The distant future of hot rods?

[Tommy]

Several tech advances and news stories have been swirling in my head, making me wonder what the world of hot rods (including Cobra replicas) will be like in 30 years. I don't expect to be here to see for myself, so I thought some of us might speculate on how things will be. Here are the stories that got me thinking.

• Lookheed expects to market 100 MW fusion reactors, small enough to fit in the back of a truck in about ten years.
• The USA is expected to be the world leader in the production of both oil and natural gas by 2015. Saudis worried about dramatic falls in oil prices.
• Automakers are steadily making cars more responsible for driving actions. Self driving cars that communicate with similarly equipped cars are expected to be the norm in about 20 years.

Falling oil and energy prices are plainly good news for hot rodders. Cleaner energy production is also good news for hot rodders who are currently more a part of the problem than of the solution. All this bodes well unless it accelerates the transition to electric cars to the point that gas stations become as rare in the future as electric recharging stations are now.

Can you imagine a time when hot rodders with powerful electric motors are as enthralled by the silence of their rides as we are of the rumbles and roars of our cars? Will it get to the point where the cars with the most powerful motors are so quiet that their drivers will look down on the pitiful guys still driving gasoline engine cars? Will there ever be a Cobra replica with a Mr. Fusion reactor in the back (ala Back to the Future)?

One of the anticipated benefits of computer guided and networked self driving cars is the ability to move more cars down the road in less time. For example, if there are 250 such cars moving down the freeway and a patch of open highway appears ahead of them, all 250 can accelerate simultaneously to the same higher speed without generating the accordion motion common in manually driven cars. They can also shuffle the cars that need to take the next three exits to the right places to do that without impacting the rest of the pack. But it only works if all the cars are networked AND self driving. So where will hot rodders fit into this world? Will the times and places that hot rods can be driven start to narrow? Will hot rods find themselves in the same category with golf carts? Will you have to trailer your hot rod to the next event behind your self driving truck? Will hot rods be as welcome and as rare on future highways are horses are on current roads?

So what do you think the future holds? Feel free to expand on the list of technologies you think may change the hobby.