April 14, 2025 • 27 mins
What if the strides in automotive design over the past 30 years are not as revolutionary as we once imagined? Join us on a journey through time as we compare the evolution of cars in different eras, inspired by the time-travel adventures of "Back to the Future." We'll reflect on the differences and similarities between the innovations from 1995 to 2025, and the significant transformations between 1955 and 1985. Despite the dreams of flying cars that once seemed inevitable, we question whether the pace of innovation has met our expectations.
Everett J.
#autolooks
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So it's the beginning of 2025, and I come
across this meme on Facebook that actually
makes me think.
It makes me look at things.
It said if Back to the Future happened
today, we'd be going back to 1995, because
that's 30 years ago.
But from the original movie it went from
1985 to 1955.
And I've been saying this about the
automotive industry for the past two
(00:21):
decades.
There's not a lot of changes in it.
And when you look at the changes between
1955 and 1985 in the Back to the Future
movie and then you take a look at vehicles
from 1995 to 2025 today, there's not a
whole heck of a lot of difference.
The DeLorean looked like a spaceship to
people in the 50s, but the DeLorean that's
coming out now, that Alpha 5, you could put
(00:42):
it in 1995 and it wouldn't blow that many
people away because there was concept cars
that looked very similar to what's coming
out now.
So today, autolux is going to take a look
at 30 years on how the automotive world has
changed across 30 year time gaps.
(01:05):
Welcome back to the Autolux Podcast.
I am your host, as always, the doctor to
the automotive industry, mr Everett Jay,
coming to you from our host website at
Autoluxnet.
If you haven't been there.
Stop by, check it out.
Read some of the reviews, check out some of
the ratings.
Go to the Corporate Links website page.
Big or small, we have them all Car
companies from around the globe, all
available on our Corporate Links website
page.
(01:30):
You can find most of them attached to
global or their main corporate pages, where
you can find even divisional pages that go
right to your home market.
Yes, all from the autoluxnet website.
The autolux podcast is brought to you by
ecom entertainment group and distributed by
podbeamcom.
If you'd like to get in touch with us, send
us an email over at email at autoluxnet.
So, like I said in the beginning, 30 years
on Now I'm only using the 30 year period
(01:51):
just because of well, back to the future,
because that one little meme made me think.
I remember when I was a kid growing up in
the 90s and I remember my parents' style
coming back into play in the 90s.
You know, style from the 1970s.
Funny thing is, today I'm looking at my
kids getting close to my age.
I was when I started wearing stuff that was
(02:13):
similar to my parents from only 20-some
years previous, even 30 years, 1965 to 1995.
There were big, big changes.
Hell, you want to see an advance in
technology.
Look at the difference between taking first
flight in the Kitty Hawk to landing on the
moon.
Gotta remember the Wright brothers made
their first flight in 1903, and yet we
(02:33):
landed on the moon in 1969.
We were in space by the end of the 50s, so
within 50 years we made such an
astronomical change.
Now, a lot of that new technology was in
place due to two world wars happening,
because a lot of technology increases at a
substantial rate when you're trying to stay
(02:53):
ahead of somebody else who's trying to take
you over.
What do you think?
The nuclear bomb if you go back and watch
the movie Oppenheimer, why it was pushed
through and finally made at the point that
they made it, because they literally took
the best minds that they had to build it.
But what has happened in the past 30 years?
Did we literally just become so complacent
(03:14):
in the world around us that we don't really
have that many more changes we can do to it?
We get it.
We see shows like Star Wars and Star Trek
and we're out in the vastness of space
cruising around discovering these new
worlds.
Is that the only thing we have to look
forward to in our future?
Seriously, we're talking about flying cars.
We've been talking about flying cars since
(03:34):
the 1950s.
Now we're just starting to get into using
drone technology to make new flying
vehicles, so it's a little bit different.
A flying vehicle today, if we go back 30
years, would really turn some heads, kind
of like the flying DeLorean from 2015.
When I went back to 1985, that was 10 years
ago, and I still don't have a hover
(03:56):
conversion on my car, and really I would
love to have a hover conversion because I
just hate driving on the road.
Trust me, if I could fly through the air,
it'd be so much better.
Why?
Because the infrastructure required to get
to my home city would probably be complete
a lot quicker and easier.
We didn't have to blast and cut trees down.
So what has happened and how did we change?
You have to remember the automobile
(04:17):
essentially dawned upon us in 1885.
Now, the original automobile or movable
machine dates all the way back to France in
the early 1700s.
It was actually a mobile unit that used
steam, essentially an old school tank.
But after that it got people thinking, and
that's when we started getting into trains.
(04:37):
And then we started getting into tractors,
and then people started saying, hey, we can
use these to clear fields and help us grow
food, and we could build these massive
units to carry tons of people across great
distances.
But what about personal mobility?
And in 1885, carl Benz decided to make it
happen, with his wife by his side, miss
(05:00):
Martha Benz, who actually drove the
original Maltzwagen from their home to the
patent office, where Carl was that morning,
to showcase that his invention actually
worked.
He was just there to patent it, but she
literally drove it to showcase that it
worked.
It was 1885, and it was essentially a
three-wheel buggy with a flywheel
(05:22):
combustion engine.
Now Heinrich Daimler essentially had his
piston drawn engine and when the two of
them got together we had the inevitable
internal combustion engine.
And within the first few years of the
automobile and people starting to learn how
to build their own and create their own,
many different people across the world
started building their own horseless
buggies.
(05:42):
Essentially, that's what they were in the
beginning.
They were the buggies that we pulled behind
horses to get us around, and they started
fixing these power units to them.
So there really wasn't a lot of change
because you can remember, the buggy hadn't
really changed that much in nearly a
hundred years hell, even longer.
And remember, we've been cruising around in
enclosed buggies for centuries before that.
(06:03):
So there really wasn't much of a difference.
But when we get in the automobile we
started realizing that this open air
environment is good, but now we can move
faster, which means we can cross greater
distances in a shorter amount of time.
So we started enclosing them.
Then we started enclosing the engine to
ensure that its viability, make sure it was
reliable, make sure it wouldn't get damaged
and make sure people wouldn't steal or
(06:23):
break it.
