Photo credit: IvyMike
Cars evolve over time, don’t they? This usually happens so slowly that we barely even notice it.
Until I recently bought my own retro vehicle it had been years since I had used a wind down window, seen an old style in car radio or struggled with other blasts from the past like these.
However, generally speaking we upgrade our cars to more modern models and leave the cute old stuff for our memories. So what will be the next thing we lose from our cars? My initial thought was that the mirrors might be replaced by an interactive display or the steering wheel by a PlayStation type controller. As usual I was wrong.
The smart money is on the good, old fashioned spare wheel disappearing from our lives before too long. This seems like a rather drastic move but UK motorists are already discovering that some of the latest car models don’t give you anywhere to put our round friend anyway.
Can’t Use It Anyway
The tyre company Continental has done some research on the subject it appears, as well they should. They say that around 70% of us couldn’t use the spare wheel anyway. There are a variety of reasons for this, ranging from the spare being in a poor condition to the driver not having the skills or the strength to do the job.
So what will replace the spare wheel? I am in favour of a small robot that repairs your damaged tyre enough for you to limp home while he wheels along in front of you waving a white flag. Sadly I am likely to be wrong again.
A narrow wheel which can be used on a temporary basis is one possible solution. More exciting but just as silly looking is the compressor. This lets you inflate a temporary wheel or make repairs to your existing one. It has supposedly got an 80% success rate. If they gave you a robot to work it I reckon that rate would go up to at least 90%.