My mother had a few Cadillacs. And I'm not talking about modern Cadillacs with three letter names. I am talking about back when Cadillacs had proper names like Sedan DeVille. As in the big floaty land barge Cadillacs. L-U-X-U-R-Y Cadillacs. The interior resembled a swanky waiting room more than it resembled a modern automobile. It had thick carpet, wood accents, lamps everywhere, and seats as flat as the deck of the USS George Washington. It had half hidden rear tires, complete with white walls, to reduce the likelihood of confusion with plebian forms of transportation with four vulgar tires in plain view. The hubcaps (google it) were wired. The instrument cluster consisted of exactly one gauge: a yard or so of horizontal speed markings. It had enough power, it was a V8 after all, but speed was certainly not encouraged. The V8 was there to provide stress-free cruising, at least in a straight line. The tiny leather wrapped steering wheel was a tool of convenience, intended to offer mere suggestions of vehicle control. The climate control was identical to a house: set the temperature and forget about it. In fact, the entire dash resembled an 80's entertainment system more than anything else. It was covered by a number of green electroluminescent displays surrounded by millions of little silver buttons, and of course, nobody knew the purpose of any of them. The point of the Cadillac Sedan DeVille was overt American luxury. It was an automobile built for the express purpose of making you forget it was an automobile. It would waft down the interstate at a stately pace in complete silence. And it was marvelous.
As long as you didn't actually want to drive it, that is. Combining a hair throttle, zero steering feedback, and about two and a half tons of Detroit's finest resources resulted in a somewhat nautical driving experience. The SS Lincoln Town Car was much the same. Even less aspirational cars like Buick, Oldsmobile, and Mercury were all about isolation. Controls were distant and muffled, what I imagine it would feel like to take a shower in a wetsuit. For better or worse, cars are not made that way anymore. Lexus crushed Lincoln and Cadillac so completely that not one traditional American Luxury Car survives. Cadillac is trying to be BMW while Lincoln is just happy to exist at all. I am not saying it is a bad thing, but it makes me realize something about the new Acura (Honda) NSX.
How can an old Cadillac remind me of the new NSX? I admit the NSX is the antithesis of the Sedan DeVille in every way. Cadillac attempted to isolate the occupants of the car from the car experience. The NSX is all about the experience of driving a supercar, but the DeVille and NSX have something in common. Back in the 1980's Cadillac used analog means to damp the mechanical sensations of driving, but Cadillac's ultimate goal was to use computers to disconnect the driver from the car completely. Not a self-driving car like we have today, rather a car still controlled by a human, but with controls administered by a computer. Fly-by-wire had been used in the Space Shuttle, and Cadillac saw the technology as a way to deliver ultimate luxury. Only truly synthetic controls could isolate the occupants of the vehicle effectively. Unwanted vibrations and general weirdness is completely eliminated when there is no mechanical connection between the driver and the car. Cadillac never progressed beyond conceptual stages, for the computer required to administer the technology was the size of a semi truck and produced enough heat to melt icebergs. Cadillacs were big, but not that big. And besides that, it didn't really work.
Coming full circle; the NSX is a completely computer driven vehicle, as Cadillac had envisioned. The throttle and braking are completely virtual, while the steering is only slightly analog, torque vectoring providing the lion's share of directional control. When you turn the wheel or stomp the loud pedal, a computer evaluates your intentions are and extrapolates possibilities until it settles on a strategy to deliver the desired experience. It is exactly the opposite of Cadillac's design brief, Honda uses computers to enhance speed, not to enhance comfort. I haven't driven a new NSX, but according to everybody that has, it is amazing. One universal reaction is how analog the car feels, something like a 1980's BMW M1, but without all the priceless broken crap. It is generally considered better than anything this side of the 918, LeFerrari, and P1 set. And everybody loves it, without exception.
So what does this mean for us? Simple - it is the end of the car as we know it. Honda has now shown virtual sports cars deliver a superior driving experience. Better than Ferrari, Lamborghini, Audi, Porsche, or Bugatti. In fact, why bother with a car at all. My home computer driving simulator lacks only massive g-forces to deliver a truly realistic driving experience. And I can get a gyroscopic rig to provide that if I desire. And if I pay for it.
The point is, the new NSX is generally regarded as a watershed moment in automotive history. Modern cars are less interesting to drive because of electric power steering, CVT gearboxes, and turbo engines. Honda has taken the modern, soulless car and digitally injected some good old mechanical vices, and it is a better car because of it. But when it comes down to it, a Jaguar E-Type or an E36 M3 or even an original Sentra SE-R deliver a driving experience unavailable in a new car. They vibrate and rattle, they skid around, and they involve the driver. And they do all this at realistic speeds, not at relativistic speeds like modern performance cars. Add in the fragile nature of old cars, and you have an experience no computer can simulate. Oh, and they are affordable, too.
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