[extropy-chat] Car of the (near) future

[spike]

> 
> Adrian, all you have said is true, and I agree, under current
> conditions.  The radical downsizing and downspeeding I described
> would happen only in a world in which we are operating mostly or
> entirely on renewable fuels...
> 
> spike

I will take that one step further, Adrian.  You are a
young enough man that you may not recall the transition
from the gas guzzlers of the 1960s to the strangled,
anemic econoboxes of the 1980s.  During the transition,
when new smog control standards were being introduced
seemingly on a yearly basis, I wondered if 60s era
cars would become the ride of choice.  They have such
wonderful power.  To some extent that happened, but 
mostly only for those who actually drove guzzlers as teens.

If I go to the local high school today, I see so many shameful
little civics and geos.  Some have loud pipes, but still lack
the power to pull the skin offa day-old rice pudding.  The 
proletariat accepted the transition from V8s to wimpy little 
front wheel drive 4 bangers.  I conjecture that the proletariat 
will likewise accept a future transition to liter-class
twin cylinder buggies, then eventually half-liter class
single cylinder single seaters.  It will not be manly, it
will not be fun.  Children being born today will not 
even realize how they suffer.  But they will marvel
at how fast old cars can go.

spike