{"id":1948942,"date":"2026-05-22T09:43:04","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1948942"},"modified":"2026-05-22T09:43:04","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T06:43:04","slug":"30-years-on-the-car-industry-is-still-living-in-1996","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1948942","title":{"rendered":"30 years on, the car industry is still living in 1996"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"articleItem\">\n<p>    {&#8220;@context&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/schema.org&#8221;,&#8221;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Article&#8221;,&#8221;image&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years.jpg&#8221;,&#8221;mainEntityOfPage&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;WebPage&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/car-news\/industry-news\/has-anything-changed-in-30-years\/&#8221;},&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/car-news\/industry-news\/has-anything-changed-in-30-years\/&#8221;,&#8221;author&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Person&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Angus MacKenzie&#8221;,&#8221;description&#8221;:&#8221;Angus MacKenzie is a respected automotive journalist based in the UK. Originally from Australia, MacKenzie followed in the footsteps of Doug Blain, Mel Nichols, Steve Cropley and Gavin Green in travelling halfway around the world to come and edit CAR magazine. nnnnHe led the title from 2002-2004 and still lives in Britain, where he specialises in covering the European car industry and freelances for a variety of titles.nnnnMacKenzie is international bureau chief of Motor Trend in the US and contributes to CAR magazine, The Road Rat and other titles.nnnnPrior to his work in the UK, MacKenzie worked for a raft of Australian titles in his homeland, ranging from Car Australia to Street Machine and Wheels. He worked for the latteru2019s special projects team before becoming news and features editor and eventually editor-in-chief of the seminal Aussie car mag.nnnnFollow him on social media via his X account here and you can find out more about him on his Linkedin page here.&#8221;,&#8221;image&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ImageObject&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/car-assets.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/202170\/angus_mackenzie.jpg&#8221;,&#8221;caption&#8221;:&#8221;Angus MacKenzie&#8221;},&#8221;sameAs&#8221;:[&#8220;https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/angus-mackenzie-a2b300a0\/&#8221;,&#8221;https:\/\/x.com\/Angus_MacK&#8221;,&#8221;https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/angus_mack\/&#8221;],&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/author\/angus-mackenzie\/&#8221;,&#8221;jobTitle&#8221;:&#8221;Contributor&#8221;},&#8221;dateModified&#8221;:&#8221;2026-05-22T10:43:04+01:00&#8243;,&#8221;datePublished&#8221;:&#8221;2026-05-22T10:43:04+01:00&#8243;,&#8221;headline&#8221;:&#8221;30 years on, the car industry is still living in 1996&#8243;,&#8221;publisher&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Organization&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Bauer Media&#8221;,&#8221;brand&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Organization&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Car Magazine&#8221;},&#8221;logo&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;ImageObject&#8221;,&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/car-assets.bauersecure.com\/images\/logos\/car.200&#215;88.png&#8221;}}}<\/p>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"column xlarge-10 xlarge-push-2\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t30 years on, the car industry is still living in 1996<\/h1>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<div class=\"hide-for-xlarge-up\">\n<div class=\"compact-author-info\">\n\tBy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/author\/angus-mackenzie\/\">Angus MacKenzie<\/a>\n<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"dates\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"dates__date\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPublished: Today 10:43<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"cms-content\">\n<div class=\"in-page-gallery full-width thumbnails-bullets\">\n<ul class=\"carousel\" data-orbit=\"true\" data-options=\"bullets: true; resume_on_mouseout: false; timer: false; variable_height: true; slide_number: false\">\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/car-assets.bauersecure.com\/images\/1056x594\/transparent.png\" alt=\"GM\u2019s EV1 invented the future, then left\" data-interchange=\"[https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x270\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years.jpg, (default)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/720x405\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years.jpg, (medium)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1056x594\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years.jpg, (large)]\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption orbit-caption\">\n<div>GM\u2019s EV1 invented the future, then left<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/car-assets.bauersecure.com\/images\/1056x594\/transparent.png\" alt=\"GM\u2019s