larchmont

I know, the answer really is, "Who tf knows?" Everything's going to be different in 20 years. Heck, I remember that when I was a kid, we were SURE that inside of 20 years there wouldn't even be cars any more, because everybody would have personal helicopters, which we'd be parking on roofs. (Really. This is true. A lot of you might think I'm kidding or making this up, but I bet some other old-timers here will remember that. In the early '60's, this was sort of a state-of-the-art assumption. I swear.)

So..... among the cars that we have now, or that are expected to be coming out, what would you see yourself driving in 20 years?


OK, I'll start it off: TSX

(Probably the same one, too.)

Unless meanwhile they come out with a USX or VSX.

Crazytree

if my career plans and investments fall into place...

some sort of Ferrari hovercraft.

Soze75

I see myself in an 03 Escalade that was once owned by Justin Timberlake.

probably still in my TSX, converted to hydrogen and allowed to remain roadworthy under the "Pre 2005, Large Car Exemption Act" of 2019.

bob shiftright

Whatever, but I'll be driving it someplace WARM, either because "global warming" moves the tropics north, or because I moved to someplace like Hawaii. Just like the rest of the millions and millions of geezers I'll expect to be living off all the tax money that kids like CT are going to be paying because of their successful career plans and successful investments....

justinjsw

I will be living in Mars! Driving a Honda built rover powered by solar fuel cells.

Mokos23

gosh i'll be in my early 40s by then, hopefully either a european or japanese car. i've been driving honda/acura all my life, hopefully by then i'll try either audi, nissan/infiniti, or toyota/lexus. maybe subaru or mazda will have a luxury division by then?

Dan Martin

Hopefully I'll be driving a golf cart in Florida!

type-s

hmmm the scary question is "will cars be driving US around in 20 years" !!!

tsx-mdxman

Still driving my wife nuts, not sure what car I'll be in. Probably a Honda product of some sort (or BMW, once they figure out how to make nice looking cars again).

Edit: I hope to be more practical, less self-absorbed in 20 years. Scratch owning a BMW at that point - it will be a Honda/Acura. Probably RL/TL equivalent (TSX isn't really right for AARP types).

gilboman

some sort of Lexus or MB.

ABP-CL9-TSX

I plan on driving a Mercedes 20 years down the road and my '92 Honda Accord EX...that car will be a classic in 2020.

rb1

Liability issues will keep this from happening for a good while. A good many years ago, someone demonstrated cruise control that could speed up and slow down, even apply brakes to keep with the flow of traffic. It still hasn't been brought to market in this country (although I here rumors that it's coming)

fdl

I believe the "active" cruise control feature in the new BMWs does this, or somthing similar.

majormojo

Hmmm 20 yrs from now... Perhaps I could afford a 20 yr old Aston Martin Vanquish. That will still be a classy ride then.

When I was a kid dreaming about and doodling the "car of the future" it looked an awful lot like the current Chrysler Intrepid.

mininsx

Something Acura, if not hopefully at least something Honda...

STC

iTrader: (1)

If Im still driving the TSX in 20yrs someone pls kill me. That means that I didnt accomplish anything in the last 20 yrs cause if I did I would have bought a new car a long time ago.

phile

You gotta look on the bright side...the TSX is still running after 20 lingering, disappointing, unfulfilling years.

Crazytree

wow... this thread just begged for a response. first of all... trains and airplanes all use some sort of auto-pilot... and I have yet to see any lawsuits. autopilot is fine... as long as someone is sitting there watching it to make sure it doesn't crash.

and the rumor you heard is correct... that active cruise control has been out... think it may be on Caddys too.

larchmont

Not to hijack my own thread, but.....

Speaking of planes -- wouldn't you think they'd be able to build in a control mechanism that would prevent planes from flying into buildings even if the pilot/jerk was trying to do it? I mean, cars have back-up sensors etc; I imagine it's not far behind that cars would disable themselves from backing up over a child (right?). I want to see something like that on the front of planes.

biker

Standard feature on S-class MB, 7 series BMW, optional on a lot of other cars.

I'll be driving a good looking, reliable mid-sized sedan that has RWD/AWD and an MT. Hopefully we'll have as many choices then as we have now.

bob shiftright

Now that we have "drive by wire", "steer by wire" is the next thing going to be "clutch by wire"? And will the driver's input make much difference as to what the car actually does? I've been riding the monorail at Newark Airport for years and I've never seen an operator on one of the trains, nor is there even any place on the train for an operator to operate anything.

Liability? They probably think the lawyers are going to sue them anyway no matter what they do, so they'll just build the cost into the price.

I thought I'd seen video where some US manufacturer (GM?) has cars drafting each other at 90mph with nobody at the wheel.

I can already see the ads for the 2024 Cadillac Escalade where mom punches her destination into the navigation system and then walks to the back seat to play with the kids. Maybe it's scary, but is it any scarier than a Boeing 777 on autopilot? Than a 2004 Escalade with the driver on a cell phone?

Dan Martin

Scary?

