Heavy Traffic On Memory Lane

From The Jetsons to Blade Runner, popular culture has suggested the cars of the 21st century would be futuristic flying machines. Turns out, many will instead look a lot like the ones found sitting in driveways 40 years ago.

Thanks to the wild successes of Volkswagen's New Beetle in 1998 and Chrysler's PT Cruiser a year later, a full-blown retro car craze is gathering steam. Proof of their appeal? The new Beetle already accounts for about a quarter of Volks-wagen's U.S. sales and the PT Cruiser has been sold out since it went on sale last spring. Now comes the return of that 1960s flower-power staple, the Volkswagen Microbus. The German carmaker plans to unveil a throwback concept vehicle, the Samba, modeled on the original hippie bus, at the Detroit Auto show, which runs Jan. 13-21.