This forwards vision really was looking forwards

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Today, we have some systems in our cars that we could not have imagined, say, 50 years ago. Automatic parallel parking, projections on our windscreen and sonar-applied braking are just examples. But still, our cars look nothing like the visions we had, say, 50 years ago of how cars of today would look like. The 1969 Buick Century Cruiser, showed to you here by today’s Friday Lady, is just such a car. Its spaceship-ish lines make us chuckle today. But wait a minute. Let’s see what the concept was about. Buick believed that the future would give us automated highways where steering, throttle, and braking by the driver would not be necessary. They weren’t too far off there, perhaps. And so their Century Cruiser came with swivelling contour seats, a refrigerator, and a television to kill time on the motorway. One of the designers said: “The computer-controlled car would be programmed by punch cards with predetermined routes programmed by information provided by electric highway centers. The vehicle's position would be monitored by a radar-like device, with location and status communicated to the ‘driver’ via projected display. If the occupant preferred to drive themselves, the car also had armrest-mounted joystick-like devices to steer and control speed manually.” Somebody was really paying attention at Buick’s headquarters at the time. Compared to all that, their latest concept car, is nothing but conservative.

(Words editor, picture courtesy Buick PR)

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