futurist vehicles

Robert has always had a bit of a mania for vehicles. When he was a boy back in the space age, Popular Science and Popular Mechanics magazines were among his favorite reading matter. They promised that, by the year 2000, the family sedan would be a hovercraft, men would commute to work via jet pack, and weekend recreation would include taking the submarine for a cruise. Summer vacations would surely include rocket trips to the moon, with stop-overs on one of the immense space stations in Earth orbit.

What happened? Who was to blame for the failure of the future? Well, between Richard Nixon's hubris, Gerald Ford's ineptitude, Jimmy Carter's focus on domestic programs and Ronald Reagan's paranoid delusions, the West lost its drive to create the future that should've been.

Still, there were some people (and a very few companies) who did indeed create amazing, futuristic vehicles. Here we have showcased a few of their works. We hope that the spirit of adventurous engineering returns to the world currently obsessed with SUVs and retro-styled Harley-Davidsons, and we may once again move forward into the future.

in and under the seas

on the land

in the air

up into space