America Reaches Peak Cupholder - It Can't Go Further Than This

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

Has a nation ever been thirstier? Are we so blessed with beverages that we now assume every occupant of a vehicle is double-fisting it?

The answer, it seems, is “yes.” Otherwise, Ford wouldn’t roll out a center console cupholder sporting four drinky holes. If the Waltons and the Brady Bunch were real, instead of being forever trapped in the ’70s, they’d weep (with joy) at the sight of it.

Ford’s press release for the new “Two-Into-Four-Barrel” cupholder oozes machismo. The versatile, transformable cupholder is a real performance unit, we gather. (Your thirst will go from zero to quenched in no time at all!)

Offered on the upcoming 2017 Super Duty, the quad cupholder easily turns into a dual cupholder by sliding the tray to to the right. This frees up copious lunch — erm, cargo — space that can be filled with Chinese takeout cartons, a bag of sandwiches, cereal, or a decent-sized loaf.

Aimed (officially) at work truck buyers, the release mentions the “extensive global research” Ford conducted into cupholder technology. It also says the next-generation Super Duty will sport up to 10 cupholders, which might be a cupholder record (worth breaking! Get on that, rival automakers!) To sum up, if your coffee is too hot and you’re sitting in a 2017 Super Duty, chances are there’ll be another one kicking around that’s just right.

The Blue Oval claims the sliding quad cupholder will “ensure Ford Super Duty customers have plenty of fuel to stay on top of their game” — a statement that tacitly encourages energy drink use and interest in rock climbing.

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • Wheatridger Wheatridger on Aug 01, 2016

    This is laugh-worthy, but it makes sense for a work truck. The two roughnecks working out of it all day each can have their coffee for the AM and their Gatorade for the afternoon, a half gallon each. It gets hot out there in the fields, and some guys have no other refuge during a long, hot workday. For the rest of us, not so much.

  • Chris8017 Chris8017 on Aug 01, 2016

    Simple yet functional. I want nothing more in terms of a cup holder than a plastic molded hole. I still cringe thinking about those cupholders that Ze Germans included in the 1999 VW Jetta our family owned...you know, the spring loaded cupholders with numerous springs, clips and chintzy plastic parts that was designed by some wizard in a lab yet implemented in such a way that it held together like a five year olds popsticle stick school art assembled with a glue stick. It was also nefariously placed so that when (not if) after the ten or twelfth use of said cupholders would break it would lead to drink spillage directly down the radio and all entertainment switchgear.

  • Teddyc73 Beautiful color, although the overused black wheels detract from it. It's nice to see a car in an interesting color instead of the also grossly overused dull greys.
  • Master Baiter If you rear-end someone, it's your fault, period. If motorcycles need more time to stop, then riders need to increase their following distance.
  • Master Baiter Until recently, virtually every cell phone and computer was made in China and no one seemed to care. The majority are still built there. I'm not a fan of tariffs as it just gives domestic makers a price umbrella to sell their garbage products to U.S. consumers at higher prices.
  • Teleedle It would seem that if the Chinese made cars and trucks are ready to compete on the world market that they should be able to compete without the need for government help through subsidies. That's never going to happen with the mindset of their leadership. The rate at which they've transferred the ability to copy to the rate of their abilities to innovate isn't really astounding, but it is truly indicative of their inherent abilities to see through problems and overcome without a lot of fuss. They just have a different way that seems to continually baffle the Western mind. It only goes back a few thousand years. The rest of the world just has to catch up... Without tariffs, three Seagulls could be bought for the price of one loaded Toyota Corolla. I would settle for a nice small pickup truck that can get 30-35 mpg, if the Chinese want to build something with real durability and value. I'm sure they can do that for about $10-12k US, too, dumping them all the way to the bank. Neither Trump or Biden or Bugbrain want that, though. Restrictive 'targeted' tariff ideas indicate that they all want protectionism and the Chicken Tax to continue. The price of living in freedum in the non compete world... and the hallmark of one upmanship by the political class towards more and more expensive transportation related needs. All costs are ALWAYS passed onto the end consumer. Tariffs are the burden of the extra cost. Tariffs are punitive, remember... as intended. The political class is still living off the backs of their constituents throughout the world... same as it ever was.
  • Theflyersfan One day, some of these sellers will come to the realization that cars are not houses and putting expensive upgrades into one doesn't equal a higher selling price down the road. $29,000? The only Challenger that has a chance of value down the road, and only with low miles, is the Hellcat.
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