Today's high-end automobiles are the incubators of tomorrow's high-tech cars. Several of this year's top luxury models, for instance, offer such innovative features as 3-D Surround Sound stereo systems, night vision cameras, touch screens with mobile phone and seat adjustment apps and even Air Balance packages that filter, purify and perfume the interior cabin air. In a few years, more humble vehicles will likely sport the same upgrades.

Some of these novel features are optional, but are sure to become standard in such high-end cars like Bentley, Tesla, Mercedes Benz and Italy's trio of superb driving machines—Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati. The luxury automobile industry has really pushed the envelope of technological ingenuity in recent years. Back in the 1970s, a seatbelt was the key safety feature, and drivers weren't even required to snap them shut. Today, some high-end brands tout seatbelts that will tighten the second the car senses an imminent accident.

Such "smart machines," as they're now called, may also include a set of pre-tension brakes that determine if the car is closing in too fast on the one in front of it. Sensors at the front of the automobile depress the brakes to slow down the vehicle accordingly. As for tomorrow's cars, as Google's driverless cars demonstrate, the sensor-driven data analytics will do a good part of the driving for you.