It’s been a while since manually driven, gasoline automobiles gave way to electric vehicles with autopilot. Just as horses and buggies gave way to motor cars, the transition wasn’t easy, but it was inevitable.

And, just as owning a horse became a costly luxury, an expensive hobby for those who truly enjoyed riding, so owning a car, one that you have to fill up with fuel, and drive yourself, has become an anachronistic occupation for those with time and money to spare.

In Europe and the Americas, it’s rare to find a city that allows self-piloted autos on its highways. It’s just too dangerous to allow human drivers to venture into the high-speed real-time computerized traffic flow, managed by the network of connected vehicles and intelligent infrastructure. There are no stoplights, and combustion engines are banned.

Why would you want to own a car, when you can summon a ride on demand, anytime, that is guaranteed to get you somewhere safely, and at the lowest cost? Imagine the nightmare of insurance, parking and legal compliance, to say nothing of an idle asset rusting away while you’re asleep or working!

But the modern version of the hipster, those guys who rode fixed cog bicycles and played vinyl records, has a new fad: petrolheading. Finding and maintaining a fuel burner isn’t easy, and as for getting a driver’s license, that’s often out of the question.

As a result, most petrolheaders gather in places beyond the city limits, at abandoned race tracks and parking lots, or in the desert, where they can indulge in their strange amusement without breaking the law.

Whatever they call it, it’s not driving!