"The 21st Century": Autos and All That Traffic (1969)

Steam-powered cars? Steering wheels that monitor your heart rate? Some automotive innovations predicted 50 years ago haven't come to fruition (yet), but among those explored by host Walter Cronkite that did, in one manner or another, are air bags, crash test dummies, electric cars, anti-lock brakes, computer aids for drivers, and dashboard navigation. Originally broadcast on April 20, 1969.
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[@nathanc6204]

As someone born in 1969, who dreamed of what the 21st century would be like, I found this fascinating to watch.

[@DukeJon1969]

Same here. I was surprised to see that the 21st century was brought to me by Union Carbide

[@anonymousmobster2444]

I was born in 2003 and I can't believe it's 2020...

[@frankdenardo8684]

I was born in 1965. I am glad to see this interesting documentary narrated by CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite. Hard to imagine cars like a Lincoln Continental, Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham, Chevrolet Caprice Classic, Chrysler Newport, New Yorker, and other big cars were as big as the Queen Mary. Also an interesting look at safety devices such as inflatable restraints aka air bags, anti-lock brakes, seat belt tensioner locks, and the convertible that Mr. Cronkite and an engineer by Ford were riding around in.

[@frankdenardo8684]

@@anonymousmobster2444 That Mercury Marquis convertible in one scene looks like one a friend has. Same Burgundy color but has a black leather interior but has bucket seats instead of the bench seat.

[@michaelschneider-]

@@frankdenardo8684 .. +1. Yes,, all that sheet metal & Cronkite had to be "filmed" and then taken back to the studio to be darkroom developed, cut and spliced old-sckool like... Those were the old day's of television...

[@barrettwbenton]

I was born in 1956, and *21st Century* was a must-watch for me as a kid. I absolutely remember this episode, and it's amazing how prescient this was.

[@TVHouseHistorian]

When I bought my Honda CRV in 2017, it was the first time I experienced “Adaptive Cruise Control,” and I was completely enthralled. It was a new feature for Honda products that year, and it seemed so “high tech.” Now I come to this video and find it’s been in development for over 50 years, and I’m floored.

[@Fadamor]

The only difference between the adaptive cruise control in this video and what is available in today's vehicles is the method of measuring distance and range-rate. Back then it was an early version of lidar, today it's radar. I suppose lidar was replaced because it would easily miss things that weren't directly in the laser's path like motorcycles.

[@TVHouseHistorian]

@@Fadamor When I was getting my car at the dealer in 2017, they told me that the car uses a combination of LiDAR and radar. One of the two sits behind the rear view mirror, and the other one sits inside the grill. That’s what I was told anyway. And I can tell you that whichever one is responsible for seeing objects in front of the car doesn’t always do its job. There have been quite a few times I’ve been on the freeway, barreling towards a slower vehicle in front of me, and the system doesn’t even recognize the impending danger and I have to slam on my brakes. I’m sure newer cars have that wrinkle ironed out. I know I have to be very cognizant with mine.

[@MuppetCore]

A news network digging into its archives and posting a random special. This is what KZbin is for.

[@fromthesidelines]

"THE 21st CENTURY" was a weekly series on CBS' early Sunday night schedule [6pm(et)] from January 1967 through January 1970, under the sponsorship of Union Carbide.

[@fromthesidelines]

In 1973, CBS presented a summer series of news documentaries from their archives, "CBS NEWS RETROSPECTIVE", on Sundays at 6pm(et).

[@byrd56]

@@fromthesidelines I remembered when "Retrospective" was on in the summer of '73, and I also vaguely recall that the first of those was a repeat of "CBS Reports: Harvest of Shame" with Edward R. Murrow.

[@smadaf]

And cluelessly stretching the picture out of shape to satisfy some false idea that only widescreen will sell. CBS, have you seen Instagram? It's a square.

[@jakeryan9469]

Walter is the real deal. A man driving a convertible when there's snow on the ground.

[@jimbosc]

Also an expert on moon travel - which was handy for cocktail parties

[@wmalden]

My dad had a 1969 Marquis convertible like that one. Same colors, too!

[@jpete3027666]

Yeah he was a total badass and this is an example of that haha

[@almostfm]

And, BTW, he did quite a lot of racing in the 1950s, until CBS told him he couldn't do it anymore

[@robertbernardin8315]

This is amazing. I've been waiting to see this again for 50 years. It was a series, Sunday night. Each with a topic. At the time, it was mind blowing, especially for a science kid like me.

[@mq1712]

Absolutely mindblowing. What's really a hoot is how dated alot of it seemed by 2000....

