THE BIG IDEA ANALOG FOR THE AGES
WHILE DIGITAL technology has introduced lavish advances in automotive comfort and convenience, it's also impacting notions of exclusivity and collectibility. Nothing ages a vehicle faster, for example, than an outdated infotainment system. Such inevitable obsolescence and the looming era of silent, sterile EVs are why a few elite manufacturers and restorers are embracing an unapologetically analog approach.
“The automotive world is going through a paradigm shift,” says Rob Dickinson, founder of Singer Vehicle Design, known for transformative restorations of the Porsche 911. “Electric power means that huge speed is relatively easy to accomplish, so it's less of a differentiator. Perhaps there's a renewed interest in analog as a result— the emotional connection for an owner engaging with a bighearted flat-six and a three-pedal manual transmission is a powerful one.”
The approximately $2 million Pagani Utopia, our pick for Best Hypercar last year, not only has a traditional power train, with the 864 hp 12-cylinder engine mated to a manual gearbox, it also features meticulously crafted switchgear and gauges. “We like simple, lightweight cars focused on dynamics and not driven by the latest electronic devices,” says Christopher Pagani of his family's boutique marque, adding that while “there's always an evolution of our models, sometimes the evolution doesn't include screens.” Which is good news for owners looking to personalize the cockpit, as with one example's Hermèscommissioned interior.
“Screen inflation dates the car like nothing else,” says Bugatti design director Frank Heyl. Referencing the French automaker's 100-year-old Type 35, he notes that “these cars are still in collectors’ garages, they're still being raced, so for any new car we now make, we have to keep the aspect of timelessness in mind.” Slow adoption (or no adoption) of software-dependent trappings safeguards a brand's legacy. Plus, in many ways, high-end markets have long
