INTERVJU AUSTRIA
was doing this - I honestly should make some sort of commitment to the environment. And so, I got to- gether with a bunch of super geni- uses, and they said with AI and ro- botics we probably could clean up the planet in the next two years. I said, ‘let's do it!’ Immediately they started backtracking and I felt pissed off by the inefficiency of the human experience”. What does your collection mean to you? “I don’t know if it's nostalgia for the cars, or if it's the nostalgia for that time, but to me they are like touchstones to memories; that it’s a way to not have them fade. It's so soothing, it's comforting to me.” Where did your love for driving come from? “It was really from my mom that I got my passion for driving. My mom loved to drive and she was a really good driver, 20 times better than my dad! She could drive any type of car – a truck or semi if she had to. By the time I was in my mid- 20s, I had watched her enough that no matter what car I wound up in, I could get it going”. What was the story be- hind the first car you trans- formed on the show? “We called it the anos ump- er because it's big, it's loud, it's pur- ple, it looks like it could eat the world - and it definitely eats a lot of gas! And so, when I got the idea to eco- mod some of my car collection, it wasn’t long until I was looking at this beast of a truck and thinking, ‘what if I went electric with that – is it even possible?’ I can tell these guys think I’m crazy to be messing with the car, it's already been immac- ulately restored and now I’m going to be re-restoring it! But here’s the thing - that truck is insanely loud, insanely powerful, pumps out an in- sane amount of exhaust fumes. It's like the ultimate monument to the internal combustion engine. Now, I want to tear it down, and make it in- to another type of monument: qui- eter, zero emissions, but just as pow- erful; to turn it into the strong and silent type - just like me!”
ROBERT DOWNEY JR, ACTOR After Marvel, I changed to another universe New documentary series Downey’s Dream Cars premiered in late June on streaming platform HBO Max, so we can now watch the Iron Man star in a completely new and unexpected role A way from the sil- ver screen, Robert Downey Jr, one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, loves classic cars.
journey. It’s also just fun to watch,” says Robert Downey Jr. What's your motive for go- ing on this journey, and transforming your collec- tion into eco-mod vehicles? “What I am is an American boy, who grew up in New York, watching the French Connection and Bullitt. And 42 years later I’d amassed a col- lection, which is what I thought you were meant to do when you become successful. You're supposed to col- lect things; you’re supposed to have artefacts of your success. You are supposed to be able to drive these symbols of how you’ve succeeded in America. My priorities are in a com- pletely different place now, and yet, I still love these cars. I feel like they represent something uniquely beau- tiful about the past. So, I want to bring them into the present, may- be even the future”. How did you establish the Footprint Coalition? “I was wrapping up my Marvel contract, and so I kind of made all the similarities between my jour- ney in the Marvel universe along with what’s really happened with AI and robotics over the last 10, 15 years, and then I thought while I
But he’s also dedicated to fighting cli- mate change and paving the way to a more sustainable planet. Combining these two passions comes Downey’s Dream Cars, a documentary series that follows the actor and his high- ly skilled team of mechanics as they restore his beloved collection of clas- sic cars to make them faster, more powerful, and yes – more environ- mentally friendly – all while keep- ing their souls intact. “We are what we drive, and hav- ing amassed a formidable collection of classic cars over the years, I was a petrol spewing mess. And a hyp- ocrite, as I’d founded the Footprint Coalition in 2019 to scale technol- ogies that mitigate climate change. Fortunately, I’m also a bit of a dream- er. e last 3 years have been an ex- periment in hope, as I engaged the best and brightest minds to eval- uate, educate, elevate, and decar- bonize these vehicles in a way that demonstrates the limitless potential of creative problem-solving. It was a huge challenge and an enlightening
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