[@frankb8652]

It's interesting to see how many of these innovations such as air bags and ABS became standard equipment. It's also funny the things you remember in life. I watched this in 1969 as a nine-year-old boy and for some reason I have never forgot the part about the number of steering corrections per minute:) Walter was the best!

[@nikmills]

I remember the exact same thing, at the exact same age. I didn't know I'd found this same episode of this show. It looked familiar along the way, but the steering corrections was the clincher.

[@dave1956]

I have always loved Walter Cronkite’s voice. It immediately takes me back to my childhood when my parents watched the CBS news every night.

[@trainliker100]

I bought a new 1969 Mercury Cougar back in the day when shoulder belts were a new thing. They were mandated Jan 1, 1968, so the 1969 models were the first where they all had them (except convertibles exempted). Some cars did offer them as options earlier in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world generally. In the Cougar, it wasn't a 3-point setup but two completely separate belts each with its own buckle. But I dutifully always used them and it's a good thing. Got into a bad crash that was so severe that the shoulder belt buckle broke. But it helped enough that I only got a tiny bump on the head. I crawled out the driver's window of the car and walked away and I could see that bystanders were shocked to see me OK considering the front of the car was completely demolished and pushed in. I was always a fan of safety belts, and I became a BIG fan after that.

[@frankfarago2825]

Phew, you survided that nasty one. I had a 1967 Cougar in Santa Monica, California. As a college student at Santa Monica College, I bought it used in 1974. It was owned by a lady before me and it was painted pink. Effing city coppers and LAPD coppers kept pulling me over 3-times a week just for that. Because a male was driving a pink coloredcar. Never got ticketed, they just pulled me over ad nausea. At the end, I took it to Tijuana, Mexico and had it repainted. Never got pulled over after that. Effing Santa Monica and LAPD city cops.

[@johnfranklin5277]

I have a 68 Mustang I bought in 1977. Does not have shoulder belts, but the car was built in 67, and sold new in December of 67, thats probably why. She's a beauty, lifelong Southern California car, still on the road.

[@hebneh]

I had a 1971 VW Beetle that had combined shoulder and lap belts in one, but they didn't retract, and you had to manually adjust the length to be correct. The front belts were literally hung up on plastic hooks when not in use. Unlike every one of my friends, I always wore my seatbelt, and like you it was a good thing because in 1978 I was in a rollover freeway crash. I too crawled out of the passenger window with only one scratch and a headache. Did my survival influence any of my friends? Nope. They remained convinced that such a thing could never happen to them.

[@bumsharvest5493]

Wow, that's encouraging. I was in a crash about a year ago, I was wearing my seat/shoulder belts and between the belts and the air bag, I was fine other that a really aching sternum. Without those safety items, I would have been all messed up, maybe dead. I wouldn't leave the driveway without wearing my seat belts.

[@bradparris99]

@@johnfranklin5277 Your Mustang has the mounting holes for the shoulder belts so they can easily be added.

[@trainliker100]

Jay Leno often talks about the big steel dashboards of especially the 1950's cars. He says, "You get in an accident, and they just hose off the dashboard and sell the car to the next guy."

[@1940limited]

Old cars are great but you don't want to get into an accident with one.

[@CamaroAmx]

@@1940limited it depends. I have plenty of relatives who rode/drove many of these cars when new. They were in accidents in them and are fine and never suffered any serious injuries. I know people who been in accidents in modern cars and suffered serious injuries. It all depends. The very first car accident I was ever in was in a 60s thunderbird. I was riding in the backseat and we slid off the road in the snow and hit a brick wall head on. The car was totaled. Everybody was fine.

[@LAFan]

The great Walter Cronkite. Thanks for posting this CBS.

[@michaelschneider-]

@Pelon .. +1 Agreed. .. My dad's career in engineering spaned 30 years with CBS Television Network NY, NY. .. Those were the days . . . Broadcast Television in its infancy . . . .

[@napoliansolo7865]

I miss his reassuring commentary.

[@manonmars2009]

I always admired Walter Cronkite. When he was reporting anything you knew it was going to be well made and top notch. I was 8 when this show aired, and I am amazed that even in '69 these soon to be technologies were already being tested. I knew that GM had available air bags in new 1974 cars, but not enough air bagged cars were sold to make it financially feasible. I still have a 1974 Volvo 145 that has a big rectangular pad in the center of the steering wheel meant to house the impending air bag. No air bag is inside. It was anticipated that legislation for 1974 would mandate this safety feature. It never happened.

[@lookyloo1000]

The size of the "computer" system in the huge trunk of that car was epic ! All of that data and analytics could be accomplished with a simple smart phone now. Amazing !

