The Official 356Talk Forum

Hi all,
Having lived in the San Francisco Bay area almost 26 years I have seen and heard all the tech trends and a big one now is autonomous cars. Us gasoline and diesel people are an endangered species. The Silicon Valley etc. is Tech/geek/tweaker central and I see it in my face every day and frankly I'm sick of it.
I think it's just a matter of time this roll out will continue to grow and mature and I fear our hobby and way of life will change weather were ready and willing or not.
Also I'm wondering how the collector car market will be affected and if our beloved 356's will be impacted in perhaps a negative way.
Any thoughts?
KTF,
Steve
#84832
'58 Speedster
From decent show car, to Outlaw coming back to decent show car again.

To every innovation there is always a reaction. Some people still refuse to give up their LPs. What you have to worry about are the corporate lobbyists who will push for legislation to ban self driven cars as a safety measure.

In some European countries, classics are only allowed limited use, specifically for testing etc and then for official, certified events.

I'm hoping the UK classic car business is big enough for the government to be frightened of hobbling it as is the case with our awful state broadcasters.

Anybody remember this? The predict about electronic cars being slow like milk floats was a little off the mark.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Chase

I doubt we will have anything to worry about for a long time. The push will continue to be focused on mainstream transportation; whether electric, autonomous or both. The collector car (and motorcycle) market really is a drop in the bucket.

Although I would not be surprised to see a tax based on weight or displacement in places that do not have it already, and perhaps an increase in fuel tax.

Long term I'm more worried that people will not be interested in our cars because they won't know how to drive manual transmissions. That and a lack of qualified mechanics. As for

M Penta wrote: Although I would not be surprised to see a tax based on weight or displacement in places that do not have it already, and perhaps an increase in fuel tax.

it's already happened here in CA--we are about to get socked with a major motor fuel tax increase.

Having lived in the San Francisco Bay area for 55 years, I can tell you that for sure the collectors market is going to crash very soon and you should sell your car immediately - to me!

No, seriously, Goldman Sachs types are buying, among other things, the 356A and pre-A. Follow the money.

John Lindstrom wrote:Having lived in the San Francisco Bay area for 55 years, I can tell you that for sure the collectors market is going to crash very soon and you should sell your car immediately - to me!

No, seriously, Goldman Sachs types are buying, among other things, the 356A and pre-A. Follow the money.

Working in that kind of a place I can assure you most know nothing about the car market and where value is.

Interesting article by Jamie Kitman in the latest issue of Automobile magazine about the 718 Boxster, crossovers and self driving cars. I think he correctly assesses the reality that those new creations by the silicone valley nerds probably won't be "drivers" cars.
Of course even today we're offered the option of not driving, they're called taxis, busses and mass transit. I can't predict the future but the way things are going "taint gonna be fun!

Ray

How many cars and trucks are on the roads in the US? About 250 million. Roughly 249.99 million of them currently need a driver. Driverless cars may be a trend, but it will take decades to play out.

It's not that they're Nerds. It's that they print money electronically nowadays, and there's nobody looking over their shoulder. I see them driving every kind of expensive car. Even old Porsches.

John
You're right those "nerds" are buying some very expensive cars and undoubtedly have pushed the 356 prices up as well. I'm not sure they're buying them because they are fond of driving though. My son happens to be one of those guys, started a .com company that sold for $360M and has more money than I would ever see in 10 lifetimes. His cars of choice; Toyota Prius and Tesla. His knowledge about cars is just where to put gas or the charging plug!
There was a report on one of the "news" shows about self driving cars not being ready for the challenges of operating in NYC. The Audi engineer basically said it would be many years before a self driving car could safely maneuver the challenges and nuances of traffic in that city. I drove a rental car there once and have never been honked at as much since )

Ray

Anyone have a crystal ball or care to venture a guess regarding how the values of our 356's will be affected in say 5,10,15+ years as fossil fueled cars will fade out because of hybrid and electric replacements?
Steve

I think the biggest challenge for autonomous cars is all the sensors which currently need to be cleaned several times a day during testing in places like Az. Not sure how those sensors will work in Michigan winter- or -40F degrees in N.D.

I don’t want all you 356 owners to panic, but you should probably sell your car immediately, just in case. In fact, message me ASAP, I have plenty of cash and would love to haul that old piece of junk off your place right away. (Adam I’ll distract them with the Benjamin’s while you back up the trailer!)