Why could Diesel engines based on a LiquidPiston project actually be a good idea?

Diesel engines have been a mainstay of trucking for decades, and some manufacturers such as Scania used to keep traditional designs and a higher degree of modularity across different generations of their engines. Obviously many technical improvements lead to a distancing between older and newer models, including aspects pertaining to the engine itself and other features of a vehicle as a whole. Considering how long-nose cabins gave way for flat-nose ones in most markets, which eventually makes it harder to overhaul a wet-sleeve engine without removing it from the frame, going quite radical such as resorting to a rotary engine might sound more tempting, yet the Wankel rotaries usually have a poor compression ratio only suitable for spark-ignition and volatile or gaseous fuels. So, maybe a Diesel engine developed following some principles of the LiquidPiston projects may be a better option, even though any chance to succeed commercially would need to go beyond the single-rotor proof-of-concepts to venture into the dual-rotor layout at least, yet a triple-rotor might also be desirable to keep up with current standards for modularity seen on reciprocating engines, even though for heavy-duty trucks they tend to be straight-6.

Just like Ford resorted to Cummins engines of the B series in 4-cylinder versions ranging from 3.9L to 4.5L and 6-cylinders around 5.9L and 6.7L in most Brazilian versions of the Ford Cargo, so modularity was already a key factor, also considering how some degree of parts interchangeability between engines with different amount of cylinders makes it easier pertaining to maintenance, inherently simpler designs devouted to rotary engines may take one step further. Even though engine blocks and cylinder heads for inline engines can be made basically with the same tooling, yet it may not be so easy to simply chop the block and cylinder head of an engine with more cylinder barrels to fit to the crankcase of a similar one with fewer cylinders or adding more cylinders to a larger crankcase, an increased modularity inherent to rotary engines by simply adding or removing one more rotor housing and intermediate plate according to the need like Mazda did to the 2-rotor 13B and 3-rotor 20B engines on road-legal models, and even a 4-rotor Le Mans racing engine, may render it somewhat easy to apply LiquidPiston designs on a Diesel engines range. Of course some parts will still be specific according to the amount of cylinders or rotors in an engine, such as intake and exhaust manifolds, and the crankshaft for a conventional engine or the eccentric shaft for a rotary, while rotaries not featuring a valvetrain may still have a lower total amount of parts and noticeably getting rid of a camshaft.

While the amount of cylinders used to vary more often according to the gross vehicle weight rating of a vehicle, and so a 4-cylinder would be seen as inherently better suited to a minibus and articulated buses would be supposed to always have to resort to a 6-cylinder, nowadays some power ratings above 200hp are also covered by 4-cylinder engines in regions where stricter emission rules favored the downsizing, even though modularity continues to play a pivotal role for commercial vehicle engines and sometimes greater power rating are achieved with the smaller versions within the range of the predecessor engine. Improved efficiency of turbocharging technologies to overcome turbo-lag and a more accurate control of the electronic fuel injections (usually common-rail, yet unit-injector setups still hold their fair market share too) made a difference, even in a conservative market such as Brazil where a 4-cylinder engine is favored because the cost of replacement injectors for electronically-controlled ones is proportionately higher than for their mechanically-governed counterparts. Considering a LiquidPiston engine will have 3 injectors per rotor housing, maybe at a first glance the cost-effectiveness can be brought into question, since a 2-rotor engine would overcome the perceived economy once downsizing took place.

When it comes to long-distance buses/coaches, eventually the promised compactness of a LiquidPiston engine design proportionate to power ratings might be a good option for the double-deckers which are fairly common in the South and Southeast regions of Brazil and also in neighboring countries such as Argentina and Paraguay, which are usually fitted with 6-cylinder engines around a 12-litre displacement range. Sure a difference between such engines with a larger displacement and others with the very same amount of cylinders, which may be capable of reaching similar power ratings at a higher RPM requiring a shorter differential ratio to provide a similar performance, would still be favorable to the perception of an increased durability under such operating conditions, yet it may already lead to a comparison with the LiquidPiston engines being pointed out to achieve performance levels suitable to replace engines up to 5 times their displacement, considering the 2-stroke LiquidPiston XTS-210 design compared to some conventional 4-stroke Diesel engine. Well, as long as the rotors and the eccentric shaft don't reach sonic speed, and how Wankel engines such as the Mazda 13B are pointed out to be much more rev-happy in order to prevent carbon deposits which could harm the apex seals, despite LiquidPiston engines having substantial differences and the inherently lower compression of the Wankel designs being unsuitable to a Diesel engine, the space constraints caused by the location of the air conditioning and the engine too close to the main luggage compartment would be very compelling to a LiquidPiston-designed engine in order to improve luggage capacity, among other advantages pertaining to overall fuel-efficiency.