[@benjaminnead8557]

I used to watch The 21st Century as an 8 to 10 year old, back when the program originally aired in the late 1960s. It always made for interesting conversation with both my fellow grade school students and teachers. I was also lucky enough to visit world fairs in Toronto (Expo '67) and New York City (1964,) where I got additional in-person experiences on what the future was going to be like. It really wasn't that far off. Today, I drive a small electric vehicle that I charge off the 120V outlet located near the front porch of my house. That car also has airbags and anti-lock brakes, which were some of the other 21st century things predicted in this particular episode. Interesting, also, how well this episode addressed things like the obligatory over-sizing of cars, urban sprawl, parking lots everywhere and electronic vehicle navigation.

[@christopher88719]

This was really a great look at the future. Almost all the technology in this video made its way it to day to day life.

[@smadaf]

Car salesman: "And of course the inflatable pillows come standard on all 2023 models."

[@dbwindhorst1]

Hands-down 13-year-old me's favorite TV series. It was destination viewing every Sunday afternoon. It's a pity nobody ever cloned Cronkite. We could certainly use his rational, gentle, humanistic outlook today.

[@Yourmission9]

Agreed! I was born in the eve of the 80’s but my parents watched him religiously. All this to say it’s awesome to go back and watch these to see not only how quickly we’ve evolved technologically, but also to see where they were (in a lot of cases) spot on with how our future would become

[@jackraglin5526]

I was 12 when I watched this. It was one of my favorite shows. And I remembered a lot this episode, particularly where they calculated how many times Walter Cronkite corrected his steering in the driving test. It’s fascinating that so many of the advanced technologies in cars these days we’re being tested way back then.

[@KnightOnBaldMountain]

And, after all, he’s glad to sit at the right hand of satan.

[@user-ne3yw2cu6c]

I'm sure the Chinese Government will replicate him and create a fully functional AI Robot soon to promote their system of Government.

[@chuckford5927]

Great video! It's amazing to see that in 1969, The automobile industry was working on most of the technology we have today. Cars have come a long way since then.

[@josephgaviota]

Agree w/@chuck I was thinking the same. Pretty much everything we have today, they dreamed up in 1969, more than half a _century_ ago(!).

[@Suddenlyits1960]

Yep,we’ve come a “long way”. We have the ugliest cars ever,and the most trouble prone and difficult and expensive to repair. Cars have become disposable computerized piles of plastic. I have old Mopars with over 200k miles on some.

[@KylesVideos]

@@Suddenlyits1960 So? I have a 2007 Honda accord with over 250k and a 2013 Taurus with almost 200K

[@Poopsticle_256]

@@Suddenlyits1960 Cars have always been disposable, it was just up to the owner on when to dispose of it. 30-40 years ago in the 1980’s cars were awfully put together, especially American cars. Going beyond that, cars were really just meant to last for 100k before needing to be rebuilt. And you think it’s some achievement that your “old Mopar” has over 200,000 miles? Most 15-20 year Toyota Camrys have easily made it to that mileage with just basic maintenance. Our 2018 Honda Odyssey passed 130k and it’s still running great. Heck, I just checked the listings and there’s an ‘07 Sienna for sale near me with 368k on the clock. You consider how old your Mopars are, and their mileage, and look how many miles a year for how long they were driven, how hard they were worked. And ugliest is a subjective opinion, I know I’d rather drive a new Camry or a Fusion than one of those eyesore ‘60 Plymouths. Better to actually drive too, and more fuel efficient.

[@SaneCayne]

Kinda makes ya wonder what they're working on today...

[@johnreitz5676]

Walter was a genuine car guy in real life...

[@RphC74_mo]

Crazy that they were developing adaptive cruise control way back then and it’s just recently becoming widely available.

[@Jay-jb2vr]

Cruise control been around since the late 1940s

[@migbham1]

This was such an enjoyable watch, as someone who recently bought a fully electric car with abs, air pillows, onboard computer assisted guidance and adaptive cruise control, and who lives in a city with those red/green lights at on-ramps. I had no idea that my state of the art car was full of so much old technology.

[@troyallen5806]

"City streets become a crowded arena" Was what they showed supposed to reflect that? Because man that looked like a good day in the city.

[@wilfrediakajr.6624]

it took more than 50 years to tackle an issue that we had a solution to?!?!?!

[@rocketman50]

No computers !!!

[@erikajennings9055]

It all came down to pure economics, the concepts and technology was there, the ideas, it was how do you mass produce it affordably. Ford and General Motors had a fleet of test cars in the 70's with airbags built into them. However, the first airbags did not show up in mass produces cars until the late 1980's and only in very expensive cars at first.

