This is from late 2009 and most must have seen it... but it's truly reflective of what's going on in the car industry and the possibility that we're driving the last few generations of sports cars, kinda sad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpBvugvYS8U

 

Great video. Thought provoking and sad. I have thought the same thing these past few years.

 

I have seen that. I'm not going to make predictions of any kind, and maybe this time there are forces at work that will make for a different outcome. But it's a fact that in the early '70's people were saying exactly the same things, that performance cars were dying if not dead because of emission regulations, and they ended up being wrong big-time.

The performance cars of the future may be different. But I hope that as long as there are people willing to spend money on them, car companies will continue to find ways to make a profit building entertaining personal transportation, and that the doomsayers of today will end up being just as mistaken as the ones back in the '70's. Time will tell.

 

My experience this evening says otherwise.
Driving home up 280 with the top open and the stereo blasting, I "played in traffic" with an Audi S4 Cabrio and a 550i sedan.

Triple radar detectors FTW.

 

We've been talking about this here for some time - the best gasoline powered cars ever to be produced, full size/powered sedans and sports cars, are being produced right now and over the next 5-7 model years. After that, its all downhill - at least for buyers of reasonably normal means. The rest of us will be buying pre-owned cars for the rest of our lives, or holding on to what we have. Consider that the next BMW 3 series, a "staple" sedan that isn't cheap, will be built primarily around 4 cylinder power.

 

In the 1880s the presenter of the "Top Horse" program said the same thing about horses. The best horses were in the 1880s and after that, they were all watered down namby pamby versions of their former selves now that the world started to drive cars.

In 1910, the presenter of "Top Steam Engine" mourned the loss of the steam locomotive as they were all relpaced with soul-less diesels.

In the 1930s, the presenter of "Top Publication" harkened to the death of the news paper as the TV started to be accepted as the preferred means of transfer of information.

In 1990s, the presenter of "Top TV" harkened the death of the TV as the interner became the preferred source of information and entertainment.

In 2050, the presenter of "Top Jetplane" felt sad as the advent of the transporter beam since no-one would need to fly anymore...

 

When we're out of fossil fuels a century from now or beyond, there will still be sports cars and they will still be driven. The last car to drive on gasoline wlll be a sports car. (People were says the same thing in the early 70s when we had the first Arab oil embargo).

 

No problem, we'll always have our dreams!

 

Return of the deuce.

http://www.mustangview.com/category/...5-ford-mustang

 

Those dreams were just that - senseless dreams where form does not follow function.

 

Here's more. These are updated.

Humans..., you gotta love 'em.

 

The whole "fossil fuels" badge is a farce. The earth is still producing crude oil to this very day. One of the marvelous eco-systems this planet has is how the ocean floor, for example, absorbs decomposing organic waste; and still is producing crude oil to this very day. This is fact.

So the issue is NOT "will there be any petrol-based automobiles?"; but "will they still be allowed?"

I offer that as long as there are privately-owned forms of transportation, there will always be some sort of a sports-car, even with different forms of propulsion. It's just a matter of who can afford one.

Same thing that is happening right now.

 

I agree--only if you're locked in to 20th century thinking about propulsion or in the oil/petroleum industry should you be lamenting the future of the sportscar. The internal cumbustion engine is a wasteful way to make power, as so much of the heat generated from the fuel burned just exits out the exhaust pipe or is dissipated through the cooling system to no use. Only because gasoline has remained a relatively cheap and plentiful fuel resource, has the internal cumbustion engine lasted this long.

Today's engines are truly marvels of engineering, and whatever replaces it will offer even greater performance. Just wait and see.

After 1972, it seemed as if cars would forever be weak kneed performers. These days, family sedans put down 0-60 and quarter mile times that best, the best of the best from 1994 and because of tire technology, even the fastest 60's era muscle cars. There will be a place for performance and being green.

 

Very well stated.

 

Yeah! Since the competition for oil will be fierce and we can't possibly succeed, lets just use our nukes to seize the other countries that happen to be sitting on it! Not a problem.