The end is near

…You’ll read the particulars of the show–the Lexus LFA, the Toyota FT-86, the Daihatsu DecaDeca–here and in AutoWeek magazine. I am not here to rehash all of that. I am here to tell you what it all means.

It means the end of the world.

I know, that comes as a shock. You were hoping the end of the world could hold off at least until the end of the 17th season of So You Think You Can Waltz With the Weasels and America’s Next Top Self-Absorbed Anorexic.

Well, tough. It’ll be over soon. At least the car-lovers part of that world.

“But Vaughn,” you bleat, “on what do you base this hyperbole? Remember, you’ve been wrong before. When you were starting your own religion, I donated that $500 to the Church of the Everlasting Vaughn and not only did it not go anywhere, but it wasn’t even tax-deductible. By the way, am I ever going to see any of that again?”

Nevermind that.

I’m talking about the end of individually piloted means of transport. Cars. I have been all over Japan for the last week and I haven’t driven anything. Yet I managed to get from Tokyo to Mt. Fuji and back; down to Suzuki’s new plant in Hamamatsu, where I saw more robotic spot welders than I had imagined; out to Makaharu Messe and to and from the Narita airport, which ain’t exactly walking distance. I rode the rails or took the bus.

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