A more compact engine layout may be specially relevant in South America where front-engined buses are still fairly common, for both urban transit buses and long-distance coaches, and the stricter emission regulations such as the recently-enforced Euro-6 increase the complexity and physical volume taken by aftertreatment devices, which also tend to be installed remotely from the engine and causing clearance issues with other parts of the vehicle. It may not be much of an issue for urban transit buses, despite the requirement for a lift to comply with the Brazilian accessibility regulations for wheelchair users as most front-engined buses have no provision for a stepless entry, while the underfloor space tends to be taken little to no advantage of, in contrast to coaches on which some valuable underfloor space is already too compromised by the frame rails preventing the fitment of pass-through luggage compartments, and the accessibility regulations also charge their toll on newer models. Having to manage one more clearance issue due to the fitment of a more complex aftertreatment module might be another aspect to consideer in favor of a LiquidPiston engine, because the inherently smaller packaging could free up some space to bring the aftertreatment module closer to the engine bay, which may also be advantageous considering a more direct exposure to the exhaust heat which could lead to an improved efficiency and durability of the particulate filter (DPF) and oxidation catalyst (DOC).

Even though some folks may consider Diesel engines somewhat "superfluous" for private vehicles due to the high complexity of modern aftertreatment devices, they may still retain a foothold on commercial vehicles for a long time because factors such as a much better fuel-efficiency and reliability under the most demanding conditions. While professional operators may have a conservative profile and prefer to invest on solutions already tried and tested, with some drivers and fleet managers still taking 4-cylinder engines on medium-duty trucks with a grain of salt after some 20 years for instance, the ever-increasing strictness of emission regulations may open the doors for some technical solutions which may take one step further, such as resorting to a definitely unorthodox LiquidPiston-based design for instance. In the end, as fully-electric vehicles are proving themselves troublesome time and time again despite all those political attempts to ban internal-combustion engines in general, the suitability of LiquidPiston designs to the operating principles of a Diesel engine may become a reason to give them a chance...

Was the Chevette the most effective American contender to the Volkswagen Beetle?

Sort of a "world car" before such definition was more common, sure the Chevette had engineering input from international branches of GM and other companies affiliated with GM in one way or another, such as the former Saehan in South Korea and Isuzu in Japan, so it might be somewhat complicated to single it out as all-American, yet this was undeniably among the first serious contenders to the Volkswagen Beetle. Despite a relatively short production run as Chevrolet Chevette in the United States from '75 to '86 covering the model-years from '76 to '87, while it had also been available as Isuzu Gemini sourced from Japan to replace the '73 Opel Kadett C previously sourced from Germany and available through the Buick dealers network, the Chevette soldiered on from '73 to '93 in Brazil while Brazilian CKD kits for regional export were available at least until '95 being assembled for the last time in '96 in Ecuador. A fierce competition from Toyota and Honda, which switched from rear-wheel drive to front-wheel drive at a faster pace than GM within the compact-car segment in the American market, may also lead to the Chevette being somewhat underappreciated, despite being the closest to a serious American contender to the Volkswagen Beetle despite most of the engineering efforts being Japanese, German and Brazilian.

Despite the Brazilian models of the Chevrolet Chevette featuring OHC heads on both the 1.4L and 1.6L engines, and even the later short-lived 1.0L engine, in some countries the smallest engines ranging from 1.0L to 1.2L in the European Opel Kadett C and 1.4L in the American Chevette and the Isuzu Gemini more often resorted to OHV valvetrains, with the 1.6L engine being available on both layouts while the sportier models from Isuzu with a larger 1.8L engine of which the Diesel version also derived was only fitted with OHC heads. A derivative made in Argentina from '74 to '78 and named Opel K-180 featured a 1.8L engine based on the 4-cylinder 2.5L Chevrolet 153 engine, maybe conceptually closer to what a true-blooded redneck would expect back in the day, and since it would be supposed to require a smaller investment than upgrade the tooling of some GM engine plants in overseas branches compared to OHC engines it may sometimes seem quite surprising neither the Brazilian or American Chevettes featured at least one derivative of the 153 engine. Sure the belt-driven OHC cylinder head featured on the Chevette being more modern charged its toll, yet the cast-iron block and head were eventually cost-effective in a comparison to the usage of aluminium alloys in the Volkswagen Beetle engine which still resorted to a gear-driven OHV valvetrain, while the stereottypically-American front-engine rear-wheel drive layout of the Chevette giving it a more traditional aspect eventually rendered it easier to cater to a different set of preferences and regulations according to the markets where it was officially available, in contrast to a somewhat rigid layout of the Volkswagen Beetle with its rear engine which went out of favor as quickly as the Japanese automotive industry expanded its presence on many regions where the Beetle used to be the benchmark for compact cars pertaining to affordability and ease of maintenance.