The automobile was becoming something
bigger for the population around us.
30 years after that, from 1885 to 1915, a
massive change.
I've gone back and read books and I
actually read one not too long ago.
It's talking about the automobile industry
during the 1930s and they're showing a used
car dealership in the 1930s.
Now you gotta think about it.
(06:43):
The 30s is when we started having enclosed
vehicles.
Well, the 20s is when, essentially, the
horseless buggy became more of an enclosed
automobile for us, because the Model T
which predated that was an open air
environment.
It had a roof, but it didn't have doors, it
didn't have side windows.
Now, all those great features that we
eventually got, we've started enclosing it,
(07:10):
making sure that we can get around in the
winter time, stay warm, stay secure and
stay dry, because that's what we really
wanted.
So these advancements, from going from a
buggy in 1885 to an open automobile with a
covered front and more amenities in it in
1915.
30 years from 1915 is 1945.
We take a look at vehicles across that
30-year time gap.
Our enclosed vehicles started to happen and
as we started enclosing our vehicles, we
started molding more and more pieces into
(07:32):
it.
So instead of having fender flares and
running boards that were completely just
added on after the fact, we could take them
off and repair them.
We had wood-spoke wheels.
We had kerosene lamps for our headlights.
We started getting electric.
We started integrating electric.
We started integrating everything into it.
Wheel wells became a main feature by the
1930s.
Throughout the 20s, the massive boom of the
automobile industry showed many changes.
(07:54):
The beginning of the 20s to the end of the
20s we went from a lot of people having
these horseless buggies with an open top
environment to having a fully enclosed
vehicle.
There was one solid unit by the end of the
decade and by the 30s, even though it was
getting close to wartime, we started
bringing those vehicles in and at a time in
history which had so much depression and so
(08:15):
many people out of work.
Our automobiles still changed and into the
30s our vehicles started to get more and
more enclosed and more refined.
Our windshields became integrated, our
windows had the ability to roll up and down.
Our vehicles were starting to become more
streamlined.
They were starting to look more like the
trains of that day, our Art Deco buildings
(08:37):
between the 20s and 30s.
And here we are, 1935.
That's quite a ways, 50 years since the
inception of the automobile.
So from a horseless buggy to a fully
enclosed automobile in 50 years.
But our changes in our designs were
starting to make a difference.
By the 1940s we started adding aerodynamics
(08:58):
to the vehicles and the rise of the war
gave us more inspiration for our designs.
At the end of the war and by the late 40s,
the earliest dawn of tail fins, massive
amount of chrome, big grills and a fully
integrated body started coming into play.
A vehicle from the 1955, going back 30
(09:19):
years to 1915, would blow people's minds.
A car from 1955 to 1915.
It's just crazy.
Hell.
From 1955 to 1925, people would still be
blown away.
Be like whoa.
That is amazing Because you can remember,
in the 20s we still had vehicles with wood
spoke wheels, thin wagon style wheels, and
(09:40):
in the 50s we were getting into radial
tires.
This started taking off by the mid 40s and
its inception came to us in the 1930s.
We got smaller wheels, which made a big
difference.
Now, from 1955 to 1985, we already know
where the automobile industry went.
The 30 years on and its inspiration changed
(10:00):
so much From the 50s, the beginning of
clean Art Deco, bubble-style vehicles to
big tail fins and a massive amount of
chrome.
By the end of the 50s Into the 60s, we
started getting more streamlined, cube
two-box designs.
We still got our grille, but we're starting
to get more simplistic designs.
By the end of the 60s and into the 70s,
(10:20):
power reigns king and making a vehicle as
big as possible and as powerful as possible
sets a new standard for design and
technology in vehicles.
From the 50s into the 60s, our windshield
went from two-piece to a singular piece.
From the 60s to the 70s, seatbelts started
coming into play.
If you go from 1970 all the way back to
(10:42):
1950, just 20 years take a 1975 Chevrolet,
corvette, stingray and go back to 1955 and
put the two of them next to each other
Completely different vehicles.
People in the 50s would look at that
vehicle that's only 20 years older than it
and be amazed Its design has changed so
much and it's only 20 years.
(11:03):
Taking a look at this, there are so many
different design changes, and that went
with the environment around us.
The 50s were about moving to the suburbs
and this amazing curved chrome appeal.
If you look at appliances, houses,
furniture, they all went together.
The 60s had stale colors and more
(11:23):
simplistic designs.
We were starting to look at vehicles as
getting bigger and maximizing the space, we
started adding new features.
Well hell, automatic started becoming a
mainstay and even front wheel drive was
changing the layout of our vehicles.
We were able to get even smaller than we
were before.
So technology was changing.
(11:44):
Our designs were changing.
Our vehicles were changing.
Every decade had its own design culture.
Remember, we went from wagons in the 1880s
and 1890s to covered automobile style
vehicles in the early 1900s to the teen
years.
By the 20s those vehicles got enclosed and
more streamlined.
By the 30s we completely enclosed the
(12:06):
bodies of our vehicles.
By the 40s we cleaned up the designs and
made it match the world around us.
By the 50s the classic cruiser and chrome
inspiration hit us.
By the 60s we get more simplistic.
By the 70s we get more simplistic.
By the 70s we get power by the 80s we start
getting into more two-box designs and
plastic cladding.
In the 90s we get teardrops and by the
(12:27):
2000s the teardrop turns into just a
standard bubble Cab-forward designs for the
front-wheel drive craze from the 1980s and
into the 90s is now gone.
Railroad drive is starting to come back.
See layouts change.
We go from rear wheel drive all the way up
until the 70s.
Same with body on frame vehicles.
Unibody only starts making an entry into
the 1950s and in North America we really
(12:49):
don't start seeing it until the end of the
60s and beginning of the 70s.
Full unibody construction of most
standardized vehicles doesn't come into
major play until the 1980s when we start
decreasing the cost of our vehicle because
of the massive amount of competition
everywhere.
We open up the floodgates to a global world
as opposed to just being within the
(13:09):
confines of our own country or 30 years
open up.
Another thing from back to the future that
you never notice is when doc is fixing the
car in the third movie he states the fact
that no wonder this capacitor failed.
It says made in Japan.