EV1\" data-interchange=\"[https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x270\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg, (default)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/720x405\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg, (medium)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1056x594\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg, (large)]\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption orbit-caption\">\n<div>GM\u2019s EV1<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/car-assets.bauersecure.com\/images\/1056x594\/transparent.png\" alt=\"Tiny car, tiny battery, tiny range: not a big seller\" data-interchange=\"[https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x270\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg, (default)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/720x405\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg, (medium)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1056x594\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg, (large)]\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption orbit-caption\">\n<div>Tiny car, tiny battery, tiny range: not a big seller<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/car-assets.bauersecure.com\/images\/1056x594\/transparent.png\" alt=\"30 years on, aero-led design is near-universal\" data-interchange=\"[https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x270\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg, (default)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/720x405\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg, (medium)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1056x594\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg, (large)]\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption orbit-caption\">\n<div>30 years on, aero-led design is near-universal<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/car-assets.bauersecure.com\/images\/1056x594\/transparent.png\" alt=\"The future turned out to be a lot less button-y than the EV1\" data-interchange=\"[https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x270\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg, (default)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/720x405\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg, (medium)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1056x594\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg, (large)]\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"caption orbit-caption\">\n<div>The future turned out to be a lot less button-y than the EV1<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"articleContent\">\n<div class=\"bold-links\">\n<p><strong><strong><strong>\u25ba<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong> <strong>From 1996 to now<\/strong><br \/><strong><strong>\u25ba\u00a0<\/strong>Has anything really changed?<br \/><strong>\u25ba\u00a0<\/strong>Or is the automotive industry cyclical <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>The same month Damon Hill won the 1996 Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the year\u2019s Formula 1 season, Stanford University PhD student Larry Page launched BackRub, an algorithm designed to crawl the new World Wide Web and count and rank its backlinks.<\/p>\n<p>Larry Page is why today anyone can tell you within seconds not only that Hill won 22 GPs in an eight-year F1 career driving for Brabham, Williams, Arrows and Jordan, but also that he went to the Haberdashers\u2019 Aske\u2019s Boys\u2019 School in Hertfordshire (and where the apostrophes go). We had no idea at the time, but this breakthrough would shape the world we\u2019d still be living in 30 years on, as would several other innovations \u2013 from VW, Ford, GM, Porsche, Volvo and others \u2013 in propulsion, production, design and safety.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject hide-for-medium-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject show-for-medium-up hide-for-xlarge-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Like this? Get more CAR delivered to your browser!\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=carmagazine.co.uk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em><strong>Click here to add CAR Magazine as a preferred source on Google<\/strong><\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>In 1996, while Larry Page turned the past into the future, General Motors brought the future into the present. Americans could, for between $399 and $549 a month, lease the most technically advanced car in the world, the product of the best and the brightest brains at GM, then the world\u2019s largest and wealthiest car maker. The electric-powered GM EV1 went further on less energy than any production car built up to that point, thanks to bleeding-edge engineering and design that focused on light weight, low drag and high efficiency.