I remember reading a bit of trivia – unverified so don’t hold me to it – that said that three-quarters of all the cars built by Rolls Royce over the course of its existence are still around. Some of them might be in museums, but they’re still ticking, which apparent is the only noise they make.
As I said, I don’t know if that is in fact true, but it seems plausible considering the care and craftsmanship that seems to go into Rolls Royce products. That raises the question; how cool would it be if everything we used could be built by Rolls Royce and to their exacting levels of quality?
That naturally leads to today’s question which is; what IS the coolest non-car thing that any car company has ever made. I mean, they can’t all be as nice as what Rolls likely would make – would you want a pacemaker made by Yugo? – but I’m sure there’s still some cool swag out there. Let’s see it!
Image: Stereo2go
Hooniverse Asks: What's the Best Non-Car Thing Any Car Company Has Ever Built?
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108 responses to “Hooniverse Asks: What's the Best Non-Car Thing Any Car Company Has Ever Built?”
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YAAAAAASSSS! I first read about those several years ago, and spent some time looking through the site victorysiren.com. Strangely, most of the site has now taken over by a site promoting antique shows, but this page of .wav files, where you can hear Chrysler Air Raid Sirens, still exists:
http://www.antiqueweekend.com/x/wav/sound.htm
As these used a Chrysler Hemi for power, many of the engines went into street rods once the sirens were retired.-
I like imagining the conversations that that must have resulted in.
“Nice ‘rod. What’d you pull the Hemi out of?”
“An air raid siren.”
“…come again?”-
A friend was building a rat rod and saw an ad for a 50s Chrysler hemi with 30 hours on it. It was in an air raid siren. He later found a still new in the crate army surplus 727 transmission. So his home built rat rod has a essentially new yet vintage drivetrain.
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All these years, and that sound still scares the ever-loving crap out of me.
The last cry from the last ,lonely, dying dinosaur….
The internal sound of a heart breaking…
The sound of Western Civilization ending…
Flashbulb pops….
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http://corporate.honda.com/images/assets/asimo_12_2011.jpg
I was going to say Honda’s motorcycles, probably one of the original Isle of Man TT bikes or something, but they were a motorcycle company before they were a car company. But Honda was also a car company before they were a robot company, so I’m going with Asimo.-
And they were a robot company before they were an aircraft company.
http://luxurylaunches.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/honda-jet-2.jpg -
I vaguely recall a story that Honda licensed their brand for ladies’ brassieres in Japan at one point, but I am afraid to do a Google image search on it at work.
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Going fast and revving high translates well into the lingerie business, I suppose.
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‘The Power of Dreams’
(many of my dreams involve ladies’ brassieres, anyway)
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Honda is and always will be an engine manufacturer, first and foremost. That’s what enables them to be a car, motorcycle, airplane, lawnmower, etc. company. On that basis I would definitely agree with Asimo.
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To be fair, Inland(division of GM), IBM, Underwood typewriter, Quality Hardware,Rock-Ola Jukebox Co, with sub-contracted parts by Auto-Ordnance and Marlin Firearms, and others.
Come on, man; everybody’s doing the M-1 rag…..
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Ford started making the Trimotor when they were still making the Model T. http://www.airlinereporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/IMGP7193.jpg
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This is the winner, solely because I’ve ridden in the copilot seat of that exact plane.
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Odd that you should mention Rolls-Royce, the “original” Rolls-Royce doesn’t make cars anymore, only jet engines.
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Pretty much the definition of “coolest non-car thing” is the SAAB Model 401.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IeMnkqsJdg4/UFC3iD0a2EI/AAAAAAAAAiA/8v5OoAZTc9I/w1200-h630-p-nu/401sid1.jpg-
I thought that would go to some of their other non-car creations?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2d/Saab_AJS-37_Viggen_37098_52_%28SE-DXN%29_%289256079273%29.jpg/450px-Saab_AJS-37_Viggen_37098_52_%28SE-DXN%29_%289256079273%29.jpg-
Their aircraft certainly have the “non-car” part of it down, but with significantly less “thing”-ness.
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I wouldn’t want a Yugo pacemaker, but I wouldn’t mind some of Zavatava’s other products. http://s1251.photobucket.com/user/spacehog2/media/P1000953.jpg.html
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Can’t think of a favourite, but Volkswagen produces more than 3.5 million sausages per year at their Wolfsburg plant.. That’s got to be up there. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/DEU_VW-Currywurst_19_MSZ111114.jpg
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Think of all the emissions!