Well, in the 1950s Japan was rebuilding
itself after the devastation of World War
II.
Their economy had to be built up, and
(13:30):
because there wasn't enough men, they
started to get into more robotic and
automation.
Well, because of that they were able to
build things quicker and faster and to get
money to build their economy up.
They built the cheapest, easiest things for
all the other markets around the world.
From that they reinvested the money back
into research and development to help build
better vehicles, better products.
They were innovators.
(13:51):
The Japanese marketplace was more about
innovation than invention.
They took what was out there and made it
the best.
So by the 1980s, japan was a leader in
technology and products around the world.
Sound familiar.
30 years ago, anything that said made in
China was garbage.
Yeah, 1995, made in China was usually the
junky things that you just got.
(14:12):
You know those gift bags you get at
birthdays.
It's, you know the stuff out of little
gumball machines, throwaways of parties,
giveaways and auto shows.
It was all the made-in-China junk.
Today, china surpasses every other nation
for electric mobility units.
Their technology is surpassing even the
Japanese.
So 30 years on, there is a change.
(14:34):
If I showed up 30 years ago in a Chinese
vehicle in North America, that would change
people's mind.
Take a Xiaomi right now and go back to 1995.
Its design won't throw people off.
People will look at it and go be like, oh,
is that like the new Dodge Intrepid, is
that the new Impala?
Who's it from?
They wouldn't be like flabbergasted to look
(14:56):
at it and go, whoa, what the hell is that?
This is like a futuristic space machine.
No, some technology within the vehicles
would freak out people the second the door
opens and they see that fully digital
screen that could play tv right on it.
That will amaze somebody.
In 1995, held in 2015, when we started
getting gps systems fully integrated into
(15:17):
our automobiles and the ability to call
each other and everybody having the ability
to call each other.
Going back to 1985, from 2015,.
That technology would throw people off.
But the Tacoma if you go back into actual
2015, there's a back to the future edition
of the Toyota Tacoma.
It's a club cab, black roll bar and lifted.
(15:37):
It's got all the makings of marty mcfly's
tacoma, the one I'm staring at.
That's a playmobil toy right above my head.
But the technology in those tacomas is the
only thing that throws people off.
Driving that thing back, even it's a 1985,
would throw some people out, but you have
to remember 1985.
We're starting to look at vehicles like the
coontash is still around.
(15:58):
The testarossa is coming out, the Corvette
is getting cleaner.
Sure, our standard automobiles are just a
bland, boring two-box design like the
Plymouth Reliant and Dodge K car.
They're boring, they're bland and a lot of
them still come with the standard square
lights because we haven't moved into the
bubble light era of the 90s.
(16:21):
See, taking a car from 1995 and going back
to 1985, you could freak out people.
That's only 10 years.
But when the last Dodge Caravan came out I
looked at its design and the first thing I
said take that and plop it in 1989.
Change out the headlights with square ones
and literally it just looks like a cleaner
variation of an 80s caravan.
This is a vehicle that's nearly 30 years
(16:41):
into its production and yet it doesn't look
much different or out of place than its
original counterpart.
You see, today vehicles are not about
changing the design aspects of the world.
We've constantly changed technology in our
vehicles.
Hell, the DeLorean was more of a digital
setup than the vehicles in the 1950s.
They were all just standard gauge clusters.
(17:02):
Hell, one of the first GPS systems dates
back to the 1970s.
Hell, general Motors had one of the most
technically advanced vehicles in the 1980s
with a full onboard computer system.
Tons of people had car phones from the 80s
into the 90s.
It was cool If you seen somebody with a car
phone.
Oh my God, my best friend growing up.
His dad was a salesman and he got the first
(17:23):
generation Dodge Intrepid just when it came
out and he had to get a car phone installed
in it.
This is the early 90s, 30 years after that.
Take something like the brand new Charger.
It'll look a little bit out of place in the
early 90s and the technology will throw
people way off because they just push a
button on their steering wheel and they can
call somebody.
(17:43):
They have to touch a screen to change a
song.
It is what has changed.
We just look at automotive design to play a
key role in the environment around us.
30 years on, and automobiles haven't
changed that much.
A vehicle from today, placed 30 years ago,
isn't much different.
Hell, a vehicle today, going back 10 years,
is much different.
(18:03):
Just take a look at the Tesla Model S.
Its design has barely changed since it came
out and it's been around since the late
2000s and it's still riding off its
original design formula.
Hell, the Model Y now has the new clean
style laser lights on it Besides band
lighting.
What major difference do we have now that
(18:24):
we didn't have 10 years ago?
Full digital dashes weren't fully
integrated 10 years ago.
But you have to remember the Model S
existed 10 years ago and that massive
21-inch center screen was there.
So screens were there 10 years ago.
20 years ago it'd be almost like hooking
your laptop up.
But then take a look at the Fast and the
(18:45):
Furious.
They had digital DVD players and screens
pop out of the dash.
The aftermarket and tuner industry had
technology like that.
Standard automobiles didn't, but we did see
them.
So seeing a TV in a car 20 years ago wasn't
all that off.
25 years ago still wasn't that far off.
1995, going back 30 years, maybe a little
(19:06):
different, because in 1995, we're the
generation that would have been playing
with Game Gears and Game Boys in the car.
Having a digital screen inside automobiles
wasn't a big thing until the mid-2000s.
That's when onboard DVD players became big.
The DVD essentially revolutionized digital
play in automobiles because people were
buying them to entertain their children in
(19:27):
the back.
Essentially, the parents that can't control
their kids were buying them just so their
kids could be zoned in like zombies to
watching a movie in the back of the vehicle.
And that was all done because of DVDs.
A DVD player was easier to set up than a
VCR and TVs with LCD screens had gotten
skinnier.
But thin screens like that were just
starting to come out in the late 90s, just
(19:50):
like when people look at hybrid vehicles.
You know the Prius is from 1997?
Yeah, it's a 90s car.
But when we think back to it we only think
of the second generation Prius, we don't
think of the first generation.
The first generation was actually a sedan,
not a hatchback, but it didn't sell well
because at that point in time that
technology was not needed in the
environment around it.
(20:11):
As we've changed and gone with more
aerodynamic, added tons of more safety
features to vehicles, our designs have
slightly changed.
