In my last article I noted that a Challenger V6 would be quite the attention grabber in around 50 years’ time. But if the car show was nothing but challenger V6’s even I’ll have to admit it could become stale quite quickly, so what else would make you just stop and demand your attention in Car-O-Rama 2064?
As cars become ever more complex and more technologically advanced the biggest issues with keeping them running for a really long time will be less engine related and more tech-related. Software rot is a thing that actually exists and it’s coming to your cars at an unknown speed. A Mercedes S600 that survives half a century with all its computers actually functional and those dual 12-inch screens in working order would be a sight to behold indeed. So would something like a Citroen C4 Cactus with its airbumps all in order.
Then there are cars that don’t survive a lot thanks to their owners. I’d love to see an unrestored and unmolested Subaru WRX STI. A FIAT 500 Abarth would also be quite a treat, although that’s a bit of an egotistical choice as the Abarth is one of the best cars in the market today in your author’s opinion.
Finally there are the ones that are rare now and will not get any more common in the future. The Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost is only available in one trim level and with a manual transmission only, at least stateside. Not precisely the thing that makes people flock into the dealerships in droves, the fact that it has a sealed-for-life timing chain will not help matters on the longevity front either.
So what do you think? What would be the most amazing thing you could find in that car show 50 years from now?
Ariel Atom, or a more mundane car, one of the last Saabs
For cars that are new now it will be a combination of the most outrageous and “best”. A clean, original Escalade for sure. The more whacky Mini variants. A Mazda 3 hatch, especially if Mazda goes mainstream again.
For recent past models the FJ Cruiser and Honda S2000 but they are already classics.
Speaking of wacky, I’d nominate the Kia Soul.
P. N. might nominate the Scion xB? 😉
God willing, I’ll be dead by then 😀
God willing I’ll be 112 and will be at the car show and finally see that flying car I’ve heard about for the last 50 years!
I’llbe just old enough for AARP then (65-66).
I can’t think of much today that would interest me 50 years from now other than a few of the special model Vettes, Camaros, Stangs and Challengers being made.
In 50 years, my big old Chryslers will be almost 100 years old and I will be almost 90, assuming I live that long. What I would really like to see at a car show in 50 years is myself and one of my cars. 🙂
Yup, I’ll be 97 and would be happy to see you and one of your cars.
That was my thought too…what would I like to see at a car show in 50 years? If I can see anything, that’ll be a good day! 😛
Isn’t any day you wake up and look down at the grass, instead of up, a good day? 😉
What he said. I’ll be 105.
there probably won’t be car shows. 50 years from now they will just all agree to look at car pictures on their virtual reality projectors at the same time. 🙂
A diesel, manual transmission station wagon.
Brown.
Sorry to break it to you Ed, but if that hasn’t been made already, the odds of such a car being manufactured in the future are even lower than they are today. 🙂
Unless he wants to move to the U.K. or various European countries, where the biggest problem would be the “brown” part.
They make them.
See, you didn’t believe me!
I’ve never seen one in the wild, but in captivity, there are a few of the creatures left.
A Jetta sportwagen then?
And, stuffed and mounted and displayed alongside, the ONE Internet blogger who not only wailed on and on and on for them to be made . . . . . . actually bought the car NEW.
Easy peasy here Ed. Ford will happily sell you a diesel manual Focus wagon in brown! Other manual diesel wagons on offer here include the Hyundai I30, Skoda Octavia, Subarus Forester and Outback, and Mazda6. The Hyundai and Mazda aren’t available in brown sadly, but the Skoda is, and the Subarus can come in a bronzey-brown. They all sell ok too.
And a delicious brown Skoda Octavia diesel manual wagon. Nom nom nom.
Of current or recent cars, I’d want to see one of the final generation of SAAB 9-5. Absolutely beautiful cars, that they made very few of before the company imploded. I’ve only seen two on the road where I live.
The wagon is even better but were not sold to the public. The prototypes (100% finished cars, severl dozen of them) were auctioned off and several have been successfully registered in Europe (Norway and Germany specifically, perhaps more since).
There is a sedan that I see regularly around here, the shape still looks extremely modern even though it’s been a few years now.
