THE MOSTLY HUMAN EDITOR OF OUR 140TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE ASSESSES THE STATE OF CARS IN 2095.

HERE AT CAR UND DRIVER, WE PRIZE OUR POWERS of prognostication even more than we adore our aptitude for alliteration.

- BY EZRA DYER

But even the most clairvoyant cyborgs among us couldn't have predicted how much cars would change over the past 140 years. Let alone that magazines would still exist.

Today, most younger people hold fractional ownership of a car, splitting the cost with as many as six other drivers. These vroommates, as they're called, make up an increasing share of the market. Flarers, the generation born after the solar storms of 2071, often can't afford a whole car and don't require one anyway, given the ubiquity of drone delivery services and the unexpected popularity of roller skates as a "last mile" transportation solution. Some companies are attempting to drive down prices with no-frills designs—extruded cars, inflatable cars, the IKEA En Skitbil flat-pack wagon—and a few of those cost less than $1,000,000, making them a viable option for budget shoppers with a high tolerance for petrochemical off-gassing.