The Viper is no longer here due to new
safety standards.
Literally, safety killed that car.
It killed the second generation too.
But because we need to be safe in our
vehicle, these changes have to happen.
Technology is now taking over for designs
(20:32):
of vehicles and one thing I've noticed
through my ratings is vehicles are becoming
more of a standard C style design.
If you don't know what I'm talking about,
go back.
Go to the overlooksnet website and check
the ratings tab or rated tab and go back.
You can see stuff all the way back to 2009,
for when I started rating vehicles and see
(20:52):
how much the average has changed.
Vehicles from way back then were way all
over the place.
Hell, this past year, I had less than 10
vehicles on the top list, which means
designs aren't getting better, they're just
becoming more standard.
When I started this nearly 20 years ago,
designs were all over the place.
We were going through a phase where safety
didn't mean good design, quality didn't
(21:14):
mean good design, good design didn't mean
quality.
Today, we have everything together.
Now we're just trying to keep these things
evolving in the standard designs that they
have now.
When everybody says that there's a problem
with Chrysler Corporation and its products,
well, take a look at its products.
The Pacifica could have been sold 15 years
ago, no problem, hell.
Even the new Dodge Hornet could have been
(21:34):
sold 15 years ago.
There's nothing within its lineup that you
literally couldn't sell 15 to 20 years ago
and still be able to make money off of it,
because it's not that far ahead of where we
once were.
Today we're all about safety, mileage,
airflow and brand new features You're
looking at laser light, front hood spoilers,
rear split spoilers, cameras, autonomous
(21:56):
systems.
They're all the things that we're now
finding on our vehicles.
In the past two years, I've watched how our
shark tail fins for our antenna has
disappeared from most vehicles.
Now, with fully digital vehicles running
off of a Wi-Fi system, we don't have a need
for a radio system, so that shark tail is
disappearing, being replaced by autonomous
(22:16):
cameras.
But those autonomous cameras are both on
front and rear, on top and on bottom of
vehicles.
As we change our power sources and our
driving systems, that's the only thing
that's really starting to dictate how our
vehicles change 10 years from now.
Unless we make a major change in automotive
design, vehicles 10 years from now could be
sold today.
Vehicles from today could be sold 10 years
(22:38):
ago.
Back to the Future really showed us that a
30-year time gap all the way up until the
early 2000s was a possibility.
Every 20 to 30 years you could freak out
the previous generation with what exists in
your market today.
Nowadays, there's not much different.
The cell phone that sits next to me may
seem cool and may seem like it does more
(22:59):
than its predecessor over a decade ago, but
there's not a whole heck of a lot of
difference between them.
Having this phone in my hand, like even the
new iPhone today only has new features
compared to the original iPhone.
So, when you really think about it, have we
stopped inventing and moving ourselves
forward?
Are we literally stuck in a massive rut
(23:19):
where we need something to pull us out of
it?
Because, essentially, in the world of today,
we're just innovating.
You can tell me that artificial
intelligence is going to take us on a whole
new journey, but you have to remember
artificial intelligence has been around for
a long time.
It's just become more mainstay.
Think about the internet when it came out
in the 90s.
How, 30 years ago, having this handheld
(23:39):
cell phone being able to connect to the
internet and go to websites would have
freaked out more people than the car that I
drive to work.
The automobile industry really hasn't made
a major change in nearly 20 years.
Technology can only go so far, but design
language can set a generation above the
previous.
So in 30 years, where will we be 2055,?
(24:02):
What are automobiles going to look like If
we keep just innovating?
They're not going to be that much different
than what we have today, and we have to
start thinking about that.
30 years on, will we be much different
Unless we start getting our hover
conversions to add to vehicles?
We won't be.
We'll be stuck in the same rut we are in
today, with really only cameras to make
things start disappearing from our vehicles.
(24:23):
Grills are now disappearing, just like our
antennas, but there's a reason for that and
it doesn't really make us see anything
differently.
So, in all reality, if I hop in my DeLorean
and go back to 1995 right now, if I walk
out of the vehicle the way I am dressed
today, are people going to look at me
completely flabbergasted about what I'm
wearing, what's on my feet, what's on my
(24:44):
wrist?
No, the vehicle I'm driving won't even
scare them.
The only thing that will make them freak
out is when I pull out my cell phone to
make a phone call.
Literally, the handheld PDA device we all
carry is literally the only thing different
from today to 30 years ago.
Think about that when you're looking for
your next vehicle.
So what do you think about the 30-year
(25:04):
effect?
Do you really think the 30-year effect has
made such a major change?
Or do you really think that, literally,
we're stuck in a rut of innovation?
I'm tired of just seeing innovations and
innovations.
Come on, we landed on the moon in 1969.
Then we built a space shuttle in the 1970s
and by the 1980s we were taking off and
going to our own space stations, but we
still have not set foot on Mars.
(25:27):
We still can't get to Mars as quick as
possible.
The technology we have today isn't much
different than it was 30 years ago for
space exploration getting around in the
automobile.
So, in all reality, are we really evolving
or have we now got stuck in such a normal
rut that humans only exist for innovations?
You tell us, send us a comment, click the
(25:47):
like button and send this off to all your
friends, family, well-wishers, co-workers,
bosses, whoever you know.
Tell them about this, ask them their
specific questions about this, get an
answer from them.
Have we really evolved or are we just
innovating ourselves out into the future?
Ask them and then click the like button on
the bottom so you can hear more of the
podcast from the autoluxnet website and the
(26:09):
Autolux podcast, and after that, stop by
the website, read some of the reviews,
check out some of the ratings.
Go to the CorporateLux website page.
Big or small, we have them all Car
companies from around the globe, all
available on the Autoluxnet website.
So, in all reality, click the like button
and tell us what you think, and if you
really want to tell us?
Send us an email over at email at
Autoluxnet.
The Autolux Podcast is brought to you by
(26:30):
Ecom Entertainment Group and distributed by
Podbeamcom.
The host of the Autolux Podcast is none
other than Mr Everett Jay, the owner,
founder and operator of both the Autoluxnet
website, ecom Entertainment Group, and the
Autolux podcast.
