Cars & Culture—Today and Tomorrow

Car design has always been a passion of mine. The idea that you can begin with just a drawing, blend a series of mechanical components, and derive an object not only suitable for functional transport, but also something exciting to look at and experience, is an enormously compelling endeavor for an imaginative mind. But as much as I enjoy cars and their obvious beauty, power, and performance, there is another equally compelling aspect to the automobile that delivers a multi-layered view into our culture and serves as a guide into our potential future.

The automobile is perhaps the single most consistently recognized cultural artifact of modern civilization. And while the cell phone or television might give the car a run for its money, the depth of passion and engagement with the automobile is far more universal and emotional, with a greater impact on our culture and geography, particularly over the past 100 years. Prior to the automobile, most citizens remained within 25 miles of their home as traveling was generally limited to daylong journeys by horseback. This not only limited our scope of personal adventure, education, and cultural expansion, it limited the genetic diversity needed to build a stronger and healthier humanity outside of small close-knit familial communities. As the car grew cheaper and readily available for use, families not only expanded, businesses expanded dramatically, small businesses including grocery stores, fuel stations, and repair shops all catered to both institutional and commercial interest in the automobile.