Driving Forces: Driving Through the Looking Glass

But cars and technology have a tortured history at the Detroit show. When Mac was making its comeback a few years ago, Ford chief designer J Mays crafted translucent concept cars known as 24/7 that were meant to be his vision of a computer on wheels. They were widely mocked and never produced. “I’d rather forget those,” Mays now admits. “The problem with 24/7 is that it was soulless. It was all about technology and it came off as cold and faceless. That car still keeps me up at night.”

At this year’s show, the technology vehicles actually have a sense of style, while still telegraphing their high-tech innards. The Volt, for example, has LED taillights that seem to float in clear plastic, but it still has a wide, aggressive sports-car stance that looks ready to pounce. “Early on in its development,” explains GM chief designer , “I said this doesn’t have to look like a science project.” The Ford Airstream has a whimsical look inspired by Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” It’s outfitted with big, asymmetrical windows and retro orange seats surrounding a 360-degree video tube that can project a lava lamp or a virtual fireplace in the round. “The Airstream celebrates the American journey,” says Mays. “And that’s a far more engaging, warm story than something that’s all about cold technology.”

Of course, the American journey lately has been pretty rocky for Detroit’s hometown automakers. After this show closes in a couple of weeks, it will be back to the reality of GM and Ford cutting 72,000 jobs to try to staunch losses. Oh, and Chrysler, after losing $1.5 billion in the third quarter, will soon be doing its own layoffs and factory closings. “Our restructuring is going to have to be quite widespread,” Chrysler CEO Tom LaSorda told NEWSWEEK. “We’re going to be looking at the full spectrum of the business.” And we all know what drove Detroit into the ditch: its dependence on those guzzling SUVs and pickups. “The change in fuel prices,” sighs LaSorda, “was huge.”

So this show is Detroit’s attempt to demonstrate that it finally gets it on gas prices. And it’s Toyota’s attempt to show that it finally can field a competitive pickup truck after several failed efforts. As each side drives into the other’s turf, success is anything but certain. In fact, the only thing that seems certain is that everything is about to change in the car business. And any car exec who expects next year’s Detroit Auto Show to look like this one is as mad as a hatter.

© 2007