They were absolutely beautiful. I remember when the sedan came out how much I wanted one. The Buick Lacrosse origins are a bit of a turnoff, but you can pick up a final generation 9-5 sedan for relatively cheap now. If I recall, the wagon prototypes were auctioned off at some point.
Agreed – the last 9-5 looks great in photos and I was lucky enough to see one in the metal when visiting England last year, very, very handsome. Roll on seeing one at a car show in 2064!
I really like these too. It was the first car to do that roof thing that you see now on the Kia Soul and 370Z.
Well, 50 years from now would be 2064, not 2054, so like a true CC’er you are living at least ten years in the past 🙂
I’m equal parts proud and deeply embarrassed.
If it’s any consolation there were at least a dozen other apparent “True CC’ers” that posted before I did…Be proud!
Ford Flex (a commercial flop that will likely be a darling of customizers and the like), Toyota FJ Cruiser (because I may have forgotten that it’s derivative), and Hummer H2 (caricature of a bygone era a la Pink ’59 Cadillac).
If it was a new car show in 2064, what would be amazing is if there was still a new car that still actually needed a driver.
I’m sure the question was supposed to be: What current cars now would you like to see at a “classic” car show 50 years hence.
…or, given the way Big Brother Government is going, a new (or any) car that would be ALLOWED to have a driver.
The art of actually driving a car may be a rare (though I think still legal) skill by then, like film photgraphy, using a manual typewriter or cursive handwriting. We’ll be astonished (in a good way) to see a 2031 Camry being driven on the road by someone actually gripping the wheel.
This whole conversation verifies that Demolition Man is unfolding into the most accurate vision into the future in the history of fiction. Eat it 1984.
I’d like to see a stock 1932 Ford. They’re rare now. How many will there be in 50 years?
I think an Abarth would be the most likely Fiat 500 to be seen as a classic. On the flipside that Fiesta’ll probably donate its’ shell to someone’s ST restoration. (I didn’t know about the 1.0T timing chain. I hear its’ a great engine, but total lifecycle costs tilt in favor of the standard 1.6). Either one’s more likely to survive than a modern subcompact without a hot version…
The S-class’ issue for those with the tech skills (not high-tech, but obsolescent) to restore one in 2064 is the same one that dogs it now; if you have the money/skill, why not just get a Tesla?
I’ll be 107 so I’d be happy to see anything in a car show!
I think a bench seat W-Body Impala will be an equivelant to ’64 Impala to people now.
My 86 Jetta still in good high mileage condition, along with it’s 108 year old high mileage owner still in good original condition. Although there will have to be some amazing medical advances for that to happen, and nothing short of a miracle to keep that nasty old junk VW alive!
Something with a V8 that my grandchildren will be able to afford so they can take my ancient self for a ride in it.
Chevrolet Square Body!
What, they even had one in Idiocracy. That’s like 500 years from now.
*This photo brought to you by Carl’s Jr.*
Chrysler Crossfire.
It’s a shoe-in: coupe, limited production, agressive styling.
It also kinda looks like a shoe.
A 2003-2006 Subaru Baja will be a future collectible classic, in that they didn’t make ’em very long, and was such a unique design, not to mention the continuing cult following that Subaru will probably still have in 50 years!
Theyre sought after right now. I looked into getting one some years back. Only a turbo 5spd will do, but the prices were insane even with a bazllion miles on them. Even lesser versions go for big money still.
Something really mundane but perfectly preserved, like a 2005 Toyota Camry LE with the original plastic hubcaps, because it will actually be interesting when none exist anymore.
Average everyday cars bring me back to a specific era far better than any rare/low-production/exotic cars. I like seeing ’80s Escorts and K-cars at car shows way better than Firebirds, Mustangs, etc because they instantly remind me of childhood.
Since Ill be 90, I don’t want to be doing anything but feeding worms in 50 years! But Im sure youll still see Hellcats held up as a milestone. No doubt a few of those will be locked away in vaults.
Stale is right. I remember when the VW “New” Beetle first came out, I thought it was a cool car. Then it got tired on me really quick.
A Fiskar….
They are really beautiful cars, unique, and already rare. Someone will have figured out how to replicate the now-impossible-to-get-batteries in the next 50 years. I don’t think that software is going to be such a problem either. Hopefully manufactures are keeping the code somewhere, and will be willing to release it to enthusiasts after some number of years.
