Simpsons predictions can be scarily accurate; like Donald Trump becoming US President, giant mutated tomatoes and the Ebola outbreak.
What’s less well known, but equally impressive, is what The Simpsons predicted about the car world…
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1. Driverless cars
If you’ve been keeping up with recent car news, you will know about the rise and controversy of autonomous cars. Elon Musk and his Teslas are well on the way to making it reality.
But really, most car manufacturers are working on making driverless cars. But, this episode is a good 20 years before they ever came on the scene.
In the episode, Homer and Bart have the responsibility of delivering some artichokes and migrant workers to Atlanta after the truck’s original driver, Red Barclay was killed during a steak eating contest, how American!
After falling asleep at the wheel, Homer wakes up to find that the truck had driven itself down a hill and parked up at a nearby fuel station. This was all thanks to a device called the ‘Navitron Autodrive’, a system secretly installed by the truckers so their vehicles could drive themselves while the driver could just “sit back and feel your a** grow”, as Homer says.
2. Cars that will save your life… sometimes
Back in the ’90s when this episode came out, the idea of driving an electric car still seemed a little silly. But now, it’s completely normal.
In this episode, Homer agrees to test drive an electric car called the Elec-Taurus in exchange for a free gift. To me, it looks a little like the Citroen DS which I think is quite cool. Later in the episode, Homer crashes the car off a cliff and sets it on fire (did they predict Tesla fires too?…). It is then revealed that as the car was damaged it sent a message back to the dealer saying “Help, Help, it burns”.
This is very much like Vauxhall’s OnStar system and BMW’s Assist which in the event of an emergency, the driver can press an SOS button that is mounted on the ceiling. Pressing it alerts local authorities of the emergency.
3. The explosion in SUV popularity
In this episode, Marge gets a new car which happens to be the ‘Canyoneroooo-woah-ooo’ which is an SUV. This graced our screens more than a decade before the 4X4 became popular. It made its appearance back in 1998 in season 9 ‘The Last Temptation of Krust’.
It’s hard to tell what the Canyonero is based on but we’re pretty sure it’s a cross between the Jeep Grand Wagoneer and the gen 1 Range Rover. In this episode, it was described as having “the smooth handling of a European sports car with the rugged drivability of a sturdy 4×4”.
Seeing this episode really makes you wonder if it had an impact on the rise in popularity of the SUV… crazier things have happened!
4. Bizarre personalised options
We all know Homer for being silly but perhaps he wasn’t all that thick after all. He decided to build the best car he could, resulting in this monstrosity. But was there method to his madness?
While factory fitted options weren’t that popular back in the early-mid 2000s, they are now and some can be relatively outrageous. Homer’s invention came with muzzles for children, bubble domes you sit in and horns that play ‘La Cucaracha’. While your average Range Rover dealer won’t offer these specs, Tesla’s not far off with its outrageous horn options.
Nowadays you can pay silly money for basically anything – check out our story on the Italian hypercar which has pistols for door handles.
5. The return of the DeLorean?
This point may seem a little far-fetched but hear me out. In this episode, Troy McClure is losing his career until he is seen with Selma (Marge’s sister). Troy owns an old car which happens to be a Delorean DMC-12.
Selma revived Troy’s career after being seen with him and 19 years later, the Delorean Motor Company announced they would revive the production of Troy’s car, the DMC-12.
