The Rabbit Hole

After a long break, I’m writing this newsletter about the future of me/you/us/our cars. I suggest you re-read the previous article (reprinted below) before diving into this latest version as you have undoubtedly forgotten what I wrote about in the Wild, Wild West article I published in 2023. — Lucinda Lewis, aka Drivr

Although it’s been over two years since I last wrote, it’s still wild here on the technology frontier, and I’ve had real moments when I wondered if the cryptographic world could ever clean its act up. I confess to complete bewilderment at some of the shenanigans I’ve seen go down. The world of web3 has moved at a blistering pace, and like any race car driver knows, it is challenging to drive the chicane in front of you while simultaneously envisioning yourself crossing the finish line.

Like Alice in Wonderland, I stumbled down the rabbit hole of blockchain, AI, and cryptographic technologies. And just like Alice, some of my experiences in Wonderland were beyond my wildest imaginings. Lucky for me that I was trained from an early age to navigate and land small aircraft on dirt runways if necessary. When web3 advertisements to “Drink Me” appeared on the horizon, I was wary if they were actually a tempting invitation to crash and burn. As a beginning VFR pilot skirting towering cumulous clouds in the mountains, it was drilled into my head that the sudden appearance of a bit of blue sky might be an enormous Sucker Hole that would pull me into the eye of the thunderstorm.

Nonetheless, I have single-mindedly conducted target practices over many years to better understand how the automotive community could use these emerging technologies to enhance, preserve, and protect our automotive heritage, my lifelong obsession. For many years, I have produced, catalogued and defended digital artifacts: photos, videos, data and stories of many great automobiles and our surrounding car culture. For me, it is one of the greatest human stories ever told that is both global and epic in scope.

Because you are part of the automotive cognoscenti, you’ve probably already seen a lot of AI-generated cars on social media that are misrepresented as unique, groundbreaking undiscovered “barn finds.” I’ve often commented on many of these posts, pointing out that these cars never existed and would have been impossible to build in the era the author claims.

Many people on social media are abuzz about the new AI-generated automotive artwork. They’re amazed, asking questions like, “Why have I never seen this car? I’d totally buy it!” or “How much is it worth? It must be priceless now!” But here’s the thing: many of these provocative cars displayed on social media never existed and the casual hobbyist cannot discriminate.

This new way of creating things makes it hard to tell what’s real and what’s not, and has confused many people, especially casual social media users who don’t know much about AI but spontaneously love classic cars. These enthusiasts and potential collectors struggle to figure out what’s real and what’s not.

Although we are at an inflection point in human history, the fascination with iconic automobiles persists into the present day, using generative AI to fuel its interests. The way artificial intelligence is being gathered, aggregated, and integrated is mind-blowing, scary, and simultaneously full of potential and danger. The words, “Sucker Hole” echo through my mind from time to time, but I am programmed to land the plane.

It is up to us, the automotive community, to verify, authenticate, and preserve our provenance. We must find a way to set the record straight and make authenticated and verified knowledge accessible.

As individual car collectors, you have control over a great deal of important information for future generations. As you contribute to the digital record of car culture, new economies will evolve. And as an added bonus to opening our collective knowledge, I envision the car community will have more influence over the cars that will be built. Blockchain technologies will shorten the supply chain and allow OEMs to more directly engage with their customers. It’s a win-win solution fueling future innovations.

If you are attending Monterey Car Week this August, I urge you to attend the Pebble Beach Classic Car Forum on Preserving Provenance For Future Generations: The Need for a National Automotive Archives Consortium. We must all pull together to set up some safeguards for the future to protect our collective intelligence.

Just like in Alice in Wonderland, the journey down the rabbit hole can be a wild ride, and it might have both good and bad outcomes initially. I have aggregated provenance surrounding car culture for most of my life and have developed a pilot program to test out some ideas that will begin launching as a mobile app imminently, entitled Car Culture: CarMania Garage. You can think of CarMania as a virtual garage that will evolve over time.

Initially, I will be sharing unique NFT and digital collectible artwork inscribed onchain about Car Culture that has riveted my attention over the years. My mission has always been to preserve automotive heritage and cultural stories surrounding iconic cars. I hope you will collect and support my work and subscribe to this newsletter to remain updated.

But make no mistake, this must be a community-driven project that aims to preserve the incredible inventions of human intelligence that began around 1885 when automotive dreams became realities. Let’s seize the opportunity to transmute our collective car culture experiences into the book of knowledge inscribed on a state-of-the-art chassis. Let’s build a new kind of automobile together: one with a 360-degree view of the automobile as works of art, engineering feats, and part of a tapestry of human expression and endeavor.

We have a rich community of talented artists, authors, scholars, craftsmen, designers, engineers, librarians, collectors, car clubs, financiers, and museums that each have significant contributions to impart. Support them all and keep driving as we develop new forms of transportation.