The limits of motorization - fifty years ago
Fifty years ago, people were already thinking about the limits of motorization, at least in trade journals such as the Automobil Revue (e.g. editorial AR No. 52/1962). It should be noted that at that time there were neither speed limits nor relevant regulations regarding noise and exhaust emissions.
"Whether mankind is setting limits to motorization in its current form through the development of technology is a question that cannot be answered objectively at present," wrote Alfred Raaflaub at the time. And he wondered whether technology would find other means of transportation in the next 50 or 100 years (i.e. practically by today) that could completely or partially replace the automobile because they seemed even more suitable. He was thinking of helicopters or even hovercrafts.
We know today that no alternative mobility technology has managed to replace the automobile.
Even microcars, which pushed the boundaries of mobility downwards, so to speak, did not catch on, at least not at the time when the Peel P 50 (pictured above) was presented. And this despite the fact that they could even be easily parked by delicate female hands ...
The picture of the Peel P 50 can of course also be found in high resolution in the Zwischengas archive.