Like we said, if you want to get in touch
with us, send an email over at email at
Autoluxnet.
So from myself, everett Jay, the Ecom
Entertainment Group, podbeamcom, strap
(26:51):
yourself in for this one fun, innovating
ride that the world of lack of proper
planning is going to take us on.
So it's the beginning of 2025, and I come
across this meme on Facebook that actually
makes me think.
It makes me look at things.
It said if Back to the Future happened
today, we'd be going back to 1995, because
that's 30 years ago.
But from the original movie it went from
1985 to 1955.
And I've been saying this about the
automotive industry for the past two
(00:21):
decades.
There's not a lot of changes in it.
And when you look at the changes between
1955 and 1985 in the Back to the Future
movie and then you take a look at vehicles
from 1995 to 2025 today, there's not a
whole heck of a lot of difference.
The DeLorean looked like a spaceship to
people in the 50s, but the DeLorean that's
coming out now, that Alpha 5, you could put
(00:42):
it in 1995 and it wouldn't blow that many
people away because there was concept cars
that looked very similar to what's coming
out now.
So today, autolux is going to take a look
at 30 years on how the automotive world has
changed across 30 year time gaps.
(01:05):
Welcome back to the Autolux Podcast.
I am your host, as always, the doctor to
the automotive industry, mr Everett Jay,
coming to you from our host website at
Autoluxnet.
If you haven't been there.
Stop by, check it out.
Read some of the reviews, check out some of
the ratings.
Go to the Corporate Links website page.
Big or small, we have them all Car
companies from around the globe, all
available on our Corporate Links website
page.
(01:30):
You can find most of them attached to
global or their main corporate pages, where
you can find even divisional pages that go
right to your home market.
Yes, all from the autoluxnet website.
The autolux podcast is brought to you by
ecom entertainment group and distributed by
podbeamcom.
If you'd like to get in touch with us, send
us an email over at email at autoluxnet.
So, like I said in the beginning, 30 years
on Now I'm only using the 30 year period
(01:51):
just because of well, back to the future,
because that one little meme made me think.
I remember when I was a kid growing up in
the 90s and I remember my parents' style
coming back into play in the 90s.
You know, style from the 1970s.
Funny thing is, today I'm looking at my
kids getting close to my age.
I was when I started wearing stuff that was
(02:13):
similar to my parents from only 20-some
years previous, even 30 years, 1965 to 1995.
There were big, big changes.
Hell, you want to see an advance in
technology.
Look at the difference between taking first
flight in the Kitty Hawk to landing on the
moon.
Gotta remember the Wright brothers made
their first flight in 1903, and yet we
(02:33):
landed on the moon in 1969.
We were in space by the end of the 50s, so
within 50 years we made such an
astronomical change.
Now, a lot of that new technology was in
place due to two world wars happening,
because a lot of technology increases at a
substantial rate when you're trying to stay
(02:53):
ahead of somebody else who's trying to take
you over.
What do you think?
The nuclear bomb if you go back and watch
the movie Oppenheimer, why it was pushed
through and finally made at the point that
they made it, because they literally took
the best minds that they had to build it.
But what has happened in the past 30 years?
Did we literally just become so complacent
(03:14):
in the world around us that we don't really
have that many more changes we can do to it?
We get it.
We see shows like Star Wars and Star Trek
and we're out in the vastness of space
cruising around discovering these new
worlds.
Is that the only thing we have to look
forward to in our future?
Seriously, we're talking about flying cars.
We've been talking about flying cars since
(03:34):
the 1950s.
Now we're just starting to get into using
drone technology to make new flying
vehicles, so it's a little bit different.
A flying vehicle today, if we go back 30
years, would really turn some heads, kind
of like the flying DeLorean from 2015.
When I went back to 1985, that was 10 years
ago, and I still don't have a hover
(03:56):
conversion on my car, and really I would
love to have a hover conversion because I
just hate driving on the road.
Trust me, if I could fly through the air,
it'd be so much better.
Why?
Because the infrastructure required to get
to my home city would probably be complete
a lot quicker and easier.
We didn't have to blast and cut trees down.
So what has happened and how did we change?
You have to remember the automobile
(04:17):
essentially dawned upon us in 1885.
Now, the original automobile or movable
machine dates all the way back to France in
the early 1700s.
It was actually a mobile unit that used
steam, essentially an old school tank.
But after that it got people thinking, and
that's when we started getting into trains.
(04:37):
And then we started getting into tractors,
and then people started saying, hey, we can
use these to clear fields and help us grow
food, and we could build these massive
units to carry tons of people across great
distances.
But what about personal mobility?
And in 1885, carl Benz decided to make it
happen, with his wife by his side, miss
(05:00):
Martha Benz, who actually drove the
original Maltzwagen from their home to the
patent office, where Carl was that morning,
to showcase that his invention actually
worked.
He was just there to patent it, but she
literally drove it to showcase that it
worked.
It was 1885, and it was essentially a
three-wheel buggy with a flywheel
(05:22):
combustion engine.
Now Heinrich Daimler essentially had his
piston drawn engine and when the two of
them got together we had the inevitable
internal combustion engine.
And within the first few years of the
automobile and people starting to learn how
to build their own and create their own,
many different people across the world
started building their own horseless
buggies.
(05:42):
Essentially, that's what they were in the
beginning.
They were the buggies that we pulled behind
horses to get us around, and they started
fixing these power units to them.
So there really wasn't a lot of change
because you can remember, the buggy hadn't
really changed that much in nearly a
hundred years hell, even longer.
And remember, we've been cruising around in
enclosed buggies for centuries before that.
(06:03):
So there really wasn't much of a difference.
But when we get in the automobile we
started realizing that this open air
environment is good, but now we can move
faster, which means we can cross greater
distances in a shorter amount of time.
So we started enclosing them.
Then we started enclosing the engine to
ensure that its viability, make sure it was
reliable, make sure it wouldn't get damaged
and make sure people wouldn't steal or
(06:23):
break it.
The automobile was becoming something
bigger for the population around us.
30 years after that, from 1885 to 1915, a
massive change.
I've gone back and read books and I
actually read one not too long ago.
It's talking about the automobile industry
during the 1930s and they're showing a used
car dealership in the 1930s.