[@61rampy65]

@@erikajennings9055 Not quite. You could buy a new Chevy in 1973 with airbags as an option. Fun fact: A Chevy with airbags came with an Oldsmobile dashboard! A co-worker had a 73 so equipped, bought new.

[@gbrads]

Thank you for posting this video. I am a big car enthusiast and it was fascinating to see anti lock brakes, airbags, better seat belts begin there development.

[@moderateminneapolita]

And GPS

[@martyduncan2636]

It’s amazing so much of this technology we have today!

[@troyallen5806]

All this tech and they never mentioned how easy it was to prevent whiplash.

[@turbo8454]

When this was made, head rests were standard (required) equipment in new 1969 cars.

[@ltjgsurething88]

Thank you, CBS, for bringing back this excellent series from my childhood which got me excited about science and technology! :)

[@jimrapp6955]

1968 " more than 55 thousand Americans lost their lives in traffic accidents ". My sister was one of them.

[@fromthesidelines]

Originally telecast on April 20, 1969.

[@hebneh]

"Inflated pillows" that could pop out of the dashboard or steering wheel during a collision! What a kooky concept. It'll never catch on.

[@azmrblack]

This is a truly amazing look back - many of the devices mentioned we have today - ABS, Airbags, Automatic cruise control with decel and distance - but one thing is true - Autos and all that traffic.

[@glennhavinoviski8128]

Wow, thanks for posting. It is strange to see those 50s-60s vintage cars (large, softly sprung, massive steering wheels, not easily controlled in curves) traveling so fast......And Walter Cronkite talking about electric cars in the 21st Century! The steam car was a hoot!

[@frankfarago2825]

"The steam car was a hoot!" Tell that to Jay Leno now.

[@bloqk16]

My dad had those big cars from Detroit. On the freeways/interstates, nice cars to cruise in. On country roads, ugh!

[@jwestbrook61]

I wish this had been presented in the proper aspect ratio. 4.3 instead of the 5.7 presented here, which is why the cars all look strange.

[@bradwooldidge6979]

Holy crap! I remember watching this episode back then! I finally found it!!!!

[@EmilyTienne]

Loved Walter’s RV road trips…every Sunday morning.

[@willbygosh4887]

Wasn't that Charles Kuralt?

[@aussieausbourne1]

The ideas were ahead of their time and I'm glad the implementation is so much better than predicted

[@kenbob1071]

Definitely --well put! I would love to take my Tesla back in time to show Walter how much better the ideas they discussed were implemented. I mean that "ergs" system where you had to dial in a code and use road sensors and a tiny display...lol. Now I just voice where I want to go and the car shows a big map of my route progress on a 15" display using gps. I can even have the car drive itself there (although they still have some work to do on getting that right).

[@cynthiamason4069]

This was so wonderful to watch. I loved this program when I was in hi school in the 60s, and, of course, the marvelous Mr. Cronkite. I'll sleep better tonight just hearing his voice. I wish someone would make a documentary about him. He set the gold standard for newscasters, and we probably could use a healthy reminder of what that means these days, don't you think? Please air more episodes of the 21st Century ♡

[@bertram46]

Absolutely amazing what they were working on 50 years ago that is now standard on almost every car that we drive. Imagine what they must be working on now that they don't share with the public. This was so wonderful to watch

[@CamaroAmx]

It just goes to show that many of the things we have today are far older then most think. We just made them easier and more accurate. Electric cars used to outnumber gas cars in NYC in the early 1900s. Henry Ford’s wife only ever drove electric cars. New technology of today is just improved old technology.

[@jimbauer6326]

I thought the same thing. Sensors to alert of other drivers, ABS, even to some extent Google Maps.

[@HenryBloggit]

I just got my first car that has what this video called automatic distance keeping but what manufacturers today call smart cruise control aka highway driving assist. It blows my mind that they were already working on that in 1969.

[@caribman10]

Cronkite was (1) a race car driver and (2) the only journalist to fly in combat missions in two wars.

[@bloqk16]

Uncle Walt was also a yachtsman!

[@doctorquestian]

i remember watching this episode as a kid. It was revealed that Walter Cronkite used to race cars semi-professionally when he was younger.

[@billiebobbienorton2556]

Did not know that, cool!

[@paulcheek5711]

all these great ideas came out of the 60's. a great decade

[@lakesnake2005]

I was 16 years old when this was made, just starting to drive. This was one of my favorite shows to watch. I now drive a Ford Fiesta that would have been considered an exotic sports car back then with it's pointed nose, disc brakes, six speed transmission, voice activated entertainment system and radial tires mounted on aluminum wheels and fully capable of 100 + mph with 36 mpg. And now, that's just an entry level economy car that anyone can buy. Imagine what kind of excitement a Tesla sedan would have made or a modern aerodynamic 18 wheeler pulling a 53 ' trailer down the interstate at 70 mph. What a long strange trip it's been.

