STILL DREAMIN’, STILL DRIVIN’.

Editor's Note: This week, Peter continues to reflect on the looming changes to our transportation future, holding out hope that the True Believers at the car companies, along with those of us still passionate about freedom of mobility, will ultimately temper the bleakness that's on the verge of consuming us. In On The Table, we take a closer look at a Kia PR "teaser" for the new Telluride, which gave us a splitting headache. Porsche keeps trying to make its disastrous EV investment pay-off - which is a losing proposition by the way - by unveiling the Macan GTS EV. And Toyota shows us the thoroughly revised RAV4, which is the best-selling small SUV in the U.S. Our AE Song of the Week is "Nature's Way" by Spirit. In Fumes, Peter begins a new series on his all-time favorite racing machines, Jim Hall's Chaparrals. And in The Line, we have F1 results from Mexico and MotoGP results from Malaysia. We're on it! -WG

By Peter M. De Lorenzo

Detroit. After last week’s commentary, several of you out there were concerned that I had lost the will to go on, or something to that effect. That the looming AI threat to the world as we know it had taken hold of me and sapped my will to live. As if. I shouldn’t even need to say this, but nothing could be further from the High-Octane Truth.

Yes, AI threatens to strangle everything, with some good to come from it and frankly, a lot of bad. We are being inundated daily with press release after press release regurgitating the details about the latest AI-assisted autonomous development, and I have to admit that it’s leaving me stone cold. And the news of GM's "eyes-off" development doesn't make me happy in the least. Yes, well off into the future I can see limited usage for AI-guided AVs, but for most people who grew up with the desire to drive, and the accumulated experiences and adventures – not to mention the individual freedom of mobility – that came from hitting the road, blind fealty to the notion of AI-driven AVs is about as compelling as leftover oatmeal.

Yes, of course, I appreciate the technology, and I can see that handing over the control of a vehicle in certain situations – abominable traffic congestion, chaotic city driving, I-80 in Nebraska, etc. – might be the most expedient course of action. But just checking out and becoming totally removed from the act of driving? I’m not interested, and I am quite certain that there are plenty of people out there – especially our AE readers – who feel the same way.

That we are on the precipice of massive change in the future of our transportation is undeniable. On one side of the equation, there are anti-car zealots out there who are convinced that we are headed toward a colorless transportation era, one devoid of distinctive, personal choice and instead replaced by the uniformity of massive car sharing and the numbing disengagement of autonomous riding pods. But beyond believing that this grim vision of our future will be better for all of us, these zealots are actually excited by the prospect, convinced that this mass conformity will be oddly freeing as we succumb to a model of transportation that is diametrically opposed to everything that has come before.

Needless to say – although I repeat it often – I find this attitude of "we know what’s best for you and you will like it…" infuriating, which should be no real surprise to anyone who visits this website. In fact, this notion that we’ll all be shiny, happy and compliant participants willing to forego everything that came before is almost incomprehensible given that this perspective flies in the face of the inherent freedom of mobility that defined this country and powered it through the modern industrial era.

As I’ve said previously, I don’t think most of us are prepared for just how dramatic the transformation will be. Will a nation founded on the tenets of freedom and the option to go, and do, and see what we please all of a sudden succumb to groupthink and mindlessly queue up for nondescript, shared transportation devices based on convenience? Are we all just going to gleefully go along for a ride dictated by availability and most-frequented ‘popular’ travel destinations?

I don’t think so.

Every dimension of the American experience has been shaped by the automobile – the roads we used to explore the vast expanses of the unbridled majesty of this nation (and ourselves along the way); the music that provided much of the soundtrack for those journeys and the roadside attractions (and the road food that went with them); the big cities and little towns along the highways and byways; and on, and on, and on.

Talk to anyone who has visited The Henry Ford museum of late and see what he or she has to say. In so many words, it will sound like this: The American experience is the automobile, and the automobile is the American experience.

The automobile’s influence on this country’s culture is almost incalculable. But then again, it’s even more than that. It’s part of this country’s soul, it’s who we are and it’s where we’ve been and it’s where we’ve always wanted to go.

On the same side of this equation, thankfully, are the True Believers embedded in the car companies who understand this freedom of mobility as defined by the automobile. These men and women also understand that there’s an undeniable emotional connection between people and their machines. Far from mere transportation devices, these machines project a fundamental freedom of movement and unleashing of the spirit, and in fact, as I've said often, they are the mechanical conduit of our hopes and dreams.

That’s why even as the AI/AV zealots raise their pitchforks in unison to the Dark Skies looming, the True Believers are doing what they do best, which is being true to their beliefs while comfortable in the knowledge that no matter where our future propulsion options take us, there are givens with the automobile and this freedom of mobility business, the most powerful of which, along with essential "hands-on" driving feel and real-world performance, is that emotionally compelling design is still – and will continue to be – the Ultimate Initial Product Differentiator. In fact, this design imperative will grow even stronger from here on out.

You only have to look as far as last week’s “On the Table” feature car, the Mercedes-Benz Vision Iconic to understand this, or, see a Cadillac Celestiq in-the-flesh. These machines make it very clear that the future of the automobile will not be comprised of colorless, faceless blob cars devoid of personality. Rather, the future of the automobile has almost limitless potential to project the freedom of mobility into exciting new dimensions and shapes.

The aforementioned designs are proudly unapologetic and steadfastly defiant against the winds of negativity blowing throughout this industry right now, and they stand as an eloquent rebuttal to the anti-everything zealots who are painting a relentlessly dark picture of our driving future. Kudos to the True Believers at GM Design and Mercedes-Benz for giving it their all and reminding us that the future of the automobile has the unbridled potential to be more exciting than ever.

In the end, the automotive brands that adhere to the mission by emphasizing the pure essence of driving while creating emotionally compelling designs will enjoy the most success.

In the meantime, I will continue to revel in the thrill of the fundamental freedom of mobility. I will continue to dream about wheeling a Ferrari in and around the Amalfi coast, or a hot-rodded 911 down an idyllic stretch of road going nowhere, fast.

Still dreamin’, still drivin’.

And that’s the High-Octane Truth for this week.

Editor's Note: Click on "Next 1 Entries" at the bottom of this page to see previous issues. - WG