I'd far rather trust my life to a computer controlled freeway system than the half-wits that are on the road now! There would be no colisions, no trafic, faster commutes and you get to read the paper or watch TV on your way to work. Of course I wouldn't want the car to be under computer control all the time, just in major urban areas. This is not a new idea by any means. Check out the AHS project: http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/Groups/ahs/sampler.html

bob shiftright

I don't think commuting will be any quicker, it will probably be slower, but at least you won't raise any eyebrows reading the newspaper while you're driving. Or while your car's computer is driving.

As for driver involvement you'll need to buy a race car and join the SCCA. Of course, in 20 years even THAT activity will probably be replaced by sight-sound-smell simulators....

majormojo

You're right, that's nothing new! The concept has been in operation for over a century. It's called "taking the bus".

duugk

NSX, or it's evolved form. Love that car.

Mokos23

i think there could be flying cars by then, look at back to the future part II :P , "a flying delorean, haven't seen one of those in 30 yrs". -Biff Tannen.

rfs830_RENAMED

Well I know I will be driving something that is Honda/Acura. I will never buy anything else.

biker

Would you still do that if by then Honda is bought out by XXX? With most smaller independant makes being swallowed up by bigger fish, Honda could be next. What if XXX is BMW? I mean MB bought Chrysler to fill out the bottom of its line up. BMW could do the same.
Renault is lined up with Nissan. Who would have thought just 5 years ago that you could be driving around in a Nissan Sentra in 2005 that is a reskined/rebadged Renault Megane?
The possibilities in 20 years are endless.

Biker, who wonders what a 2020 BMW 5 series paltform based Accord would look like.

Creaminz

I'm 23...so twenty years later.........43............2025..........TSX with Wings and rocket engine? Auto Driving mode and...oh ye.....
self parking mode,too. Finger print entry will go with that also...keyless for sure.

bob shiftright

BMW has a market cap of €24.2 billion.

Honda has a market cap of $42.3 billion.

(For purposes of comparison, General Motors has a market cap of $30.3 billion and Ford has a market cap of $29.5 billion.)

Honda is an awfully big meal for BMW or anyone else to swallow.

gilboman

who knows in 20yrs..BMW is growing fast now, honda could be bought out by a future merged Ford/GM or by then, Toyota could've just bought everybody already.

duugk

How about BMW being bought by Honda? I think BMW could use some Honda help in the styling dept lately.

larchmont

Thanks for those numbers, Bob.
I thought I was pretty good at stuff like market caps (and I am better than the average bear ), but I had no idea Honda was higher than the big "2."
I must admit I was so skeptical about this, I checked up on you.
And of course you have it exactly right.
I knew that Toyota was much higher than Honda, which means it's WAY higher than GM and F; had no idea about that either.
I wondered about the other "big 3" company, and then I remembered it's now DAIMLER Chrysler. For the hell of it I checked that too.
Here are those extra numbers:

Daimler Chrysler: 49 billion
Toyota 234 billion


BTW: GE 334 billion, Microsoft 300 billion

Don't know if it's still true but I know these used to be the top 2, and for sure they're at least somewhere up there. That means Toyota is knocking on the door of being the highest valued company in the world.


Also: It's not impossible that a smaller company (like BMW) could buy out a bigger company (like Honda). It's happened at least once or twice.

duugk

http://world.honda.com/news/2003/c031216_2.html

I know, it's not a car, but it is still cool. Like to be putzing around in this ride in 20 yrs.

Stokeless_TSX

something that can fly between buildings.

bob shiftright

BMW may have learned it's lesson from the Rover acquisition. The board of directors eventually ordered all the responsible executives out to the woods and with their usual Germanic efficiency simply had them shot.

Honda seems reluctant a buy what it can build by itself. It also has it's own distinctive corporate culture so if it were to acquire BMW it would need to pursue a policy of "ethnic cleansing" which might be hard to do with a German company. The product lines including both cars and motorcycles would be compatible, though.

One major difference between GM and F on the one hand and HMC, Toyota and BMW on the other is that the latter group is capable of manufacturing cars profitably. (My ultimate price targets for F and GM are 0, although I won't guarantee that it will happen during my lifetime! )

In addition to paying attention to W. Edwards Deming, Honda and Toyota also have their foot in the door on a huge market. There are over a billion people in India and over 1.3 billion in China. Most of whom haven't even purchased their first motorscooter yet!

(Microsoft also has a handle on that market, come to think....)

jcg878

The Civic of the skies, with a 9-3 instrument cluster.

larchmont

Very theoretical, of course, and not likely to happen....but in order for it to happen, I think that FIRST, Honda's "distinctive corporate culture" will have had to evolve way beyond what it is now, if not be destroyed.

ClutchPerformer

To answer the original question: A big bad black BMW M5 (the most desirable sedan at any price, ever). That is, as long as the 5-series doesn't look completely ridiculous by then. :P

Dan Martin

What like this?

Dame Edna:



2004 5 Series:



Coincidence?????