[@frankfarago2825]

Tesla vehicles -- an anomaly that should not have happened and hopefully will go away soon. And I actually quite like Mr. Elon Musk.

[@lancekoz]

My dad was a travelling account rep for a casting manufacturer thru the Sixties. He was given a new, but basic Chevy Bel Air to drive for his work every two years. He spent work weeks mostly on midwestern roads, blazing sun with no AC, snowy winters with RWD, with only an AM radio for company. He had to lift heavy boxes of samples out of a dark, cavernous trunk. I have a mid-level Dodge Journey now, and I think about what a miracle car it would have seemed to him, how much easier it would have made his life.

[@Tracert-mc1hu]

@@lancekoz I would still rather the Bel Air

[@jthomas3773]

@@frankfarago2825 Musk is a tw@t.

[@blakeposter7496]

nah the Fiesta was never considered exotic.

[@johna.4334]

Dig this music...like far out man!

[@brendang673]

Amazing how this program predicted the rise of electric cars 50 years ago.

[@trainliker100]

There were electric cars long before gasoline cars (early 1800's). In the U.S., electric cars were getting somewhat common in the very early 1900's and there were even charging stations in places like downtown Chicago. At the time, gasoline cars were noisy, messy, hand cranked to start, and considered not very friendly for women (considered delicate creatures at the time) wanting to drive someplace to do shopping. But gas cars completely took over when the model T made a gas car affordable to the masses. I remember two little old ladies who used to still drive their Baker Electric to our church every Sunday in the 1950's. And when Studebaker first started developing their own car (had been a wagon manufacturer originally) they thought electric was the way to go. They produced electric cars 1902 to 1912 because they too thought gas cars were noisy, smoky, and messy things. But the marketplace wanted gas cars pretty quickly so after buying three gas car automakers in succession, Studebaker developed their first gas car.

[@johnp139]

Yet they still aren’t practical.

[@Bl00dMalice]

@@johnp139They are proven practical.

[@migbham1]

​@@johnp139I just drove round trip from Atlanta to Virginia for my weekly vacation. >300 miles each way, and a total of 20 minutes of charging each way, costing a grand total of $1.86. Not sure what your idea of "very practical" is, but I'm guessing that you're a republican.

[@kenbob1071]

@@trainliker100 It wasn't so much the market place that wanted gas cars, it was more the big oil companies like Standard.

[@clarkpeters8273]

I remember watching this in 1969. The part at 15 minutes where they measured how many speed and steering changes he made stuck with me. To this day I am very aware of those two parts of my driving.

[@BlueBoy0]

According to Wikipedia, the yearly motor vehicle fatality rate in the US actually peaked in 1969 and has gone down since. It's now comparable to the one in 1922.

[@mikewynne7131]

I wonder what the horse and buggy fatality rate was?

[@snowrocket]

It's safer cars and roads; drivers are just as dumb and now text when they shouldn't.

[@henrystowe6217]

The fatality rate has actually been consistently dropping since 1931. It rose between 1976 and 1980. Again in 2004-05 and again after 2014. Today's increases can be explained by poor car designs which limit outward visibility and increase driver distractions

[@maxpowers8243]

50 years, and our roads don't look much different

[@thomaspalmer6453]

This show was very prescient. It accurately predicted the coming of electric cars, blind spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, and navigation. They had crude examples, but the ideas were all there.

[@trainliker100]

Electric cars were somewhat commonplace about 1900 to 1912 and there were even charging stations in places like downtown Chicago.

[@user-ne3yw2cu6c]

I think the Steam car was more exciting and made a Grand entrance. 4:05

[@hebneh]

Only old people who were alive when this episode was first shown will have some memory of the perceived mystique of the often-mentioned "Year 2000". We looked forward to this upcoming milestone with both excitement and some worry, as this program shows.

[@dennishuffstutler9820]

As an official "old person", I agree. I was 8 years old at the time of this airing. In elementary school at this time we saw movies about "The 21st Century and what was coming. We were told there would be flying cars, Robots, Jetpacks. The average driver can't handle driving on the ground let alone in the air.

[@hebneh]

@@dennishuffstutler9820 The idea that there would be personal aircraft (planes and helicopters) comparable to how people had personal cars had been around for decades by then, and I agree, how on earth were all these flying things not going to be constantly smashing into each other?

[@scliradalandsman8201]

Excellent video. I somewhat remember this series!