It might be quite unfair to compare the Chevette and the Beetle, yet both used to be references among the compact cars in Brazil and still have their fanbases locally, while on a worldwide basis it's harder to point out the Chevette or its stablemates as if they were as much of a cultural icon as the Beetle became, while the consolidated competition from Japanese automakers eventually overshadowed the Chevette in the United States where it was supposed to be a serious world-class option for those on the market for a small car from an American manufacturer. Despite an even shorter production run in Europe from '73 to '79 for the Opel Kadett C, with front-wheel drive being consolidadet as the the standard for its segment in Western Europe, while the Volkswagen Beetle soldiered on through a proportionately much longer time from its availability for the civilian market in '45 until a phaseout of German manufacturing in '78 even facing the Chevette/Kadett C and their stablemates among other contenders, the Beetle was still supplied from Mexico to Europe as a captive import until '85. Maybe timing was not the best for the Chevette to be taken more seriously as a contender for the Volkswagen Beetle, as its more conservative dictated it should follow some trends the Beetle would be exempted due to its iconic status...

Was it a mistake for Ford to not have offered a Diesel engine in the Bullnose Ford F-100 outside of Argentina?

Possibly one of the most iconic generations of the Ford F-Series, the 7th generation also known as Bullnose had some firsts for this range, such as the Diesel engine for the F-250 and above, yet this option was unavailable for the F-100 excepting some Argentinian versions. Made from late-'79 to '86 in the United States and Canada, from '80 to '86 in Mexico and Venezuela, and from '81 to '87 in Argentina, the 7th generation of the F-Series was already developed in accordance to the mandate for light-duty trucks to comply with the CAFE fuel economy regulation, naturally prompting a Diesel engine option to become available for the F-250 HD and the F-350, yet the option for a 6.9L International V8 Diesel engine never being extended to the F-100 at a time when light-duty trucks became more widely attractive to private buyers who used them as a regular car. Naturally, differences between regional markets prompted some changes to engine options, and in Argentina the 4-cyl 203 cubic-inch (3.3L) Perkins 4-203 Diesel engine was factory-fitted to the F-100, while the F-350 got the 305 cubic-inch (5.0L) 6-cyl Perkins 6-305, addressing the demand for Diesel on both ends of the market. Sure it was a faster response to some regional need for engines manufactured locally, to which a dedicated production of the 6.9 International would be cost-prohibitive, while outsourcing was as reasonable as sharing the straight-6 and V8 gasoline engines with the car range to enhance the economics of scale.

Most likely different emission regulations, and how specific engines could be perceived as "too underpowered" according to which region they were available, prevented Ford from offering a Diesel engine option for the USDM F-100, or maybe the higher profits on the bigger models rendered it easier to turn it into a premium feature somehow. While a stricter GVWR limit for drivers with regular car license in some countries still retained a considerable demand for the F-100 among professional users, sounds quite obvious the Perkins Diesel engine was a valuable asset in Argentina for instance, despite not being so smooth as another engine exactly meant for vehicles since day one would be supposed to, yet maybe a similar option for a simpler and lighter engine could also remain competitive to the Japanese takeover of light-duty truck markets within the home front and overseas export destinations. So, even though maybe the engine offered in Argentina would be supposed to not fare so outstandingly well from the most orthodox redneck point of view, it's undeniably another mistake from Ford having never expanded availability of the Diesel F-100 beyond Argentina...

MP Lafer, a Brazilian Volkswagen-powered replica of the British MG TD

One of those Brazilian makeshift cars which emerged once the local market faced severe restrictions on imports from mid-'70s to early-'90s, the MP Lafer was made by a furniture factory, resorting to the very usual method of fitting a different body to a Volkswagen platform, with its rear engine and all, yet it had the styling cues from a traditional British roadster which was originally front-engined.

