In the 1950s Louis Golding loosely followed the footsteps of Odysseus in a quest to reach Ithaca after three decades of detours.  He occasionally resorted to 20th century transport options.  This was in the relatively early days of the automotive age when safety measures and requirements were less in evidence.  Here his driver Dimitrios engages his passenger in a passionate discussion about quails, leading us to the discovery of self-driving cars some 70 years ago. 

“Ah, quail! Yes, yes! Quail!”  He turned and embraced me warmly. The taxi drove itself round a sharp corner, with a fifty-foot drop under the road. 

Source: Louis Golding, Good-bye to Ithaca (London: Hutchinson, 1955), p. 141

Photo credit: kordi_vahle at pixabay