[@donaldbabineau1063]

Gotta love the funky soundtrack with all that electric keyboard and heavy base.

[@fubuh8r]

To think adaptive cruise control took a little over 40 years to be put to market when it was being tested already back then.

[@Kinann]

Pretty sure that's a normal cycle. Graphene might be really really cool is 20 - 30 years.

[@OnTheRocks71]

ABS, Airbags, adaptive cruise, heads up displays...a few of the many things that came to fruition.

[@mackpines]

Any film that has Walter Cronkite either narrating or being featured is a joy to watch. Greatest anchor in TV history. Such an iconic voice. My parents watched CBS News every night.

[@matrox]

Walter is rolling in his grave with all the lies and fake news the feed us today.

[@jeffcharlton9660]

Absolutely

[@ManuelGarcia-ww7gj]

What is the second most common waste product generated by driving an automobile? Tire dust. That's right. All that grimy road dust is mostly from wear on tires. Electric cars are much heavier than cars driven by internal combustion engines so they wear out tires faster. Don't scoff. When it comes to a comfortable environment for the city dwellers, this is not a minor issue. Worse, it intensifies water pollution by at least an order of magnitude and is far less tractable than sanitary waste.

[@antonsmith9788]

Perhaps CBS should do a new series: “Imagining the 22nd Century: Roadless Frontiers”

[@moretacos1]

Ford: we invent great technology and then wait 40 years to implement it.

[@electraglide9357]

I know right? Air bags and anti-lock brakes were ready to go in 1969 yet did not show up for over 20 years!

[@robertsprouse9282]

@@electraglide9357, two things to consider: 1.The Cost of manufacturing and to car purchasers; hand in hand with all of that is connected to the labor and materials/parts needed to make the "pillows"/airbags and steering wheels to house them, and what happens, liability insurance-wise if they were to malfunction, again playing to cost for both consumer and maker; and- 2. The Technology gap whereby people after hearing about airbags malfunctioning still have to be able to trust the technology, or else it might take them years to accept and buy into the tech of the airbag, sometimes that reluctance is there even if the tech works. Hesitancy slows down the rate of purchases, thus affecting the motivation to broaden access to consumers vis-a-vis automobile equipment features as options, or as standard equipment. And, you could add a summarial psychological gap for those two going together, as well.. All of that delayed the implementation of that technology. It was easier and cheaper and more accepted by the public to just improve and tweak the cars' "innards" to facilitate more safety.

[@21stcenturyfossil7]

@@electraglide9357 Chrysler had anti lock brakes available on the Imperial in 1971. Ford had a version of the one demonstrated in 72. GM sold some vehicles with airbags in 1973.

[@pierceferriter4664]

@@electraglide9357 they were hardly ready to go.

[@snowrocket]

Ford offered a rear ABS on high end Mercury and Lincoln cars, as did Chrysler. They were high-priced and not popular. Most people didn't want safety until the middle 1980s, so selling most safety options was an unprofitable venture for carmakers.

[@lifeisgood12341]

Amazing how much came to fruition out of these predictions.

[@andreasu.3546]

Still waiting for the appearance of the freon steam engine automobile.

[@johnp139]

Is that the car that burned Jay Leno?

[@frankfarago2825]

@@johnp139 No, his is a model year 1917 or earlier.

[@user-ne3yw2cu6c]

I agree! I think the Steam car was more exciting and made a Grand entrance. 4:05

[@wilfrediakajr.6624]

automatics spacing, anti-lock braking, heart rate monitors, battery powered cars, and this is the late 60's. wtf is going on here 2019?

[@micmac99]

21:27 You left out GPS

[@nathanc6204]

@@micmac99 GPS seems to have worked out better than what they were imagining back then.

[@sylvester7320]

IT ABOUT MONEY, YOU CAN,T MAKE AS MUCH MONEY ON BATTERY POWER CARS THEN GAS, THEN AGAIN YOU CAN NOT TRUST THE GOVERNMENT.

[@gemini6828]

and yet, NO air bags.

[@philrabe910]

40 years of wars, my friend. Very Expensive Wars.

[@be6715]

Such a benign use of traffic camera - too bad they became of more use to increase a city's revenue instead. And a forerunner of GPS directional navigation. Way cool!

[@johnnyedify]

It shows that basic battery technology was being developed over 50 years ago and is just beginning to take hold. Wonder what took so long. Ditto for the adaptive cruise control.

[@bloqk16]

Probably the expense. Saab produced a car with higher degrees of safety features than their lower-priced competitors. Problem was, Saab never got a foothold in the US market as people didn't flock to buying safer cars costing thousands more. Saab is now out-of-business.