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Everyone appreciates a good diesel vehicle but nobody wants to know how the sausage is made.
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Peugeot salt and pepper mills (and coffee grinders, too):
http://cdn.cutleryandmore.com/products/large/32457.jpg-
Really the only pepper mills worth getting.
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My mom was quite impressed with GM’s car seats when I was a kid…
http://clickamericana.com/wp-content/uploads/Announcing-GMs-new-Love-Seats-may-1973-620×868.jpg-
The lower one looks like a repurposed cat litter box.
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Looks notwithstanding, back in the the GM car seats topped the Consumer Reports ratings, so the engineers knew what they were doing.
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I don’t know about best, but GM’s Frigidaire fridge/freezers have to be the coolest.
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Frigidaire-1965.jpg
Get it? Coolest?-
International Harvester, too.
http://images.wisconsinhistory.org/700003050155/0305002466-l.jpg-
The 1954 International Harvester refrigerator on my garage is still going strong.
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Whoa. Wonder if they offered gas refrigerators? My grandparents had a Servel gas fridge, and an aunt and uncle had a Bryant.
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Originated with another car/appliance company, Crosley, who also patented door shelves.
http://blog.retroplanet.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/crosley-1949-fridge-ad.jpg
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Fiat also made fridges, as well as washing machines.
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTAxM1g4MTY=/$T2eC16FHJHQE9nzEyH%29hBP6vn3ggKQ~~60_57.JPG-
In contrast Iso started making ‘Isothem’ fridges then switched to cars, small and slow or large and fast
http://www.italianways.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/IW_iso_isetta_01.jpg
http://mycarquest.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/2x-Iso.jpg
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Don’t forget Nash Kelvinator, although that was more a case of the fridge company buying the car company.
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To me, this has an air of frigidity.
Pop-up stove seems clever to me who used to live in/on/over 100sqf as a student for a year. In that huge kitchen not really necessary. -
They were left out in the cold by Nash Kelvinator though!
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The red double-strikethrough of RUNNER probably didn’t do much to inspire confidence among any copy editors contemplating a purchase.
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‘s no runner.
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The third Chrysler in my driveway is also not a car ….
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I had a chance to buy a very clean Chrysler 26 for under five grand a number of years ago. One of my sisters, who is quite an old salt, tried to talk me into it, but it’s never been more than a pipe dream for me. With everything else in my life, it’s just not something I do. Although I’d trade welding practice for sailing lessons!
http://file.vintageadbrowser.com/l-kv8pw6wekw80w2.jpg-
Our old bass boat has a Chrysler outboard. http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/tNoAAOSwuMFUdjjP/s-l300.jpg
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That looks sturdy and safe with it’s round frames. Modern boats are so flat, making them roll less, plane better, but creating a tricky tipping point, too.
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This was cool:
http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/attachments/f120/28500d1148139479-lotus-super-bike-lotusbike2.jpg
(by Lotus)-
http://media.zenfs.com/en-US/homerun/the_drive_165/b934f37c3af6700ff39df124099cc628
Around the time I had my first job as a supermarket cashier, Lotus designed a shopping cart. Naturally, I was monumentally excited about this.-
‘Simplify and add groceries’
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So, will there also be a question about the best car from a non-car company?
http://www.studio5555.de/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/ktm_x-bow_1.jpg-
I still regret my failure to find some way, any way, to purchase a Westinghouse Markette that came up for sale while I was in grad school.
http://cache1.asset-cache.net/gc/166706130-markette-the-electric-car-of-westinghouse-gettyimages.jpg?v=1&c=IWSAsset&k=2&d=GkZZ8bf5zL1ZiijUmxa7QfJnW8%2FzHjqlUlcc%2FpxFpLwI06uDsT%2Ftyz4cu3vbsLi5WkulfURcFLHqCobNLbKSUA%3D%3D-
That was, what, last year?
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Yes, let’s just go with “last year” on that. It couldn’t have been much more than that.
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It’s practically the same geological era as the present.
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Even the same epoch, no matter how one feels about the proposed Anthropocene. Personally I’m content to await the decision of the International Commission on Stratigraphy’s Anthropocene Working Group.
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Talk about driving an appliance!
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Isn’t that one of the three you had tipped up in the corner of the garage
we talked about last year? -
That was the original, this is the copy The Marc Newson Ford 021C
http://marc-newson.com/media/thumbnails/ford-021c-concept-car/Ford021C-01.jpg.1920x1080_q90_crop.jpg
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If a non-car company makes a car, do they not become a car company?
