Okay, so maybe that title is a stretch, but for 30 years now, engineers have been working on a vehicle fitted with an intelligent driving system - essentially creating an autonomous car. This has been a fantasy for a number of drivers who pine for an auto-pilot function that simply takes all of the hassle out of driving.

It's unlikely that we will see anything like Kit from Knight Rider or Stephen King's Christine (well, hopefully) but in recent history, there have been a number of giant steps towards building a completely autonomous car.

The first example of an autonomous vehicle appeared in Japan, 1977, with a vehicle manufactured by Tsukuba Mechanical Engineering Lab, which was able to reach speeds of 20mph on a clearly marked course. This was primitive but adequately effective, yet garnered little attention from the automotive industry.

In the 1980s, Mercedes-Benz created a robotic van that was able to reach speeds of over 60 mph on streets without traffic. This caught the attention of the European Commission who then began the funding of the €800 million EUREKA Prometheus Project. The 80s also saw the creation of the Autonomous Land Vehicle in the USA, which was able to travel over 600 metres at around 2 mph, traversing complex terrain environments.

In 1994, twin robot vehicles Vita-2 and VaMP of Daimler-Benz and Ernst Dickmanns were able to drive over 1000 km on a Paris highway in heavy traffic, reaching speeds up to 80 mph, with only light human interventions. These vehicles were capable of navigating free lanes, convoy driving and completing lane changes fully autonomously.

The following year, an autonomous S-Class Mercedes-Benz travelled from Munich to Copenhagen and back using autonomous technologies. The vehicle was able to reach speeds around 110 mph with approximately 95% completely autonomous driving time. The Carnegie Mellon University Navlab project also created a vehicle this year driving approximately 5000km achieving 98.2% autonomous driving.

There have also been a number of Government efforts which are able to navigate extended stretches of off-road terrain and common obstacles. These are still in development are as follows - Demo I and Demon III (US Army) and Demo II (DARPA).

Most recently, in 2008, General Motors announced that they will be testing driverless cars by 2015, meaning that they could be seen on the road by 2018 depending on results.

From a comparatively basic design contained within a Mercedes-Benz Van all the way to an Audi Coupe that is expected to drive 8,000 miles, driverless cars have seen a major evolution. With further testing, funding and confidence in letting your car drive for you, these vehicles could very well become a common appearance on roads near you.