elfs | James P. Hogan, Prophet

James P. Hogan was one of those writers who, in my youth, I regularly consumed for his combination of science, speculation, and politics. The prologue to Code of the Lifemaker is considered one of the better pieces of speculation in the business, and the first volume of the Giant's Star trilogy, Inherit The Stars, is still popular with readers. In recent years, it's become widely accepted that Hogan has met the brain eater, that mysterious disease whereby SF writers burn out and become... weird. In Hogan's case, it's a fascination with "Chariots of the Gods" type questions.

Hogan was never thought of as a short-story writer, but he did write some. One of them, Generation Gap, has a moment that has now come true.

The opening protagonist is driving his General Motors Leopard, a low, sleek, and curvy design "contrived by its designers to convey subliminal suggestions of sexual potency." It has dummy intakes and racing exhausts and a faux wood-and-leather interior that "suggested confidence and that rugged masculinity marketing psychologists had identified in the self-images of 72.3% of males." The car has extra speakers hidden under the seats and footwells to provide synthesized wind-noise and tire squeals.

The Ford Mustang comes close to being this car. In an interview with the designer of the 2005 Ford Mustang, he admitted that the car was deliberately targeted at aging baby boomers who want to convey an image of well-maintained masculine power. The steering wheel was made smaller than usual to convey a "this is not a-mom-and-pop SUV feel," while the power steering is now computer-controlled and carefully tuned to compensate. The Mustang has the same overall dimensions as the 1968 model, but the deck has been raised five inches "to be easier on the aging knees of the consumers of this car." The centerline has been made narrower, and the doors bulge slightly, to make room for the larger seats to accomodate larger owners.

The Ford Mustang has always been popular, but its popularity soared in 1968 when Steve McQueen drove one through the streets of San Francisco in the cannonical car-chase movie, Bullit. The true moment of Hogan's foresight shines when the designer of the car states that they digitized every moment of that movie's audiotrack and then tuned the exhaust pipes on the 2005 Mustang to sound exactly like those moments when McQueen revves the engine. Then he goes on to say that they also set the lights back and beefed up the hood a bit so that it looks like McQueen's lowered brow and deep-set, "growly" eyes.

It's a $25,000 movie prop. And Hogan nailed it.