Future car

I refer to your automotive feature Mercedes-Benz introduces future car, (The Jakarta Post, Oct. 27, 1996). I remember back in 1972, Mercedes -- and practically every other carmaker -- was introducing its "future car". I can't recall the model name, but its concept cars were "safety vehicles." Mercedes' was a three- ton mammoth. The newspapers featured a picture showing a crane lowering a two-ton steel block on top of the Mercedes vehicle, a modified 450 SLC. The suspension collapsed, but the passenger compartment held the block and remained intact.

The future is not what it used to be. A year later came the first oil crisis. The Japanese had the "car of the future". Small, light and easy on gas. The automakers shelved their future safety car concept designs and tried to catch up. The sequel to the oil crisis appeared in 1979, and I never heard about the safety car again. Today's concept cars may look great at car shows, but don't expect to be driving something like these concept cars 20 years from now.

OSVALDO COELHO

Bandung, West Java