not a 453. My understanding is that the “4” refers to the number of wheels and “35” indicates the engine size (which is only 344 cc, so liberties were taken). There was one covered here recently:
https://www.theautopian.com/microcars-saab-stories-and-hondas-triumph-members-rides/
I’m still trying to track down whether the last bit is -0 or -O. I’ve seen both and the representation of it in the factory literature is ambiguous.
It’s also not fancy enough to be leather-bodied, just vinyl-bodied.
Im into any brand that makes a point to specify how many wheels their cars have.
Sadly they weren’t consistent in their numbering scheme for their other products which were all either tadpole-configuration three-wheelers or single-wheel sidecars. I suspect they just wanted to emphasize that they were trying something different with the 435.
There were certainly times in my life where I would have bought a car that put the kids in a separate, isolated portion of the car like the Homer did.
Yeah, my kids would have put the rumble in rumble seat if I had a car with one.
NGL I want to create a car called the Persephone now.
And watch American buyers try to pronounce it.
“Bag it, we’ll just buy a Jeep.”
Not a single black, white, or gray car in the whole display. And no pickup trucks either. What was this supposed to be, Heaven?
The middle car in the bottom row in the courtyard looks gray to me.
Lavender.
I can see that being the case, to me it comes across as the same bluish tone shift they used for the darker concrete bits like the benches. It does look a little more saturated, though.
I have it as Faded Eggplant
It’s similar to the mauve mist on my walls.
I agree with Torch though, I think the orange one is a truck.
To quote a certain German man who briefly owned Springfield Nuclear power plant: “Once again, I have failed.”
You can keep Powell Motors. If we’re getting vehicles from a Groening TV show, I’d like a Ford Thundercougarfalconbird from Rocket Car Emporium.
I’ll take Burn’s Bugatti Sexurossa.
Give me a Canyonero. It’s top of the line in utility sports.
The unexplained fires are a matter for the courts.
I’d have Snake’s “Lil’ Bandit”. Yes, I know it needs premium fuel.
*SHE needs premium.
I have a sticker of Snake shouting that inside the fuel door on my Accord.
Willing to share? I think it would look nice on my charging door.
My brother sent it to me; let me see if I can find where he got it.
For sheer novelty, I want the crab car that Zoidberg drove on Decapod 10. Also acceptable, Bender as a werecar.
Mercedes would want the Ultimate Behemoth motorhome
Although, after so many decades, its highly doubtful the VanStar-1 satellite is still in orbit and functioning, likely ran out of fuel and was de-orbited 20-25 years ago
“His life was an unbridled success until he learned he was a Simpson”
Rack and Peanut Steering
Those are the most beloved by fans, but my non-fan girlfriend knows the Canyonero. I think I’ve forced her to absorb the knowledge of the Homer and “put it in H,” but she was familiar with the Canyonero before that.
She has become familiar with a lot more of the Simpsons through me, though she still doesn’t want to actually watch the show.
That is CLEARLY a Canyonero there in the lower left corner!!
I think it is too small to be a Canyonero. It does not appear to be 12 yards long or 2 lanes wide, and I don’t think it will seat 35.
We also don’t know if it’s a country-fried truck endorsed by a clown.
DEFINITELY not 65 tons of American pride.
Its the new Canyonero Sport.
Bishop, you just got your next car design challenge.
If we’re really going to do the Canyonero dirty, shouldn’t it be the Canyonero Cross?