Now you gotta think about it.
(06:43):
The 30s is when we started having enclosed
vehicles.
Well, the 20s is when, essentially, the
horseless buggy became more of an enclosed
automobile for us, because the Model T
which predated that was an open air
environment.
It had a roof, but it didn't have doors, it
didn't have side windows.
Now, all those great features that we
eventually got, we've started enclosing it,
(07:10):
making sure that we can get around in the
winter time, stay warm, stay secure and
stay dry, because that's what we really
wanted.
So these advancements, from going from a
buggy in 1885 to an open automobile with a
covered front and more amenities in it in
1915.
30 years from 1915 is 1945.
We take a look at vehicles across that
30-year time gap.
Our enclosed vehicles started to happen and
as we started enclosing our vehicles, we
started molding more and more pieces into
(07:32):
it.
So instead of having fender flares and
running boards that were completely just
added on after the fact, we could take them
off and repair them.
We had wood-spoke wheels.
We had kerosene lamps for our headlights.
We started getting electric.
We started integrating electric.
We started integrating everything into it.
Wheel wells became a main feature by the
1930s.
Throughout the 20s, the massive boom of the
automobile industry showed many changes.
(07:54):
The beginning of the 20s to the end of the
20s we went from a lot of people having
these horseless buggies with an open top
environment to having a fully enclosed
vehicle.
There was one solid unit by the end of the
decade and by the 30s, even though it was
getting close to wartime, we started
bringing those vehicles in and at a time in
history which had so much depression and so
(08:15):
many people out of work.
Our automobiles still changed and into the
30s our vehicles started to get more and
more enclosed and more refined.
Our windshields became integrated, our
windows had the ability to roll up and down.
Our vehicles were starting to become more
streamlined.
They were starting to look more like the
trains of that day, our Art Deco buildings
(08:37):
between the 20s and 30s.
And here we are, 1935.
That's quite a ways, 50 years since the
inception of the automobile.
So from a horseless buggy to a fully
enclosed automobile in 50 years.
But our changes in our designs were
starting to make a difference.
By the 1940s we started adding aerodynamics
(08:58):
to the vehicles and the rise of the war
gave us more inspiration for our designs.
At the end of the war and by the late 40s,
the earliest dawn of tail fins, massive
amount of chrome, big grills and a fully
integrated body started coming into play.
A vehicle from the 1955, going back 30
(09:19):
years to 1915, would blow people's minds.
A car from 1955 to 1915.
It's just crazy.
Hell.
From 1955 to 1925, people would still be
blown away.
Be like whoa.
That is amazing Because you can remember,
in the 20s we still had vehicles with wood
spoke wheels, thin wagon style wheels, and
(09:40):
in the 50s we were getting into radial
tires.
This started taking off by the mid 40s and
its inception came to us in the 1930s.
We got smaller wheels, which made a big
difference.
Now, from 1955 to 1985, we already know
where the automobile industry went.
The 30 years on and its inspiration changed
(10:00):
so much From the 50s, the beginning of
clean Art Deco, bubble-style vehicles to
big tail fins and a massive amount of
chrome.
By the end of the 50s Into the 60s, we
started getting more streamlined, cube
two-box designs.
We still got our grille, but we're starting
to get more simplistic designs.
By the end of the 60s and into the 70s,
(10:20):
power reigns king and making a vehicle as
big as possible and as powerful as possible
sets a new standard for design and
technology in vehicles.
From the 50s into the 60s, our windshield
went from two-piece to a singular piece.
From the 60s to the 70s, seatbelts started
coming into play.
If you go from 1970 all the way back to
(10:42):
1950, just 20 years take a 1975 Chevrolet,
corvette, stingray and go back to 1955 and
put the two of them next to each other
Completely different vehicles.
People in the 50s would look at that
vehicle that's only 20 years older than it
and be amazed Its design has changed so
much and it's only 20 years.
(11:03):
Taking a look at this, there are so many
different design changes, and that went
with the environment around us.
The 50s were about moving to the suburbs
and this amazing curved chrome appeal.
If you look at appliances, houses,
furniture, they all went together.
The 60s had stale colors and more
(11:23):
simplistic designs.
We were starting to look at vehicles as
getting bigger and maximizing the space, we
started adding new features.
Well hell, automatic started becoming a
mainstay and even front wheel drive was
changing the layout of our vehicles.
We were able to get even smaller than we
were before.
So technology was changing.
(11:44):
Our designs were changing.
Our vehicles were changing.
Every decade had its own design culture.
Remember, we went from wagons in the 1880s
and 1890s to covered automobile style
vehicles in the early 1900s to the teen
years.
By the 20s those vehicles got enclosed and
more streamlined.
By the 30s we completely enclosed the
(12:06):
bodies of our vehicles.
By the 40s we cleaned up the designs and
made it match the world around us.
By the 50s the classic cruiser and chrome
inspiration hit us.
By the 60s we get more simplistic.
By the 70s we get more simplistic.
By the 70s we get power by the 80s we start
getting into more two-box designs and
plastic cladding.
In the 90s we get teardrops and by the
(12:27):
2000s the teardrop turns into just a
standard bubble Cab-forward designs for the
front-wheel drive craze from the 1980s and
into the 90s is now gone.
Railroad drive is starting to come back.
See layouts change.
We go from rear wheel drive all the way up
until the 70s.
Same with body on frame vehicles.
Unibody only starts making an entry into
the 1950s and in North America we really
(12:49):
don't start seeing it until the end of the
60s and beginning of the 70s.
Full unibody construction of most
standardized vehicles doesn't come into
major play until the 1980s when we start
decreasing the cost of our vehicle because
of the massive amount of competition
everywhere.
We open up the floodgates to a global world
as opposed to just being within the
(13:09):
confines of our own country or 30 years
open up.
Another thing from back to the future that
you never notice is when doc is fixing the
car in the third movie he states the fact
that no wonder this capacitor failed.
It says made in Japan.
Well, in the 1950s Japan was rebuilding
itself after the devastation of World War
II.
Their economy had to be built up, and
(13:30):
because there wasn't enough men, they
started to get into more robotic and
automation.
Well, because of that they were able to
build things quicker and faster and to get
money to build their economy up.