The danger zone for these cars starts in 10 years or so when the last of the available batteries die. I think that then most of them are either going to be converted to some form of alternative power or scrapped, so in 50 years an unmolested Fiskar is going to be impossible to find.
I wonder if the same thing will happen to Teslas. Maybe not, with their popularity–might be the kind of car that some specialty company will always make battery packs for.
Or perhaps by 20 or so years from now, we may have some sort of super-battery that can provide the same power in a very small format, anyway. So if someone can get it to provide charge at the correct voltage/amperage/whatnot and fab up a connector…
Though you’re right. By about 2025-30, it will probably become impossible to find an original Fisker in running condition. You’ll have non-functional display pieces, and then ones with internal combustion engines, fuel cells, or current (for that time) battery tech.
My car will be 105 years old then hopefully its still running so my daughter can show it.
One way to imagine what cars would be interesting to see at a show in 50 years would be to observe what we like to see at today’s gatherings and work from there. Assuming we aren’t speaking of a concours or a single make show, what would interest me as, say, a 40-year old (at 114, I would only know vehicles called ambulettes).
Oddity, for one thing. Plus a bit of that “what were they thinking?”. Cars with backstories and explanations.
Some of these are already mentioned, so I’ll explain why I agree.
Gotta have a pristine Aztec whose octogenarian owner inherited it from his grandad who got it because, “They thought they were so ugly, he got a screamin’ deal. They was practically givin’ them away”.
A Smart car. The Model A of city cars. With a stuffed Minion on the driver’s seat.
A Mazda RX8, with all four doors open. Not everyone’s cup of tea = good car show material.
A Honda Element. Always liked them, and didn’t understand how they inspired hatred in some people. Does EVERYTHING have to be sexy? They forged their own road as an SUV, placing utility foremost.
A Maybach. Gotta have the one über expensive rarity that gets trailered in.
4 or 5 pony cars. At least one of them a survivor base model with the smallest engine and wheels like that Challenger V-6. I’m one of those oddballs who has always thought muscle cars were too obvious… but they have to be there.
A couple of PT cruisers. One stock and bought from a little old lady. The other sporting every aftermarket trinket the owner could find at Hershey.
A crown Vic, in livery livery. “Gotham Airport Limousine”, or something similar in Creole.
Something with 3 wheels that’s not a Morgan.
A Honda Ridgeline. Closest we’ve come so far to a car-truck.
A Kia Soul. Or 18 of them, for they will have achieved cult status.
An Accord Coupe. Always quietly attractive.
A Porsche Panamera. “Wow! Never heard of these!”
Gotta have a Chevy SSR convertible. “Did they actually put cargo in these?”
The 3 Prowlers that show up at every event. We have come to like Prowlers since open wheel cars have been mandated out of production by the insurance lobby. These owners have placards explaining that there cars were, in fact, production vehicles, though most have big engine transplants like classic home built rods.
by the way, all of the above will be converted to cheaper fuel than anything fossil based.
I’ll stop here for now.
By then I’ll be 80 years old, and I sure hope we aren’t “driving” in fully automated cars by then :-p If I had to pick a car that is fairly new today, and another that is already old, I would have to make a list- it would be impossible to only choose one.
New(ish) Truck: 2004 GMC Envoy XUV with the Studey style roof,
New(ish) Cars: 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix, 2006-10 Dodge Charger
Old Truck: 1960-61 GMC truck
Old Cars:: 1974 Oldsmobile Custom Cruiser or Buick Estate Wagon
1970 Plymouth Fury Sport Suburban
1959 Cadillac Hearse
1959-60 Lincoln Town Car
I don’t like the way the world is becoming so computerized, and hopefully we won’t loose our independence to automated roadways and interstates. It would be nice to have the choice. That’s why I say, live it up while you can, and to hell with gas mileage! 😀
Well I will be 75 and I look forward to bringing a 94-95 Plymouth Voyager that I bought between 2015 & 2020. A late 1990s Econoline, late 1980s Saab 900, and a 1970 Dodge Dart are some other vehicles I would love to see.