As a child of the 60s, I was too young to be part of the gratuitous Woodstock Generation but I wasn’t too young to be fascinated by the world of cars. I remember playing “cars” with my best friend up the street. Our imaginations transformed the small Matchbox diecasts into the latest and greatest of the automotive industry, and beyond.
In the spirit of one-upmanship, I clearly recall claiming and counter-claiming that our chipped and broken “dinky toys” – as they were commonly called – represented futuristic versions of our favourite makes and models. “Mine’s a 1972 Jaguar.” “Ya, then mine’s a 1976 Ferrari,” would come the rebuttal.
This process of “mine’s better than yours,” carried through until the imaginary makes and models eclipsed the magical millennium of 2000. There was no doubt in our minds that by the year 2000, cars would possess unimaginable power and performance.
Would they fly as predicted in science magazines? Would they drive themselves? “All of the above”, I would have confidently answered back then. But here we are a decade into the new millennia and except for my aging body and all too pervasive scepticism, what’s really changed?
My goal in this rant isn’t to seek some kind of therapy for my twisted childhood through disclosure to strangers, but rather to point out how little has actually changed within the automotive industry in over 40 years.
Cars still roll on four rubber tires and rely predominantly on internal combustion engines gobbling fossil fuel for propulsion. Sure, they’re cleaner, more efficient and safer too, but the fundamentals still remain the same, and our planet suffers because of it.
Maybe the CEOs responsible for the “same old, same old” didn’t play cars as kids, or maybe their imaginations were grounded in convention rather than fantasy. Too bad.
In the spirit of one-upmanship, I clearly recall claiming and counter-claiming that our chipped and broken “dinky toys” – as they were commonly called – represented futuristic versions of our favourite makes and models. “Mine’s a 1972 Jaguar.” “Ya, then mine’s a 1976 Ferrari,” would come the rebuttal.
This process of “mine’s better than yours,” carried through until the imaginary makes and models eclipsed the magical millennium of 2000. There was no doubt in our minds that by the year 2000, cars would possess unimaginable power and performance.
Would they fly as predicted in science magazines? Would they drive themselves? “All of the above”, I would have confidently answered back then. But here we are a decade into the new millennia and except for my aging body and all too pervasive scepticism, what’s really changed?
My goal in this rant isn’t to seek some kind of therapy for my twisted childhood through disclosure to strangers, but rather to point out how little has actually changed within the automotive industry in over 40 years.
Cars still roll on four rubber tires and rely predominantly on internal combustion engines gobbling fossil fuel for propulsion. Sure, they’re cleaner, more efficient and safer too, but the fundamentals still remain the same, and our planet suffers because of it.
Maybe the CEOs responsible for the “same old, same old” didn’t play cars as kids, or maybe their imaginations were grounded in convention rather than fantasy. Too bad.