If you were to buy a car with no electrical system, no fenders, a crazy exposed drivetrain that would eat your clothing, tires that went flat every few weeks, wheel-rim brakes, a Rube Goldberg transmission with little cable-operated arms that iced up in the winter, no way to carry cargo, a funny seating position that necessitated that the driver wear special clothing, and an expectation that every driver should be a mechanic and tinker for an hour or so a week, would you call the result "technically advanced?"

Note: I don't necessarily object to these limitations. In fact, the 1910 Mercer Raceabout meets much of the above description, and it's one of the cars I would love to own. I would not find it fully suitable for my trips to work or the store, however.

Paul