yesterday

Ever fallen down a YouTube wormhole?

I just did, and found myself reliving Geneva, Paris and London motor shows from the 1980s.  A time so long ago that Britain still had a car industry, Jeremy Clarkson didn’t have a huge beer belly and Toyota made nice looking cars.

Seriously, some of the innovative engineering that wowed us back then would now be seen as standard on a child’s pram. 

Watching the show brought back memories of old cars I’ve owned (I’m not going to list them, don’t worry) and some of the old tech that was in them.  I mean, I remember fitting a cassette player in a car once and thought that was the bee’s knees!

So, I wonder if people will look back in 30 or so years’ time at today’s cars and scoff at the in-car entertainment, the sat. nav. and other technology?  They probably will.  After all, by then electric cars will probably have come and gone to be replaced by solar power or hydrogen fuel cells and humans will probably be banished from driving cars at all as driverless cars rule the roads. 

(That last point reminds me of the wonderful Rush song “Red Barchetta” but I digress.)

Or, has technology begun to flat line?  Will electric cars be the limit of our capabilities?  Will we revolt against laws to prevent us driving ourselves around?  Will Toyota keep making the same ugly rubbish?

And will I ever untangle that bloody cassette tape?

admit it.  you had one of these didn't you???  it's a Fischer C-Box!