VW Futura

For the 1989 IAA in Frankfurt Volkswagen gave their IRVW 4 its debut, the concept car was more commonly known to the press and public as the Futura. Designed to show what motoring in the year 2000 would be like it was received with usual mixture of hype, excitement and cynicism.
Now that we're well and truly into the 21st century it's worth looking back to see how good Volkswagen's crystal ball really was.....
A car goes nowhere without an engine and the Futura had the earliest incarnation of a VW direct injection petrol engine, the1700cc engine wouldn't be out of place in any car today - although the meagre 82PS shows how much development has been undertaken in the passing 23 years.
Electronic brake distribution and electronic power steering were also key features of the Futura; once again these are common place in the 2013 motoring world. So far the crystal ball seems to be on top form!
In 1989 a magical Park Assist system set the tongues of the motoring world wagging, after all who would want such a system and it would never work in the real world would it? Most drivers might not need the system (some certainly do!) but it's available on a selection of models and - as yet - no stories of cars running amok have surfaced. The Park Assist system also provided the Futura the benefit of parking sensors too, a feature seen on virtually every model from every manufacturer these days. Yet more successful gazing into the future by the Futura designers...
Colour digital information displays are old hat in 2013 but they were considered items of wonder in 1989, easy to understand when you think Volkswagen's Golf was still only in its mark 2 form... With an integrated Sat Nav and mobile phone system the Futura would certainly not look out of place in a dealership or on the road in 2013.
Not everything on the Futura has made it into production, gull wing doors are still exotic, white dashboards are rare, sound compensating systems haven't become common place and seats that can be transformed into child seats are only just being put into mass production. The high tech CD music system of the Futura would look sadly out of place in a current car; technology has already left the CD floundering in its wake - something the designers of the Futura were unable to foresee.
Clearly not everything on the Futura is now available throughout the Volkswagen range but all the really remarkable features (in the eyes of 1989 motorists) are readily available in 2013.
It is easy to write concept cars off as styling and PR exercises but if you look back at them not all are as worthless as they may first seem.