Do you have any idea of what the car of the future would look like? Auto manufacturers have been thinking for many years about what the “car of the future” would look like and the great capabilities it would have. In between 1957 and 1962, many significant predictions were made about how road travelling would change. Most of which didn’t materialize in the way individuals had expected, and some of them would take much longer to happen, but it’s essential to not forget these retro-visions. They influenced the improvements that the society has made.
Between 1957 and 1962, predictions made were;
- A helicopter and heliport in every back yard. The vision that people would travel around skyways in personal helicopters.
- 1957 concept for the Ford Nucleon: a super-sleek car that would have unparalleled mileage range, while also being emission-free due to internal nuclear fission reactor.
- Chrysler also made a prediction in 1958 about solar-powered cars—Sunray Sedans,
- On 1959, Ford’s announced Cars Flying Like Missiles and receiving replacement energy capsules for his car instead of getting a tank full of liquid fuel.
- Tesla Motors also announced about implementing fast battery swapping, as opposed to longer supercharging, for its electric vehicle refill stations.
- General Motors exhibited the turbine-powered Firebird III “space-age car.” This described how its “electronic guide system can rush it over an automatic highway while the driver relaxes.”
- In addition, rather than electric highways, engineers are looking toward artificial intelligence to drive cars, so-called “driverless cars”.
These retro-visions are certainly worth taking a look back on, not just because the model cars of the future have great designs and upgraded auto parts but they serve as windows into the past. They reflect how people thought about the interaction between community and technological innovation. They provide us a better appreciation of where we started and enable us to see where we might be heading