Right above the rear lid, which would be a trunk in the original model yet became an engine cover for the Brazilian replica, ventilation slots are clearly visible, giving a clue about what makes it so different from the British source of inspiration, yet the woodgrain dashboard makes for a period-accurate look, yet those modern pedals are mismatching the overall aspect of the interior.

Finishings were fairly good for what it was meant to be back in the day, when fewer options could be had by someone looking for a car which stood out of the crowd in a tightly closed market, all while the maintenance remained much easier than an exotic import to which eventually the replacement parts also became harder to find.

Even though not too many were made, as it was a low-volume model, once in a while some MP Lafer appears on the streets in my hometown Porto Alegre.

Why would I still lurk about building a "glamping pod" from a Volkswagen Kombi bodyshell?

Among those vehicles which not only are easy to recognise, but also dearly beloved by so many people, sure the Volkswagen Kombi holds its fair share of distinction. Making a surprisingly good use of space in proportion to its exterior dimensions, despite the engine bay and wheel wells, it's no surprise much sought after by camping enthusiasts around the world who often resort to some sort of motorhome conversion. Despite the lack of interior height for most people to stand up inside, some folks even manage to install a functional (yet somewhat small) bathroom, rendering it a fairly reasonable alternative to blowing money at hotels. Sure it won't be a one-size-fits-all solution, but for temporary living quarters it's undeniably better than a camping tent...

Would a more compact ambulance make any sense at all?

Ambulance fleets tend to vary substantially from one country to another, and it's usual for it to also happen within one country, due to circumstances such as a harsher off-road terrain condition eventually demanding the ruggedness of a 4WD body-on-frame truck or a narrow street with constantly heavy traffic making it easier to reach the emergency in a more compact van for instance. In-between all that, specific controles such as the United States historically favored full-size trucks to fulfill this role as the one-size-fits-all, which could eventually be OK in the middle of nowhere with little traffic and the need for as much medical supplies as possible inside the ambulance, or even some specific tools to remove a wounded driver from a wrecked car. Sure the perceived low cost difference of keeping a full-size truck as the default option to fit a modular ambulance body may sound too hard to overlook, not to mention now the compact and mid-size body-on-frame trucks usually resort to fully boxed frames, while a full-size can still be specified with the boxed section of the frame only around the engine bay and driver cab, with a large unboxed section of the frame rails rendering it easier to install specialty bodywork and requiring fewer redesigns across different generations of full-size trucks.

Maneuvering through congested city traffic is still quite a challenge for the ambulance drivers,  despite every other driver being demanded to make way for an ambulance on-duty with lights flashing and the siren blasting, so it might not be so dumb at all to eventually consider the suitability of some smaller truck models to be converted into ambulances in the United States, just like it's usually done elsewhere. An example which I remember is the usage of the Ford Ranger as a rural ambulance, in contrast to how vans in general tend to be more common in urban ambulance service or highway rescue, and it may eventually resemble the appearance of a (stereo)typical American ambulance with that modular box body, except for its smaller overall size which in fact had never become a compromise for its aptitude to the task. I would never expect American ambulance fleet managers to switch from automatic to manual transmissions, or to suddently being more favorable to a 4-cyl turbodiesel instead of a V6 or V8 regardless of fuel type, yet for some operators a more compact ambulance with improved maneuvering through either heavy traffic or a woodland dirt-bike trail could effectively mean the whole difference between life and death for someone...

Brazilian 2001 GMT400 GMC 3500HD, actually a rebadged C2500 with the shortbed more often fitted to a 1500

Brazil is far from being easy to understand at all, with its automotive market reflecting so many aspects of the country as a whole. As most of the industrial policies in Brazil tender to be focused on import replacement, and the automotive market had been further affected by severe restrictions to imports which nearly wiped them off Brazil from '76 to '90 for the average Joe, the buying pattern became somewhat more conservative than usual for certain vehicle classes, including full-size pick-up trucks to which evolutions took longer to arrive. And due to economics of scale, region-specific powertrains also had a foothold after imports were allowed once again. That was the case for the Mercosur derivative of the GMT400 generation of the Chevrolet and GMC full-size trucks and SUVs, much simpler than its counterparts made in countries other than Brazil and Argentina.