They built the cheapest, easiest things for
all the other markets around the world.
From that they reinvested the money back
into research and development to help build
better vehicles, better products.
They were innovators.
(13:51):
The Japanese marketplace was more about
innovation than invention.
They took what was out there and made it
the best.
So by the 1980s, japan was a leader in
technology and products around the world.
Sound familiar.
30 years ago, anything that said made in
China was garbage.
Yeah, 1995, made in China was usually the
junky things that you just got.
(14:12):
You know those gift bags you get at
birthdays.
It's, you know the stuff out of little
gumball machines, throwaways of parties,
giveaways and auto shows.
It was all the made-in-China junk.
Today, china surpasses every other nation
for electric mobility units.
Their technology is surpassing even the
Japanese.
So 30 years on, there is a change.
(14:34):
If I showed up 30 years ago in a Chinese
vehicle in North America, that would change
people's mind.
Take a Xiaomi right now and go back to 1995.
Its design won't throw people off.
People will look at it and go be like, oh,
is that like the new Dodge Intrepid, is
that the new Impala?
Who's it from?
They wouldn't be like flabbergasted to look
(14:56):
at it and go, whoa, what the hell is that?
This is like a futuristic space machine.
No, some technology within the vehicles
would freak out people the second the door
opens and they see that fully digital
screen that could play tv right on it.
That will amaze somebody.
In 1995, held in 2015, when we started
getting gps systems fully integrated into
(15:17):
our automobiles and the ability to call
each other and everybody having the ability
to call each other.
Going back to 1985, from 2015,.
That technology would throw people off.
But the Tacoma if you go back into actual
2015, there's a back to the future edition
of the Toyota Tacoma.
It's a club cab, black roll bar and lifted.
(15:37):
It's got all the makings of marty mcfly's
tacoma, the one I'm staring at.
That's a playmobil toy right above my head.
But the technology in those tacomas is the
only thing that throws people off.
Driving that thing back, even it's a 1985,
would throw some people out, but you have
to remember 1985.
We're starting to look at vehicles like the
coontash is still around.
(15:58):
The testarossa is coming out, the Corvette
is getting cleaner.
Sure, our standard automobiles are just a
bland, boring two-box design like the
Plymouth Reliant and Dodge K car.
They're boring, they're bland and a lot of
them still come with the standard square
lights because we haven't moved into the
bubble light era of the 90s.
(16:21):
See, taking a car from 1995 and going back
to 1985, you could freak out people.
That's only 10 years.
But when the last Dodge Caravan came out I
looked at its design and the first thing I
said take that and plop it in 1989.
Change out the headlights with square ones
and literally it just looks like a cleaner
variation of an 80s caravan.
This is a vehicle that's nearly 30 years
(16:41):
into its production and yet it doesn't look
much different or out of place than its
original counterpart.
You see, today vehicles are not about
changing the design aspects of the world.
We've constantly changed technology in our
vehicles.
Hell, the DeLorean was more of a digital
setup than the vehicles in the 1950s.
They were all just standard gauge clusters.
(17:02):
Hell, one of the first GPS systems dates
back to the 1970s.
Hell, general Motors had one of the most
technically advanced vehicles in the 1980s
with a full onboard computer system.
Tons of people had car phones from the 80s
into the 90s.
It was cool If you seen somebody with a car
phone.
Oh my God, my best friend growing up.
His dad was a salesman and he got the first
(17:23):
generation Dodge Intrepid just when it came
out and he had to get a car phone installed
in it.
This is the early 90s, 30 years after that.
Take something like the brand new Charger.
It'll look a little bit out of place in the
early 90s and the technology will throw
people way off because they just push a
button on their steering wheel and they can
call somebody.
(17:43):
They have to touch a screen to change a
song.
It is what has changed.
We just look at automotive design to play a
key role in the environment around us.
30 years on, and automobiles haven't
changed that much.
A vehicle from today, placed 30 years ago,
isn't much different.
Hell, a vehicle today, going back 10 years,
is much different.
(18:03):
Just take a look at the Tesla Model S.
Its design has barely changed since it came
out and it's been around since the late
2000s and it's still riding off its
original design formula.
Hell, the Model Y now has the new clean
style laser lights on it Besides band
lighting.
What major difference do we have now that
(18:24):
we didn't have 10 years ago?
Full digital dashes weren't fully
integrated 10 years ago.
But you have to remember the Model S
existed 10 years ago and that massive
21-inch center screen was there.
So screens were there 10 years ago.
20 years ago it'd be almost like hooking
your laptop up.
But then take a look at the Fast and the
(18:45):
Furious.
They had digital DVD players and screens
pop out of the dash.
The aftermarket and tuner industry had
technology like that.
Standard automobiles didn't, but we did see
them.
So seeing a TV in a car 20 years ago wasn't
all that off.
25 years ago still wasn't that far off.
1995, going back 30 years, maybe a little
(19:06):
different, because in 1995, we're the
generation that would have been playing
with Game Gears and Game Boys in the car.
Having a digital screen inside automobiles
wasn't a big thing until the mid-2000s.
That's when onboard DVD players became big.
The DVD essentially revolutionized digital
play in automobiles because people were
buying them to entertain their children in
(19:27):
the back.
Essentially, the parents that can't control
their kids were buying them just so their
kids could be zoned in like zombies to
watching a movie in the back of the vehicle.
And that was all done because of DVDs.
A DVD player was easier to set up than a
VCR and TVs with LCD screens had gotten
skinnier.
But thin screens like that were just
starting to come out in the late 90s, just
(19:50):
like when people look at hybrid vehicles.
You know the Prius is from 1997?
Yeah, it's a 90s car.
But when we think back to it we only think
of the second generation Prius, we don't
think of the first generation.
The first generation was actually a sedan,
not a hatchback, but it didn't sell well
because at that point in time that
technology was not needed in the
environment around it.
(20:11):
As we've changed and gone with more
aerodynamic, added tons of more safety
features to vehicles, our designs have
slightly changed.
The Viper is no longer here due to new
safety standards.
Literally, safety killed that car.
It killed the second generation too.
But because we need to be safe in our
vehicle, these changes have to happen.