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg?scale=down\" alt=\"Tiny car, tiny battery, tiny range: not a big seller\" class=\"wp-image-257495\" data-interchange=\"[https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg?scale=down, (default)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/720x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg?scale=down, (medium)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1040x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg?scale=down, (large)]\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject hide-for-medium-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>It previewed technologies and concepts such as by-wire acceleration and regenerative braking, electro hydraulic power steering, tyre-pressure sensing, a heat-pump cabin climate system, and inductive charging that would not begin to become commonplace until the second decade of the 21st century.<\/p>\n<p>But the internet-age EV1 had a major flaw. At its core was essentially a 19th-century technology, an 18.7kWh lead-acid battery pack that totalled 40 per cent of the car\u2019s mass and gave it a range of just 55 miles. Almost 20 years before it entered the mainstream automotive lexicon, I experienced range anxiety as I drove the little coupe from Beverly Hills to Long Beach. Back then, there were no public charge points; the only way to top up the battery was to plug the 1.2kW onboard charger into an ordinary wall socket and wait 12 to 14 hours. The compulsive checking of the battery charge indicator and range predictor began after just 30 miles on the road.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject show-for-medium-up hide-for-xlarge-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The EV1 was built to meet a mandate proposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) that by 1997 two per cent of all cars sold in that state should produce zero tailpipe emissions. That mandate was never enacted. And the EV1 proved a point about the regulatory myopia surrounding electric vehicles that still holds 30 years later: CARB\u2019s bureaucrats never made the imaginative leap that was Elon Musk\u2019s Tesla Supercharger network and mandate a charging infrastructure.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject hide-for-medium-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg?scale=down\" alt=\"GM\u2019s EV1\" class=\"wp-image-257494\" data-interchange=\"[https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg?scale=down, (default)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/720x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg?scale=down, (medium)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1040x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg?scale=down, (large)]\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>As GM wrestled with its car of the future \u2013 the EV1 cost $1 billion to develop and only 1117 were built \u2013 Porsche R&amp;D chief Horst Marchart was busy future-proofing an icon of the past with such success that, here in 2026, we\u2019re still enjoying the benefits.<\/p>\n<p>After the boom times of the 1980s, Porsche sales had spun out of control like a 911 on an icy hairpin, crashing from a peak of 50,000 vehicles to 14,000. Enter Wendelin Weideking, an iconoclastic manufacturing engineer who told Porsche\u2019s board he could cut the time taken to build a 911 by 30 per cent if the company adopted the lean and efficient Toyota Production System. To prove his point, he made a new $6 million interior trim shop obsolete in just three days. Impressed and chastened, the board made Weideking Porsche\u2019s chairman and CEO.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject hide-for-medium-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject show-for-medium-up hide-for-xlarge-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In addition to making Porsche\u2019s manufacturing operations more efficient, Weideking knew the company also needed fresh product to replace the ageing 928 and 968 models, and that the 911 required a major rethink. At Weideking\u2019s direction, Horst Marchart began work on what would become the Boxster and the 996-series 911.<\/p>\n<p>Developed in parallel, the two cars would share 38 per cent of their components, including their basic engine architecture, front body structure and suspension. \u2018We did two cars for the price of one-and-a half,\u2019 said then Porsche design boss Harm Lagaay.<\/p>\n<p>Much of the media attention on the 996 focused on the fact this was the first ever water-cooled 911; to die-hard aficionados it was the automotive equivalent of Bob Dylan picking up an electric guitar. But the real story of the 996 ran much deeper. In 1994 it took Porsche 130 hours to build a 993-series 911; the 996 took just 60 hours to build. The 911 of the future had arrived.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg?scale=down\" alt=\"30 years on, aero-led design is near-universal\" class=\"wp-image-257496\" data-interchange=\"[https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg?scale=down, (default)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/720x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg?scale=down, (medium)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1040x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg?scale=down, (large)]\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject hide-for-medium-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p>As Horst Marchart put the finishing touches on the modern Porsche 911 in Stuttgart during 1996, Ferdinand Porsche\u2019s grandson was in Wolfsburg busily re-inventing the company his grandfather\u2019s car had created, Volkswagen. Ferdinand