Rebecca Kamm: The world's only car just for women

12:10 PM Wednesday Nov 7, 2012

Big companies are really beginning to twig to the fact it's a man's world out there, and the remedies are coming in thick and fast. First there was Bic for Her, a special biro just for ladies. Then there was the launch of Cadbury's women's chocolate bar, Crispello: 'A little treat for you'.

Now, fresh out of Japan, emerges the world's only vehicle designed specifically for women - the Honda Fit "She's". It's hard to determine exactly what all its special features are (because I don't speak Japanese) but a Google translation of the She's homepage managed to clunk out the following:

* "Pink plated air conditioning display knob outlet"

* "Discharge headlights"

* "Special package for mounting navigation"

* "I align the items recommended for navigation options when mounting the dealer."

* "She's colored for rear license garnish"

* "Filled pink stitched leather-wrapped steering wheel garnish"

What this tells me, apart from the fact Google Translate is surely operated by a teenage boy and that "knob outlet" possibly shouldn't make me smile at 30, is that there's a LOT of garnish on this thing.

From pictures, I gather there's also a seat warmer, a special pink keypad, and a UV/wrinkle-blocking windshield. Plus some kind of "Plasmacluster" climate control system designed to improve passengers' skin quality. And the apostrophe in the logo is heart-shaped.

It's not the first time automakers have tried to access ladies' purses with women-only models. As Yahoo! Autos points out, in the early 1900s electric cars were marketed to women "with the pitch that their lack of hand-crank starting would avoid broken shoulders and/or death."

And in the 50s there was the snazzy Dodge La Femme, which was two-tone pink and white. The car's interiors were upholstered in tapestry dotted with pink rosebuds, and it came with a pink calfskin purse.

Best of all, the purse contained "a face-powder compact, lipstick case, cigarette case, comb, cigarette lighter and change purse" (more info here) and could be stowed away in a special compartment behind the passenger seats. Along with a rain hat.

Oh, and the driver's seat swiveled to allow skirted ladies to exit modestly. As the ad said, it really was "designed with the ladies in mind!"

Anyway, it's no longer the 1950s, and the aesthetic gender divide in Japan is arguably more blatant than it is here, so it's doubtful we'll see rows of wheeled marshmallows drifting to shore. Nonetheless, if you do feel the need for more garnish in your drive, a trip to Japan with $22k in tow says She's yours.

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