Available only as RWD because of the cost, and the fact that compact/mid-size trucks took over most of the market share in retail, a regional GMC counterpart to the Chevrolet Silverado also resorted to the regular cab and short bed, with the MWM Sprint 6.07T straight-6 turbodiesel and a 5-speed manual transmission. The regular cab was not much of a big deal for most of those who bought a Brazilian-made full-size truck, considering how aftermarket cab conversions used to be relatively popular until the early 2000s, yet the absence of options such as automatic transmission or 4-wheel drive tended to be covered by grey-imports instead. The usage of a short bed in a 3/4-ton, more associated with the half-tons elsewhere, still reflected not only the imports replacement approach, but also how 3/4-tons took over the market in order to address the minimum payload requirements for 2-wheel drive vehicles to be granted the usage of a Diesel engine since '76, even though the GMT400 was released in '88 for the United States and only arrived in Brazil officially in '97 despite a grey-import presence in the early '90s...

While the GMT400 for Brazil was sourced from Argentina between the '97 and 2000 model-years, in 2000 and 2001 production was transferred to Brazil, and only for the 2001 model-year a GMC model for the retail customer was available, with little success due to the prevalence of Chevrolet. The name 3500HD was meant to reflect a GVWR slightly above 3500kg, which required a commercial driver license in Brazil, yet the yearly tax is lower as it's titled as a truck instead of trucklet for bureaucratic purpose. And even though no half-ton GMT400 was officially available in Brazil at that time, so the economics of scale could still favor a longer bed, the frame being a carryover from the previous C/K generation instead of the same of its USDM equivalent dictated the shorter bed to retain the short wheelbase.

Why should've Volkswagen kept the air-cooled boxer engine for a longer time in Brazilian front-engined models at least as an option?

Volkswagen used to be the best-selling automaker in Brazil for some decades, with some models having been developed specifically for the regional market, such as a 2-door bodystyle in the 2nd generation of the Parati compact station-wagon, in a time when Brazilians were starting to become more favorable to 4-door cars in the mid-'90s despite a more conservative part of Volkswagen's local customer base still being more fond of the 2-door models. That was also a time when 1.0L-engined cars became prevalent due to a more favorable (or less unfavorable) taxation, which former president Itamar Franco amended to allow air-cooled engines up to 1.6L to be eligible for the same benefit which remains in effect for the water-cooled 1.0L engines. Much has changed regarding engine technology, and some approaches such as 4 valves per cylinder which failed in the '90s due to poor maintenance became more usual in recent years, but a more "dumbproof" engine such as the good old air-cooled boxer could've soldiered on a little more...

While the 1.0L engines were much more relevant in Brazil than in other regional Latin American export markets, from the 16-valve which was the only within its displacement bracket fitted to the Parati to the 8-valve which soldiered on for longer in the Gol, and export markets favored 1.4L through 1.6L engines much more, eventually the air-cooled boxer would still remain more relevant in Brazil had the lower tax bracket remained effective after '96 in that very same context of "People's car" which led to the rise of the 1.0L class to reach around 70% market share in the early 2000s in Brazil. What has led Volkswagen to give up on the boxer in late-2005 were the Euro-3 emission regulations, mostly concerning the noise, and a lower production volume rendered the investment to make a flexfuel version exclusive to Brazil unjustifiable, as that engine had already been phased out in Mexico in 2003, so the 1.4L 8-valve version of the EA-111 engine effectively took over the role of the air-cooled boxer in commercial vehicles and also had an increase to its presence in regional export markets where the 1.0L would seem even harder to justify. Sure the air-cooled boxer could also seem hard to justify because of its age, yet being such a well-proven powerplant with fewer parts to break would still have its appeal among some buyers who tended to neglect maintenance, and for a front-engined vehicle the improved air flow would lead to a more efficient cooling than in older rear-engined models.

Technically simpler, with a better low-end torque than some 1.0L water-cooled engines which took its role in the "People's car" segment in Brazil, the air-cooled boxer also had its advantages compared to a water-cooled 1.6L straight-4 in longitudinally-engined models such as the 3rd-generation Gol, because a shorter engine which also happened to be lighter tended to weight distribution and decrease structural efforts to the unibody. Of course relying on an aluminium-magnesium alloy was quite troublesome due to cost compared to straight-4 engines with a cast-iron block, not to mention air-cooled engines usually resorting to a richer air-fuel ratio to assist with cooling, even though in a front-mounted application it would eventually be suitable to an oil-assisted cooling more similar to what BMW used to apply to the R-series motorcycles. So, even though the air-cooled boxer was seemingly outdated at a first glance, it still could have soldiered on for longer, at least until Volkswagen got rid of longitudinally-engined cars in Brazil only in 2013...