Pi\u00ebch was appointed head of VW in 1993, when the ailing company was said to have been within three weeks of filing for bankruptcy. His assignment was simple: turn around VW like he\u2019d turned around Audi. His solution was to slash costs and then expand the range, the masterstroke being the implementation of a modular platform-sharing strategy that reduced the number of platforms from 19 to four. Pi\u00ebch\u2019s first VW, the B5 Passat, was launched in 1996. It was notable not just for the fact it shared its underpinnings with the Audi A4 \u2013 previewing a philosophy that today sees even Bentleys, Lamborghinis and Porsches built using a vehicle architecture shared with a VW \u2013 but also because its exterior and interior design looked far more upscale and premium than any previous Wolfsburg car.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject show-for-medium-up hide-for-xlarge-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Volkswagen wasn\u2019t the only brand seeking to redefine itself in terms of design that year, as Volvo\u2019s 1996 Paris motor show display revealed. The glistening vertical chrome grille of its star car was familiar, as was the gentle arching tension in the beltline that echoed the 240, the Amazon and the PV544. But this bright saffron-coloured Volvo also had a sweeping coupe roofline, a tightly tucked-in tail, and oodles of understated sex appeal.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject hide-for-medium-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\u2018My new company car,\u2019 grinned Volvo design director Peter Horbury as the covers came off the new C70 coupe. With timing as good as Gielgud\u2019s he paused just long enough to let the audience laugh before delivering the punchline: \u2018This time, we kept the toy \u2013 and threw away the box!\u2019<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg?scale=down\" alt=\"The future turned out to be a lot less button-y than the EV1\" class=\"wp-image-257497\" data-interchange=\"[https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/480x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg?scale=down, (default)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/720x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg?scale=down, (medium)], [https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1040x0\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg?scale=down, (large)]\"><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n<p>The Volvo C70 coupe was a car that firmly put the once solid, stolid Swedish car maker on a path to building sharp and sophisticated-looking saloons, estates and SUVs. Another 1996 Paris show design star was Ford\u2019s Ka, an unconventionally modern and perky hatchback designed by Brit Chris Svensson. Built on Fiesta hardware, the Ka was developed under the direction of Jac Nasser while he was chairman of Ford of Europe for the bargain cost of $250 million. But while Volvo was able to expand and evolve the C70\u2019s sophisticated design vocabulary, Ford could never figure out how to do another car like the Ka. But perhaps more significantly, also in 1996 Ford figured out how to put the car into cyberspace. Early in the year, at the Chicago show, a handful of Ford engineers had demonstrated an intriguing new technology. Designed to contact an emergency operator in the event of an accident or if roadside assistance was required, it was called RESCU and would be available on the 1996 Lincoln Continental. RESCU stood for Remote Emergency Satellite Cellular Unit. It used the 24 satellites of the US military\u2019s Global Positioning System to determine the car\u2019s location, and sent voice messages between the car and a call centre.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject hide-for-medium-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mpu-inject show-for-medium-up hide-for-xlarge-up\">\n<div class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>No one remembers RESCU. But GM North American Operations boss Rick Wagoner would announce GM\u2019s similar OnStar system two days later, and GM would subsequently spend billions more on improving and maintaining the system, while Ford would ultimately allow RESCU to wither and die. But RESCU was the forerunner of today\u2019s connected car systems that power everything from infotainment to autonomous driving. Ford had built the first connected car.<\/p>\n<p>It took a while for GM to return to EVs, leaving others to pick up the baton and continue the work of shaping the future we\u2019re now living in. But Ford \u2013 and others \u2013 stuck with connected thinking, and today it\u2019s all around us.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<aside class=\"about-author\">\n<h2 class=\"about-author-heading\">About the author<\/h2>\n<div class=\"about-author-inner\">\n<div class=\"main-author-summary-container\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"main-author-image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/author\/angus-mackenzie\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/202170\/120x120\/angus_mackenzie.jpg?quality=90)\"><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"main-author-name-container\">\n<div class=\"main-author-name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/author\/angus-mackenzie\/\">Angus MacKenzie<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"main-author-job-title\">Contributor<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"main-author-byline\">Angus MacKenzie is one of the world&#8217;s most respected motoring journalists \u2013\u00a0and another Australian former editor of CAR magazines, no less.