Technology is now taking over for designs
(20:32):
of vehicles and one thing I've noticed
through my ratings is vehicles are becoming
more of a standard C style design.
If you don't know what I'm talking about,
go back.
Go to the overlooksnet website and check
the ratings tab or rated tab and go back.
You can see stuff all the way back to 2009,
for when I started rating vehicles and see
(20:52):
how much the average has changed.
Vehicles from way back then were way all
over the place.
Hell, this past year, I had less than 10
vehicles on the top list, which means
designs aren't getting better, they're just
becoming more standard.
When I started this nearly 20 years ago,
designs were all over the place.
We were going through a phase where safety
didn't mean good design, quality didn't
(21:14):
mean good design, good design didn't mean
quality.
Today, we have everything together.
Now we're just trying to keep these things
evolving in the standard designs that they
have now.
When everybody says that there's a problem
with Chrysler Corporation and its products,
well, take a look at its products.
The Pacifica could have been sold 15 years
ago, no problem, hell.
Even the new Dodge Hornet could have been
(21:34):
sold 15 years ago.
There's nothing within its lineup that you
literally couldn't sell 15 to 20 years ago
and still be able to make money off of it,
because it's not that far ahead of where we
once were.
Today we're all about safety, mileage,
airflow and brand new features You're
looking at laser light, front hood spoilers,
rear split spoilers, cameras, autonomous
(21:56):
systems.
They're all the things that we're now
finding on our vehicles.
In the past two years, I've watched how our
shark tail fins for our antenna has
disappeared from most vehicles.
Now, with fully digital vehicles running
off of a Wi-Fi system, we don't have a need
for a radio system, so that shark tail is
disappearing, being replaced by autonomous
(22:16):
cameras.
But those autonomous cameras are both on
front and rear, on top and on bottom of
vehicles.
As we change our power sources and our
driving systems, that's the only thing
that's really starting to dictate how our
vehicles change 10 years from now.
Unless we make a major change in automotive
design, vehicles 10 years from now could be
sold today.
Vehicles from today could be sold 10 years
(22:38):
ago.
Back to the Future really showed us that a
30-year time gap all the way up until the
early 2000s was a possibility.
Every 20 to 30 years you could freak out
the previous generation with what exists in
your market today.
Nowadays, there's not much different.
The cell phone that sits next to me may
seem cool and may seem like it does more
(22:59):
than its predecessor over a decade ago, but
there's not a whole heck of a lot of
difference between them.
Having this phone in my hand, like even the
new iPhone today only has new features
compared to the original iPhone.
So, when you really think about it, have we
stopped inventing and moving ourselves
forward?
Are we literally stuck in a massive rut
(23:19):
where we need something to pull us out of
it?
Because, essentially, in the world of today,
we're just innovating.
You can tell me that artificial
intelligence is going to take us on a whole
new journey, but you have to remember
artificial intelligence has been around for
a long time.
It's just become more mainstay.
Think about the internet when it came out
in the 90s.
How, 30 years ago, having this handheld
(23:39):
cell phone being able to connect to the
internet and go to websites would have
freaked out more people than the car that I
drive to work.
The automobile industry really hasn't made
a major change in nearly 20 years.
Technology can only go so far, but design
language can set a generation above the
previous.
So in 30 years, where will we be 2055,?
(24:02):
What are automobiles going to look like If
we keep just innovating?
They're not going to be that much different
than what we have today, and we have to
start thinking about that.
30 years on, will we be much different
Unless we start getting our hover
conversions to add to vehicles?
We won't be.
We'll be stuck in the same rut we are in
today, with really only cameras to make
things start disappearing from our vehicles.
(24:23):
Grills are now disappearing, just like our
antennas, but there's a reason for that and
it doesn't really make us see anything
differently.
So, in all reality, if I hop in my DeLorean
and go back to 1995 right now, if I walk
out of the vehicle the way I am dressed
today, are people going to look at me
completely flabbergasted about what I'm
wearing, what's on my feet, what's on my
(24:44):
wrist?
No, the vehicle I'm driving won't even
scare them.
The only thing that will make them freak
out is when I pull out my cell phone to
make a phone call.
Literally, the handheld PDA device we all
carry is literally the only thing different
from today to 30 years ago.
Think about that when you're looking for
your next vehicle.
So what do you think about the 30-year
(25:04):
effect?
Do you really think the 30-year effect has
made such a major change?
Or do you really think that, literally,
we're stuck in a rut of innovation?
I'm tired of just seeing innovations and
innovations.
Come on, we landed on the moon in 1969.
Then we built a space shuttle in the 1970s
and by the 1980s we were taking off and
going to our own space stations, but we
still have not set foot on Mars.
(25:27):
We still can't get to Mars as quick as
possible.
The technology we have today isn't much
different than it was 30 years ago for
space exploration getting around in the
automobile.
So, in all reality, are we really evolving
or have we now got stuck in such a normal
rut that humans only exist for innovations?
You tell us, send us a comment, click the
(25:47):
like button and send this off to all your
friends, family, well-wishers, co-workers,
bosses, whoever you know.
Tell them about this, ask them their
specific questions about this, get an
answer from them.
Have we really evolved or are we just
innovating ourselves out into the future?
Ask them and then click the like button on
the bottom so you can hear more of the
podcast from the autoluxnet website and the
(26:09):
Autolux podcast, and after that, stop by
the website, read some of the reviews,
check out some of the ratings.
Go to the CorporateLux website page.
Big or small, we have them all Car
companies from around the globe, all
available on the Autoluxnet website.
So, in all reality, click the like button
and tell us what you think, and if you
really want to tell us?
Send us an email over at email at
Autoluxnet.
The Autolux Podcast is brought to you by
(26:30):
Ecom Entertainment Group and distributed by
Podbeamcom.
The host of the Autolux Podcast is none
other than Mr Everett Jay, the owner,
founder and operator of both the Autoluxnet
website, ecom Entertainment Group, and the
Autolux podcast.
Like we said, if you want to get in touch
with us, send an email over at email at
Autoluxnet.
So from myself, everett Jay, the Ecom
Entertainment Group, podbeamcom, strap
(26:51):
yourself in for this one fun, innovating
ride that the world of lack of proper
planning is going to take us on.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!