WHEN THE CAR WAS FIRST INVENTED FOR MASS CONSUMPTION...MOST PEOPLE LIVED AND WORKED IN SMALL TOWNS AND USED HORSES FOR SHORT TRIPS
THEY TOOK THE TRAIN TO GO LONG DISTANCE TRAVELING.
THEN CAME THE AUTOMOBILE...
THE FIRST AUTOMOBILES WERE REALLY JUST LITTLE "RUN-ABOUTS"...
NOT AT ALL DESIGNED FOR LONG DISTANCE TRAVEL!
AND RUNNING AROUND IN YOUR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED TOWN...WITHOUT HAVING TO HITCH UP THE HORSE WAS VERY CONVENIENT!
WOMEN LOVED THESE NEW CARS FOR THIS REASON...ONCE THEY LEARNED TO DRIVE THEM.
MOST PEOPLE WERE BASICALLY DRIVING AROUND TOWN ON BUSINESS...OR TAKING SHORT TRIPS TO THE COUNTRY SIDE TO VISIT RELATIVES OR FRIENDS...OR TO SOCIALIZE.
NO TV THEN!
THAT'S WHY RURAL TOWNS WERE SPACED ABOUT 20 TO 30 MILES APART...THE DISTANCE YOU COULD TRAVEL BY HORSE IN ONE DAY...AND MAKE IT BACK BY NIGHTFALL.
WE MAY BE REVERTING TO THE "RUN-ABOUT" IF GAS GOES TO SAY...$8 PER GALLON. BECAUSE PEOPLE WILL WANT A SMALL VERY VERY ECONOMICAL WAY TO GO AROUND TOWN...AND NOT HAVE TO CARRY BAGS OF GROCERIES ON THE BUS OR TRAIN.
NOW HISTORICALLY, ANOTHER KIND OF CAR EVOLVED...THE "TOURING CAR".
THESE WERE LARGE AND EXPENSIVE...AND WERE INTENDED FOR LONG DISTANCE TRAVEL...WHICH WITH POOR ROADS WAS ALWAYS RISKY AND REQUIRED A LARGE SOLID VEHICLE. ONLY THE RICH COULD AFFORD THESE...
THE MODEL T WAS FOR EVERYONE ELSE...AND WAS NEVER INTENDED TO BE USED "SAFELY" FOR TOURING OR LONG DISTANCE TRAVEL.
OUR CURRENT MINIVAN IS REALLY A BLEND OF THE LARGE TOURING CAR AND THE MODEL T RUN-ABOUT....
WE MAY NEED TO REVERT TO THE OLDER NOTION OF RUN-ABOUTS-- IF GAS GOES ORBITAL...AS I THINK IT WILL.
MY HUNCH IS THAT 2050 IS GOING TO BE UNRECOGNIZABLE FROM TODAY...
AND 2100 WILL BE LIKE ANOTHER PLANET TO US TODAY.