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/aside><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"column show-for-xlarge-up xlarge-2 xlarge-pull-10\">\n<figure class=\"author-info clearfix\">\n<p>\t\t\t<a class=\"author-image\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/author\/angus-mackenzie\/\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"background-image: url(https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/202170\/85x85\/angus_mackenzie.jpg?quality=90)\"><\/a><figcaption>\n<p class=\"author-name\">\n\t\t\tBy <a href=\"https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/author\/angus-mackenzie\/\">Angus MacKenzie<\/a>\n\t\t<\/p>\n<p class=\"author-quote\">Car critic, sage and another Australian former editor of CAR magazine<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"column xlarge-10 xlarge-push-2 disqus\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a id=\"commentsExpander\" href=\"https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/car-news\/industry-news\/has-anything-changed-in-30-years\/\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"icon fi-comments\"><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"link-text disqus-comment-count\" data-disqus-identifier=\"article-wp-257481\">Comments<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<div id=\"commentsSection\">\n<div id=\"disqus_thread\"><\/div>\n<p>var disqus_shortname = &#8216;carmagazine&#8217;;<br \/>\nvar disqus_developer = 0;<br \/>\nvar disqus_identifier = &#8216;article-wp-257481&#8217;;<br \/>\n\t(function () {<br \/>\n\t\tvar dsq = document.createElement(&#8216;script&#8217;);<br \/>\n\t\tdsq.type = &#8216;text\/javascript&#8217;;<br \/>\n\t\tdsq.async = true;<br \/>\n\t\tdsq.src = &#8216;http:\/\/&#8217; + disqus_shortname + &#8216;.disqus.com\/embed.js&#8217;;<br \/>\n\t\t(document.getElementsByTagName(&#8216;head&#8217;)[0] || document.getElementsByTagName(&#8216;body&#8217;)[0]).appendChild(dsq);<\/p>\n<p>\t\tvar s = document.createElement(&#8216;script&#8217;);<br \/>\n\t\ts.type = &#8216;text\/javascript&#8217;;<br \/>\n\t\ts.async = true;<br \/>\n\t\ts.src = &#8216;http:\/\/&#8217; + disqus_shortname + &#8216;.disqus.com\/count.js&#8217;;<br \/>\n\t\t(document.getElementsByTagName(&#8216;head&#8217;)[0] || document.getElementsByTagName(&#8216;body&#8217;)[0]).appendChild(s);<br \/>\n\t})();Please enable JavaScript to view the <a href=\"http:\/\/disqus.com\/?ref_noscript\">comments powered by Disqus.<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<div id=\"taboola-below-article-thumbnails-v3\"><\/div>\n<p>  console.debug(&#8216;taboola container loaded..&#8217;)<br \/>\n  window._taboola = window._taboola || [];<br \/>\n  _taboola.push({<br \/>\n    mode: &#8216;thumbs-feed-1&#215;1&#8217;,<br \/>\n    container: &#8216;taboola-below-article-thumbnails-v3&#8217;,<br \/>\n    placement: &#8216;Below Article Thumbnails V3&#8217;,<br \/>\n    target_type: &#8216;mix&#8217;<br \/>\n  });<\/p>\n<div data-id=\"content-rec-01\" class=\"content-rec-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<div data-id=\"content-rec-02\" class=\"content-rec-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<div data-id=\"content-rec-03\" class=\"content-rec-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"largeGallery\">\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__container\">\n<div class=\"slide-gallery\">\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__leaderboard-gallery-container\">\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__leaderboard-gallery-container__inner\">\n<div id=\"leaderboard-gallery\" class=\"leaderboard-gallery advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__adverts show-for-large-up\">\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__adverts__inner\" data-right-ad-frequency=\"3\" data-slide-ad-frequency=\"4\" data-slide-ad-duration=\"2\">\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__adverts__inner__mpu\">\n<div class=\"mpu-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"hide-for-large-up\">Advertisement<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"mpu-gallery\" class=\"mpu-ad advert\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"google-ads-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__caption__container\">\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__caption\">\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__caption__text\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__slider__container\">\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__slider royalSlider rsDefault\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- can this be ul \/ li'd --><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rsImg\" href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1752x1168\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years.jpg?mode=max&amp;quality=90&amp;scale=down\"><span class=\"inner\">GM\u2019s EV1 invented the future, then