ANOTHER REASON TO LIKE THE IDEA OF SELF-DRIVING CARS

At the CES 2015 consumer electronics show, Mercedes is displaying a concept car, dubbed “Luxury in Motion,” that is less of a car and more of a mobile transportation pod.  By that I mean that the interior is designed with more focus on the comfort of the occupants, like a room on wheels, rather than being designed around the function of driving the car.  Check it out in this article from the L.A. Times.  

A Mercedes executive is quoted in the article as saying: “The car is growing beyond its role as a mere means of transport, and will ultimately become a mobile living space.”  That’s a reason to like the idea of self-driving cars, if you ask me.

I have to point out, however, that at least two things about this concept car just prove that everything old is new again.  One of the features of the car is that the seats pivot toward the doors when the doors are opened.  That feature, which I have always thought was a great idea, was pioneered (as far as I know, anyway) by Chrysler in the 1960 Chrysler 300F.  I have never understood why that idea didn’t catch on.  

The other old/new feature on the Luxury in Motion is that it has suicide doors, like another great ‘60s luxury car, the ‘fourth generation” Lincoln Continental.  I think the one my grandparents had was a ’66.