Fantasies of the future are now reality.

Mercedes' Drive Pilot isn't cheap, but the future never is.

- Angus MacKenzie

The future has a habit of sneaking up on you. It seems only yesterday I was testing cars with carburetors and overhead valves and live rear axles and three-speed transmissions. Only hand-built Italian exotics had anything more than 350 hp. You approached a 245-hp Buick Grand National with equal parts fear and fascination.

Yet here I was behind the wheel of a 516-hp electric-powered Mercedes limousine as it wafted silently along in heavy traffic on the autobahn outside Berlin. And, truth is, I wasn't paying too much attention to the traffic. Instead, was watching a video on the screen at the center of the dash. The Mercedes was driving itself.

Now available as an option on EQS and S-Class models sold in Germany, Mercedes-Benz Drive Pilot is the world's first legally approved Level 3 autonomous drive system. It costs the equivalent of $5,000 on an S-Class and $7,900 on an EQS because you must order it along-side the $2,600 Driver Assistance package. It's not cheap, but the future never is.