I like your analogy, but isn't it strange, we always seem to have donkey carts mixed in with old Chevys, and Mazzeratis, let alone jets and beyond? Perhaps these are the transitionals that the evolutionists are seeking. Another problem too is that of the observer -- whereas one may perceive a "donkey cart", another, aware of other information in the cosmos, might well be in awe of a stealth fighter, which was mistaken for a donkey cart because the first observer had no idea of what he was seeing
As to consciousness, it's probably "outside the quantum" and can't be measured