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Someone really should explain that to the folks at Toyoda Automatic Loom Works.
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There was this totally mad thing by a famous piano manufacturer.
http://gtspirit.com/wp-content/gallery/yamaha-ox99-11/p1.jpg-
And, less totally mad…
http://www.cartdr.com/portals/cartdr/Cart%20Dr/DSC02519.JPG -
That’s a Schimmel, right? Or a Bösendorfer? The paint is very, very, very deep in any case!
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Just throwing this out there…even though it’s not really that impressive.
http://lamaneta.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/00.jpg
Toyota makes some kick-ass sewing machines.
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/Kd0AAOSwiYFXIUYG/s-l1600.jpg
…and some half-way decent Chinese-built ones, like mine.
http://www.launchsite.org/toyota_sewing_machines.jpg
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Singer made some lovely cars.
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Sadly Singer cars are unrelated to the sewing machines. The sewing machine company was founded in the US in 1851 by Isaac M. Singer, Singer Motors was founded in the UK in 1874 by George Singer (no relation) to make bicycles.
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Daewoo’s pistols have about a zillion times more cred than their cars.
https://www.gunsamerica.com/userimages/5611/971028071/wm_795749.jpg
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Perhaps it would help if their cars came with instructions for adding LASERS.
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That’s a nice pistol, more accurate than the Taurus 92A by miles. Grip extenders on the mags are a must though, South Korean hands are apparently pretty small.
Most of the Jeep (branded) strollers are actually pretty good.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/91YlU7EOlxL._SL1500_.jpg
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Yeah, but there’s a difference between licensing your brand and actually designing/manufacturing it.
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/4c/f8/83/4cf88391ea0a54a78ad2b357fd92975b.jpg-
those are really fun with some circuit bending. This one has light activated pitch control and growls like a monster. And an output jack for amplification and effects. https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/487492_3133188268939_1576281368_n.jpg?oh=3de116ce75ed32bc8d00dfde5d6ede95&oe=57DE3395
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Ours lasted until all three of our kids grew out of it, and was still in good enough shape to hock for $50 on CL afterward. We didn’t exactly take care of it, either, having left it out in the sun and rain a number of times. I think I had to clean dogdoo off of one of the the tires before taking photos for the ad.
From the people who brought you the Tata Nano, tea. One might argue that the tea is better than their cars.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/TataTea.JPG
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I would be happy for the opportunity to try both.
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The tea is available at my local supermarket, at least.
The cars, not so much.-
Plus the cup of tea is less likely to catch fire, although it can still burn you…
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I would like both Tatas as well.
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Does it have to be a mass-produced product?
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02694/Riva-9_2694820k.jpg
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In the same vein, the new Benzoyacht:
http://static3.techinsider.io/image/57163e5391058427008bd80d-1190-625/mercedes-designed-a-yacht-to-be-just-as-luxurious-as-its-top-line-car.jpg -
Just listened to a restored one on Utube last week. Ze sounds! Ze noizes!
Delightful!
From the numbers alone, these caps must be really good, so many people wearing them:
http://www.grandprixlegends.com/Images/Product/Default/medium/FER107_1.jpg
The hero of many a backyard ‘que, although technically it was another brand of Henry’s, not actually produced by FoMoCo. However, the wood source was scraps from FoMoCo factories.
http://richmedia.channeladvisor.com/ImageDelivery/imageService?profileId=52000717&imageID=686553&recipeId=243
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Some of the suggested usages are quite a stretch: where do I use charcoal in trucks and clubs? The first has a ICE for propulsion and heating, the latter won’t let me in if I showed up with a bag on saturday night.
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Steam trucks and heating fuel, perhaps.
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Saturns builr by Chrysler. Bigger than a whale.
http://www.spacelaunchreport.com/sa202pb.jpg
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I love that the Dulles Airport mobile air lounges are in there too; they always strike me as a concept from an era long before the Apollo program.
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Well, I just found a new background screen…
Thanks!
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Tune your exhaust.
http://www.carrollshelbyschili.com/piclib/117.png
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They can’t be Quattro, there’s only two of them.
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Four edges.
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Rootes marine engines.
http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk13/pir8ped/P5080005.jpg
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MAN marine engines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZT0yZUL3qU
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Ferguson (Standard Motors)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/87/Ferguson_Tractor_on_an_exhibition.jpg
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7d/Rolls-Royce_Merlin.jpg/1280px-Rolls-Royce_Merlin.jpg
How has this not been posted yet?
(As well as RR, they were also made by Ford of Britain and Packard)
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