Would Toyota have any chance if the HiAce gets some US-spec versions?

Certainly one of the most successful among all modern commercial vehicles, the Toyota HiAce is by its own merits a common sight in many countries, even in my homeland Brazil despite never been a captive import here. As it shares many mechanical features with the traditional body-on-frame trucks and SUVs range from Toyota, including engines and transmissions, seems quite straightforward to certify for compliance with the American regulations regarding fuel efficiency and emissions, while a switch from cab-forward to a set-back cockpit in the 6th generation is part of a broader approach to increase the crashworthiness which also prevented the previous generation from having its US-spec variant. But now it's quite a good time for Toyota to eventually rethink its strategy and at least give the American van market some attention, also considering how overseas models such as the Ford Transit and the Fiat Ducato rebadged as RAM ProMaster took it over from its former orientation toward a more conservative design mostly shared with full-size trucks which are still leading the USDM as a whole.

Possibly one of the fewest changes unrelated to safety or emission regulations I could ever consider to make the 6th-generation Toyota HiAce more appealing to Americans would be replacing its rear liftgate for a barn-door setup, much easier to carry palletized loads with a forklift and a better height clearance while loading or unloading a stretcher in an ambulance conversion. Even though general export versions of the 6th-generation HiAce may eventually differ in lenght, wheelbase, overall height and even width, yet holding my breath for the narrow-body SWB model with a low roof, set to comply to a Japanese regulation which attracts a lower annual tax for so-called compact vehicles which goes as far as including commercial vehicles, is out of question, despite it eventually becoming a better choice for certain operators in some crowded metropolitan regions. But anyway, as Toyota can ultimately benefit from its worldwide economics of scale, despite the Chicken Tax which could apply in case some US-spec variant of the HiAce would be made outside the NAFTA zone which also includes Mexico and Canada, and since Mexico is not only less strict regarding safety and emission compliance enough to eventually justify the HiAce becoming also made there but is also a major export hub for motor industry, I really don't know what Toyota is waiting to finally place a bet on the USDM with the HiAce.

Are dune buggies the vehicle category facing the fiercest competition?

Having been usually built upon repurposed Volkswagen frames from models such as the Beetle, dune buggies used to have a much broader appeal in Brazil prior to the market reopening for imported cars, which brought modern SUVs and turned them into the new craze among the urban Brazilian middle and upper classes. Safety and emission laws also rendered it harder for buggy factories to keep a full production volume, even though the usage of as many components from some mainstream cars as possible could enable the economics of scale, to the point that now ABS brakes and even dual airbags can be fitted to some buggy models in Brazil, not to mention the downsizing with turbocharged 1.0L 3-cylinder engines replacing the EA827 and EA111 engines which themselves were a replacement for the venerable air-cooled boxer engine once Volkswagen phased it out. But the traditions which made buggies retain a foothold on the coastline of the Nordeste (Paraíba/Bahia/Ceará) region were not really enough to be an effective contender to other categories such as compact hatchbacks and sedans which are still prevalent within the entry-level segment in the Brazilian market.

The absence of comfort features formerly regarded as a luxury such as power steering and air conditioning, or even a basic forced ventilation which may be redundant while driving without the canvas top yet actually quite handy when a pouring rain makes the "winter top" a must even on summertime, is harder for an overwhelming majority of the Brazilian car buying public, so not even the predictably low manufacturing cost of a buggy bodyshell would render it suitable to address the needs and preferences of most new car buyers in Brazil anymore. Despite it also being possible to fit some cargo restraint devices such as racks, in order to eventually serve to the same purpose of a regular car, the practicality inherent to a hatchback or a sedan turns them into a safer bet, while a dune buggy is now mostly seen as just a curiosity on a trip to the Beach Park in Fortaleza. So, while it could be eventually possible to rely on a dune buggy as the only motor vehicle for a household, and resort to minor adaptations to enhance its suitability to the task, a fierce competition not only against a strictly conservative economy car but also against SUVs with a clearly focus on the recreational usage are quite hard to overcome...