The world of motoring is hurtling headlong into a bright new future of all-electric, automated, connected technology - and Marty McFly is not behind the wheel! But what were the cars that were ‘back to the future’ of years gone by?

There have been many different trailblazing motors which were seen by the critics to be ahead of their time, and in this series, we will investigate and showcase many of the best in class.

Audi A8
Though the Germans have been producing the A8 saloon since 1994, it is the latest, fourth generation which was launched in 2017 which is really causing a stir.

The first production car to feature Level 3 autonomous driving, the kind of technology which gets Government legislators a little bit twitchy, hence the current ban on it being used in the UK.

Audi’s A8 is so advanced that the rest of the auto industry is playing catch-up, and fairly soon the laws of the road will have to be rewritten to cope.

With luxury cars in the saloon class reaching a plateau due to some real attention to detail given by the likes of Mercedes, BMW, Range Rover, Lexus et al, the manufacturers had to think outside the box to attract a new breed of drivers - and that’s where Audi is at with A8 driverless technology.

Audi’s technology is popping due to the MMI (Multi-Media Interface), a piece of kit that has been in the works for decades. Debuted back in 2002, it has finally evolved to a level beyond even the biggest imaginations. All of the car’s features are controlled by the MMI, including the air-con, massage seats, smartphone integration and of the LED mood-lighting.

But it's the driverless automation which is the headline act, and though its currently illegal to drive in automated mode in Britain, the battery of cameras, radars and laser sensors are just one software upgrade away from kicking into life.

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