[@laranaarana]

I was 7 years old when tis programme was made. Amazing to see that this many people take for granted today began to be thought off way back then!

[@Smittyschannel]

Really cool to see the inception of many safety features that are commonplace today

[@Cobra3901]

I was a “kid” and remember watching several episodes of this show. Interesting how most of the things that were futuristic in the late sixties became true. Not always quite as they predicted, GPS is way better than the primitive version they had thought up back then. Almost everything in the show that they predicted would happen did in one way or another. Cool seeing Walter,he retired when I was about 20, I remember Dad watching him almost every night.

[@electraglide9357]

The automatic braking system to keep distance between cars did not show up for almost 50 years! That is just crazy!

[@beastbee0118]

That opening V8 though... Music to my ears!

[@wishcj00]

My grandfather said he'd never drive another car without anti-lock brakes after his 1970's Imperial. It was over 30 years before he bought a new Cadillac in the 1990s with that technology.

[@genxskeptic5816]

It’s amazing this kind of research was being done just a few years after I was born. And I’m getting old! 😂

[@kb3byu]

I loved this series when I was a kid

[@audieconrad8995]

I remember watching this episode as a young lad. And never forgot it... How prophetic. Walter Cronkite does not get enough credit as one of the MOST influential people of his generation.

[@timford3599]

When it comes to the most influential person of their generation. I think it would be a tie between Walter and JFK. Walter wins the tie breaker for being the man who first announced that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had successfully managed the feat of "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The eagle has landed." Unfortunately the very man who challenged America's best and brightest to achieve that feat before "The end of the decade" was taken from a grieving Nation long before he would ever see his dream come true...

[@bloqk16]

Well, folklore has it that US President Johnson said in 1968 that if he lost the support from Cronkite about the Vietnam War, then he lost the nation's support.

[@ericaelliot8354]

I LOVED THIS SHOW!!!

[@everett403]

The closing music has stayed with me all of my life. Majestic, noble, profound, I need to know where this music came from, who composed it?

[@billmason2785]

Play the music with one phone....use another phone next to it with Google listen.....will tell you that song👍

[@solemandd67]

Prophetically Entertaining. I was 4 going on 5 y/o in 4/'69 and remember when optional Rim Blow horns were introduced in '68-'69. My aunt's '69 Marquis Brougham was so equipped. They allowed you to blow the horn by squeezing a rubber strip tucked within the inner surface of the steering wheel rim. You maintained control of the car while blowing the horn without having to move your hand from the steering wheel. I wish they'd bring that feature back. I don't believe radio buttons belong on the steering wheel. Thanks for posting. ❤🚘👍🏾

[@MarkWasylyshyn]

Great video! Amazing to see how far back they foresaw many of today’s safety and convenience features. TOO MANY COMMERCIALS! I get we need advertising but not three or four minutes apart….😢

[@jameswillett7186]

General Motors was the first car company in the world to offer air bags. It was called an air cushioning system when it was introduced in the fall of 1973.

[@effend446]

And yet, the public rejected it initially.

[@Tuck_Frump]

The electronic music back then felt real than the electronic music today.

[@jeffcharlton9660]

Love how prophetic this show was.

[@beachbum1523]

I remember growing up in the1960's and writing school essays on what life would be like in the year 2000AD. I never imagined that we'd be in such a deplorable state. In 1965, Detroit was the most prosperous city in what was once the most prosperous nation on Earth; now, it's a war zone. As a baby boomer, it sickens me to see how my generation could undo what the Greatest Generation had built for us.

[@simonjones7727]

Detroit was well on its way to being a war zone by 1975. Everything began to unravel after the Oil Crisis, but to be fair, the post war world made a lot of assumptions about global resources and unresolved conflicts that ultimately were just naïve. It is a if we had a quick tidy up in 1945-1970 and put a lot of things away in cupboards. One by one after 1973 we re-opened those cupboards and were horrified at what came tumbling out.

[@trainliker100]

I have a 1964 Studebaker Avanti which tried to have more safety than most. Padded dashed with recessed controls and a built-in rollbar for example. And the gas tank was directly behind the rear seat and in the usual location there was the spare tire under a round panel in the bottom of the trunk - that way a rear end collision doesn't hit the gas tank first like on most cars. And it came standard with seat belts which were a fairly new thing at the time - but it had a "seatbelt delete" option because, at the time, some people feared them with the "they trap you in a burning car" argument. It still came with just a single master brake cylinder, but everybody would be switching to a dual shortly after.

[@jeffrobodine8579]

Supercharged 289?

