Which Of These Google Streetview-Extended Wheelbase Cars Is The Best?

Google Streetview is, in some ways, one of the true marvels of the modern era. It gives regular lazy slobs like myself the opportunity to explore the world, all from the comfort of our sleeping litters and nests of old cardboard and burlap. Streetview is a great way to see cars from halfway around the world, like this dusty Bolivian street, for example. It’s also a fantastic way to catch furtive glimpses of cars that may not actually exist outside the fevery integrated circuits of the Google Streetview cars. That’s what we’re going to look at right now.

Sometimes when the Streetview cars go trundling around, with their mast-mounted 360° cameras snapping pictures, they capture glimpses of cars in ways that maybe don’t necessarily mesh with actual reality. In many cases, this manifests as images of cars with strangely elongated wheelbases or extra axles or both.

The resulting images shows us some novel cars that, while they may only actually exist in Google Streetview images, perhaps should be considered for actual production here in our mundane, clammy reality. So let’s go through some of these now and then vote on which of these extended wheelbase/axle monstrosities should be pulled, screeching, into our reality.

Sound fun? Too bad, we’re doing it anyway!

You know what the Ford Explorer always needed? More dramatic proportions! Like, Jaguar E-Type proportions. And what better way to get there than by adding a whole extra axle up front, Tyrell P34-style! It’s certainly got a more aggressive look this way, and I suspect the handling is improved? Or at least grip?

I think this works, in a certain made-in-an-evil-lair sort of way.

The Mark 4 Jetta I always thought was the most attractive of the Jettas, and I’m a bit embarrassed to say I never considered how it may look with a second rear axle. It’s not bad! Especially on this one, with the bold gold wheels, which if they were cool on four wheels, must be even more cool on six.

Also, it’s worth noting those two rear axles are likely unpowered, if this is a FWD Jetta.

It’s not all about adding axles; what about just a good old wheelbase extention? I think the long-wheelbase treatment is really transformative for this Porsche Boxster, which gains a whole second row of seats as a result! A four-seat mid-engined roadster sounds like a fantastic package to me, and I think this could be a really valuable addition to the Porsche lineup. A Boxster people carrier! They’d have this whole four-seat-mid-engine-roadster segment tied up!

This one just seems practical; a cargo version of a Mistubishi Pajero maybe should have a dual rear axle option, so it can haul some really big, heavy loads. It looks pretty right, too, somehow.

UPDATE: Crap. This seems to be a Toyota. That’s what I get for rushing.

The boxy 700-series Volvo wagons seem like they could lend themselves quite well to being extended, not just with extra axles, but extra cargo areas and windows and pillars. This one has an E-pillar, even, and kind of reminds me of those Checker Aerobuses:

It still has some growing to do to get to Aerobus-level, but it’s a pretty good start.

Range Rovers are already pretty showy, so you’d think an extra pair of wheels would just kind of work, and, looking at it, I think they do. It’s got kind of a bullet train vibe with the extra axle here, and I bet that plays well for Range Rover buyers.

This feels like the most rational one of the set; just a wheelbase extension for a Camry, making a nice, reliable, economical limo. If you’re rich but want to convey to the world that you have terribly mixed feelings about your good fortune, I think this is a fantastic way to do just that.

UPDATE: Of course, this is a Corollllla. Sorry.

Finally, why should Zagato get all the good double-bubbleizing in the car world? And who said all double-bubble roofs have to be side-by-side? Why not a tandem style double-bubble roof? And why not on an Elantra? And why not throw in an extra axle? Why why why?

Okay, so, these eight stretched-and-distorted Streetview cars are what you have to pick from; which would you want to bring into actual reality? Choose wisely, because these results are binding!