auto » The New 2017 Audi A4 2.0T Quattro Premium $ 399 mo* 36 mo. lease $4,693 due at signing Harry Kirsbaum poses with his Mini Cooper from his first JN car column in August 2004. Magna Society Audi Sylvania 5570 Monroe St. | Sylvania, OH www.sylvaniaaudi.com *$4,693 due at signing, plus taxes, title, options & dealer charges. $0 security deposit. For qualified customers who lease through AFS. Lessee responsible for 25¢/mi. over 30,000 miles. Subject to credit approval. See Audi Sylvania for complete details. Offer expires 5/31/16. 2018520 Rated #1 In Best Purchase Experience in the Midwest 2013 and 2014 Harry Kirsbaum | Contributing Writer Jeff Stewart Assistant New Car Sales Manager Serving the Community Since 1969 248-636-2736 CONGRATULATIONS GLASSMAN SUBARU A division of Glassman Automotive Group Serving Our Community For Over 45 Years! 5FMFHSBQI3Et4PVUIýFMEt t 2036260 “…one of America’s finest carryout-only delicatessens! 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DELIVERY AVAILABLE 2062500 JlYjZi`Y\kf[Xp )+/%*,(%,(.+ 24 May 12 • 2016 The Future Of Driving I f you are reading this, I am making several assumptions: • You are a car person, otherwise you’d skip over this section and go straight to the obits. • You live, or have lived, or are think- ing of living in the Detroit area. • You are not going to like the future of driving, according to Esquire. According to an April 16 Esquire story, the future of driving is very un- driving like. Of the “five imminent things chang- ing the future of driving,” four have nothing to do with the act of driving. “Several companies are developing fully autonomous vehicles, and then there is the increasing impact of the sharing economy,” the story stated. “With cars being so expensive to own, more and more people are turn- ing to car-sharing services like Lyft. Put all of those factors together, sync them with the phones in our pockets, and it’s not impossible to imagine a world where fully automated, fully personal- ized electric cars arrive when we need them, take us where we need to go and then drive off when we’re done.” Yes, electric cars are making a pres- ence, but these other things have noth- ing to do with the act of “driving.” Ask any Detroiter who’s lived here more than 20 minutes. We’ve been car-centric since Day One of the automobile, and it’s easy to see the results. Detroit is only now constructing a light-rail system that will eventually extend from West Grand Boulevard to the start of the Woodward Dream Cruise. The start of the baseball season coincides with the start of the pre- Dream Cruise, where parking lots on Woodward fill up with old guys show- ing off their classic cars. And classic cars are defined as those automobiles manufactured before cup holders were invented. When ashtrays and cigarette lighters weren’t an option. Unless stuck in rush-hour traffic on the Lodge, the act of driving to a car enthusiast is joyful. Cruising down an open road in a muscle car, windows down, nothing but the throaty sound of a powerful engine filling your ears, and the thrill of shift- ing gears, becoming one with the car, what else do you need? A car that isn’t connected to you, but your smart phone? A car that drives you to your destination by itself? Is that driving, or just giving up? I come from a family of drivers; my dad loved it, my brother loves it and so do I. My dad’s pride and joy was a 1968 Buick Riviera with the largest engine Buick ever made and air conditioning. My brother owned a muscle car in high school, a 1965 Chevelle Super Sport con- vertible. Olive green, four on the floor, and he removed the hub caps, painted the wheels black, installed chrome lug nuts and called them mag wheels. I wasn’t allowed within 20 feet of the car when he wasn’t around, and he never let me sit in the front seat. My first “real” new car was a five- speed Mini Cooper that I drove hard until it died. I couldn’t help it. If your car could take a corner at 25 miles an hour, wouldn’t you do it all the time? I didn’t care about its bells and whistles. The performance captured my heart. Unlike my dad and brother, I’m not the most gifted driver when it comes to directions. I consider getting lost as part of the adventure. Now that my smart- phone can give me directions, I can be just like everyone else. It’s technology in the driver’s seat. “It’s not impossible to imagine a world where fully automated, fully per- sonalized electric cars arrive when we need them, take us where we need to go and then drive off when we’re done,” the Esquire story said. And, in 2116, Detroiters will sit on folding beach chairs watching a 2042 Chevy Volt drive itself in the Woodward Dream Cruise. What fun. *