left<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rsTmb\" src=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/79x79\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years.jpg?quality=50\" alt style=\"border-width:0px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rsImg\" href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1752x1168\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg?mode=max&amp;quality=90&amp;scale=down\"><span class=\"inner\">GM\u2019s EV1<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rsTmb\" src=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/79x79\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-1.jpg?quality=50\" alt style=\"border-width:0px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rsImg\" href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1752x1168\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg?mode=max&amp;quality=90&amp;scale=down\"><span class=\"inner\">Tiny car, tiny battery, tiny range: not a big seller<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rsTmb\" src=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/79x79\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-2.jpg?quality=50\" alt style=\"border-width:0px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rsImg\" href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1752x1168\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg?mode=max&amp;quality=90&amp;scale=down\"><span class=\"inner\">30 years on, aero-led design is near-universal<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rsTmb\" src=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/79x79\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-3.jpg?quality=50\" alt style=\"border-width:0px\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"rsImg\" href=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/1752x1168\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg?mode=max&amp;quality=90&amp;scale=down\"><span class=\"inner\">The future turned out to be a lot less button-y than the EV1<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"rsTmb\" src=\"https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/79x79\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years-4.jpg?quality=50\" alt style=\"border-width:0px\"><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"slide-gallery__controls\">\n\t\t\t\t<span title=\"Toggle thumbnails\" class=\"slide-gallery__controls__icon fi-list-thumbnails show-for-large-up\" data-elem=\"thumbsToggle\"><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span title=\"Previous photo\" class=\"slide-gallery__controls__icon fi-arrow-left\" data-elem=\"prev\"><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span title=\"Next photo\" class=\"slide-gallery__controls__icon fi-arrow-right\" data-elem=\"next\"><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span title=\"Toggle caption\" class=\"slide-gallery__controls__icon fi-info\" data-elem=\"captionToggle\"><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span title=\"Zoom in\" class=\"slide-gallery__controls__icon fi-zoom-in\" data-elem=\"zoomIn\"><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span title=\"Zoom out\" class=\"slide-gallery__controls__icon fi-zoom-out\" data-elem=\"zoomOut\"><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span title=\"Close gallery\" class=\"slide-gallery__controls__icon fi-x hide-for-large-up\" data-elem=\"close\"><\/span>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t<a title=\"Close gallery\" class=\"slide-gallery__controls__icon slide-gallery__controls__icon--top-close fi-x show-for-large-up\" data-elem=\"close\"><\/a>\n\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{&#8220;@context&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/schema.org&#8221;,&#8221;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Article&#8221;,&#8221;image&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/car-images.bauersecure.com\/wp-images\/257481\/has_anything_changed_in_30_years.jpg&#8221;,&#8221;mainEntityOfPage&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;WebPage&#8221;,&#8221;@id&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/car-news\/industry-news\/has-anything-changed-in-30-years\/&#8221;},&#8221;url&#8221;:&#8221;https:\/\/www.carmagazine.co.uk\/car-news\/industry-news\/has-anything-changed-in-30-years\/&#8221;,&#8221;author&#8221;:{&#8220;@type&#8221;:&#8221;Person&#8221;,&#8221;name&#8221;:&#8221;Angus MacKenzie&#8221;,&#8221;description&#8221;:&#8221;Angus MacKenzie is a respected automotive journalist based in the UK. Originally from Australia, MacKenzie followed in the footsteps of Doug Blain, Mel Nichols, Steve Cropley and Gavin Green in travelling halfway around the world to come and edit CAR magazine. nnnnHe led the title from 2002-2004 and still lives in Britain, where he [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[239,226],"class_list":["post-1948942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-carmagazine-co-uk","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948942","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1948942"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1948942\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1948942"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1948942"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1948942"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}