[@trainliker100]

@@jeffrobodine8579 No. The "normally aspirated" R1 with a 4 barrel, a bit of hot cam, and 10.25:1 compression (how they came from the factory). 240 horsepower. Frankly, a supercharged R2 engine is fun to get the "oohs and ahhs" a few times but that wears off and you just have another maintenance headache, but you do get 30 more horsepower. Also, where some valuation sites add five thousand dollars if supercharged, R1's and R2's actually go for about the same money in real life. Now, if it was one of the R3 supercharged engines (quite a bit different animal) those are worth a lot.

[@karlkamphefner8529]

My R-1 Studebaker Avanti engine needs a rebuild, but my R-4 under its hood doesn't. 🙂

[@trainliker100]

@@karlkamphefner8529 If you have an R4 engine, the car did not originally come with it as no Avantis were sold with the R4. They did sell some of the R4 engines by themselves. And somebody can certainly make an R4 clone as there are those who have made R3 clones. So, I figure your gas mileage is about 12 mpg, or 10, or 8.

[@kevincruz4045]

I think about 63 some models had a tandem master cylinder on the firewall. Too bad they decided to stop making cars.😕

[@kimberlywentworth9160]

Wow, this is an amazing. Our cars now have most of that tech.

[@robertmedina3846]

I have seen ALL of the first series called THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. As a film collector and film repair ( restorationist) I have several if the Twentieth Century shows UNCUT with original Prudential commercials. It woyld have been great of CBS shot this series in Technicolor. All of those shows are either pink or red. Great show the 21st Century. I remember the First 20th century: Churchill: Man of the Century The last episode: The Woman Doctor in Vietnam. Those were the Golden Years of Television... My last CBS NETWORK 20th Century was The Movies Learn To Talk. All have Prudential commercials/next weeks preview!!!!

Can you upload some?

[@IraQNid]

Part of the closing music sounds like the introduction to the original Battlestar Galactica TV show. Many of the things talked about in this that were in research are common place today.

[@ryangormley343]

the part about using Freon to power the steam powered car oh man that would have went well it definitely solved the pollution issue lmao

[@johnp139]

That was the ozone layer.

[@mattmayo3539]

4:10 And that’s why steam powered cars never took off.

[@frankfarago2825]

That was surprising, not sure if a steam car of today would have to do that every time you shut down the engine. I doubt it.

[@jayclark5912]

2 things that saved countless lives. ABS and SRS. Self driving will be a standard feature in less than 20 years.

[@ChatGPT1111]

Well that blows. Take away anything that makes one feel alive. We'll be too numb to care about DC shenanigans at all.

[@user-Jon526]

Watching this awesome show and many others like this in 2020

[@nikmills]

Forget the word "Air Bags." I'm going with "Inflated Pillows."

[@joe6096]

Side impact door beams. Air bags. Anti-lock brakes. And at 10:57 we have forward collision sensing, radar guided cruise control!!!! This isn't an advertisement for the new 2023 models at your local car dealer, this is 1969! Amazing to see what we all take for granted today in modern cars being developed by engineers as "future" technology

[@Tennesseestorm76]

My grandmother had a '72 Lincoln with anti-lock brakes... pretty rare for it's time.

[@vinnieravioli4653]

i will never call it an air bag again...from now on until the day i die i will refer to them as "inflated pillows"

[@rockitsurjon8629]

The testers should have given a little hand held device to Walter and told him "While driving, you must take your eyes off the road and focus on this device for seconds at a time."

[@philipmcdonagh1094]

That hand held device is now a fair sized interactive screen an the dashboard, which idiot came up with that idea. There's adds for cars showing people driving while fiddling around with that screen, be safer to use a phone.

[@dave1956]

I really enjoyed this.

[@GeeEm1313]

The collapsing sign post was an interesting concept. I wonder why it never stuck.

[@jasonrodgers9063]

Really hurts me to see all those wonderful classic cars being crashed!

[@waynebrown8513]

When I was a child, my family and I lived here for 2 years. My father was stationed at the China Lake Naval Weapons Station.

[@sdrape4964]

I would love to have that AMC wagon!

[@mjg263]

Yeah, pretty cool! Looked like a Rambler American station wagon.

[@johnchildress6717]

It,s probably still around.Would be cool to see it and its history.

[@flashindapan7965]

In 1969 with the average American car, merging onto traffic at freeway speeds was genuinely terrifying.

[@dougauzene8389]

I Owned A 69 T-Bird like the one in the opening credits...

[@briangeraghty1555]

My parents were graduating high school in 1969. They are now 72. They basically nailed the electric concept in this!

[@alphonso136]

showing the '69 mark 3 with abs, this was called "suretrack"it controlled the rear wheels only.Chrysler however offered 4 wheel anti lock with 4 wheel disk