We all remember that great scene in TV’s Silicon Valley where the hapless Jared gets locked into a self-driving car that takes him to Peter Gregory’s private island, Arallon, 4,000 miles away. And in the recent science-fiction film Upgrade, a self-driving car figures in the murder of the lead character’s wife.
Jared on his ride to nowhere in Silicon Valley.
Not the best publicity for the coming age of autonomy! These scenes got me thinking about the use of cars and buses in films where the main focus is on the rocket ships that take our descendants to distant planets. Often the cars are an afterthought, good for the occasional chase scene, or maybe a shot of the hero pulling up to the Starfleet Space Academy. Often, the vehicles were sourced right off the car show floor, and included many a futuristic concept car. But occasionally, the cars were more original, and carefully thought out.
Upgrade's self-driving car is a killer!
Here’s a glimpse at some of the more memorable transportation from 100 years of science fiction and Detroit/Hollywood futurism. Let's start with the oldest first.
This 1956 Lincoln Futura show car was the basis for the Batmobile. George Barris bought it from Ford for $1."In the future, auto glass will be domed and smoking? That'll never go out of style." The Ford Atmos. Autofuturism: Wildly inaccurate, but twice as stylish. It's 1955, and here's the futuristic Ford Tosca, which could move via "remote control."Wrong about the body design direction, but right about the level of driver distraction. Getting a bit more modern with this pod-like thing from Logan's Run in 1973. Dig the hairstyle!The Big Bus from Westworld, also 1973.The Lightcycle from Disney's Tron (1982). The driver of this self-driving robo-taxi comes to a bad end in Total Recall.Total Recall had flying cars, too.They liked flying cars in the Fifth Element, too, but these were computer generated.This sporty number from Minority Report, with a cab-forward design, is looking downright road-worthy.The most famous science-fiction car ever needs no introduction.The Landram from Battlestar Galactica. They were right about cars getting bigger, but didn't predict the need for aerodynamics! This off-roader is from Star Trek: Nemesis.And finally, this is the Google self-driving car (without steering wheel or pedals)--proof that science-fiction sometimes becomes science fact.
If you don't remember that Silicon Valley scene, here it is in its entirety.
