An interesting thing is happening in the vehicle world. The philosophical meaning of a vehicle has definitely changed in the last ten years. At Lansdale Automotive we have been in business for more years than we would like to count, but if you’re counting, it’s has been 26. The length of time we have been in the business reflects who we have become today, the most trusted auto repair facility in Georgetown. We have seen everything from the standardization of airbags to the rise of the hybrid car. It has been a long road to where we are today and we are glad to have our customers along for the ride.
Changing Times
The automotive industry is going through a renaissance of sorts these days and it is bringing the everyday driver, further away from our mechanical past. It used to be that driving a car was almost a skill in the early part of the 20th century, starting and driving a Model A was a major chore. You had a hand throttle, you have a gas valve, a spark control and you had a choke. All of those components (and more) are required just to make the engine start. When was the last time you utilized anything like a spark control? Probably never. The point is, our experience with automobiles is has drastically been reduced in the last one hundred years. The hands off approach that automakers have engineered into newer vehicles is one hundred percent on purpose. As a society we can look back through history and determine that we have become increasingly disconnected with our environment and our technology. It used to be that you almost had to be an amature mechanic to even drive a car, now we are at the dawn of self driving cars.
It is said that the children being born today will be the last to actually drive a car. The organ donor program is concerned because the main source of usable organs are available due to traffic fatalities. Self driving cars are going to change life for all of us. The roads are expected to be safer and traveling by road should be much more comfortable. That is all well and good but, forever gone are the days when the sensory satisfaction of driving a vehicle was something of pure joy. The new generation will not even miss driving, just like our generation did not even miss using the spark control to start a vehicle.
So is this a bad thing? Not necessarily, car culture will survive because people love their cars. Some individuals will hold onto their cars with almost vicious passion and that is ok, the cars of the past need to be preserved for future generations. What do we think about self driving cars? Self driving cars are not immune to breakdowns and if it has tires and an engine, Lansdale Automotive will be there to repair it. The days of driving may be over but we are just getting started.
