I remember the first time I came across an Audi with UFO brakes in a junk yard. It kind of freaked me out. Those were the inside-out disc brakes designed to allow greater swept area without requiring huge wheels to contain all the added stopping prowess.
If you haven’t come across a UFO-equipped car in the junk yard, then perhaps the chance has passed you by as there isn’t a current Audi that is so equipped. That doesn’t mean you might not stumble upon some other automotive unicorn, meaning a feature that was tried on a particular make or car, but which never actually caught on.
Maybe it’ll be an old Rover P6 and its odd but wonderful bell crank front suspension. Or, perhaps it will be a Mazda 626 with center air vents that oscillate like a table fan. Whatever the weirdness, there’s a lot of it out there. That’s what we’re looking for today: your opinion on what has been the weirdest feature that was perhaps too weird to have ever caught on.
Image: AudiPassion Forums
Hooniverse Asks: What's the Weirdest Feature Never to Catch on?
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Chrysler’s Highway Hi-Fi record player, offered as an underdash unit in the late ’50s. Even with custom deep-groove records, Chrysler never could quite overcome the bump problem.
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My first thought as well.
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They would have been great together with hydropneumatic suspensions.
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It’s a few years early for my car but I still want one.
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Using a voice for warnings rather than a beep.
85-87 Nissan Maxima system in video.-
Did the Maxima not have the “Door is ajar?” That was my favorite out of all of the ones on my brother’s 300ZX.
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My mother’s 84 LeBaron had that that feature. It would thank you when you turned it on. It got totalled in an accident and just kept repeating thank you while they waited for the tow truck.
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That’s really funny!
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Sounds to me like Nissan perfected a tiny version of Chrysler’s Highway Hi-Fi!
(Firefox is telling me I’m old, since it sees HiFi and/or Hi-Fi as mis-spellings of wifi…).
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http://propaholics.wolfchasers.com/uploader/users/tk5378/DSCN4197.jpg
Maybe it’s just because it seems like it could be slated for a comeback, with the current design trend of “$99 tablet stuck to the dash”, but the Camaro Berlinetta swivelling radio pod was a neat idea.-
Tried again by Blaupunkt.
http://thumbs.ebaystatic.com/images/g/~eQAAOxyXzxTGjfh/s-l225.jpg-
Actually, I think the Berlin predates the Camaro (Delco) radio. I remember seeing the Berlin for sale in the stereo stores, like Pacific Stereo and CMC. Around $1200, IIRC. This would have been in 1979 or 1980.
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I was going to say the Mazda oscillating vents. Another thing that was tried for years with no real success was auto dimming headlights. Chrysler had them in the 1960s. They would turn off the high beams for on coming traffic. I don’t think that they worked very well
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I can’t speak for other makes, but Chrysler still offers auto high beams, at least on the 300.
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I also thought auto dimmers, on account of this creepy robot cyclops eye a 1970 Lincoln I had once had on the hood.
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Dad had the auto dimmer in his ’63 Lincoln, with the sensor in a pod on top of the dashboard. It was hard to get the sensing distance just right – Dad either had other drivers flashing him to dim the lights or he had a black hole out ahead of him.
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The AC-Guide GuideMatic system (which replaced the earlier Autronic Eye).
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I think this doesn’t really work to satisfaction in today’s cars, going back 50 years in time would probably not help the cause. Very impressive though that they tried.
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Cadillac had those in 1957.. Didn’t work.
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Chess tables in large 2 door coupes. http://www.imperialclub.org/Yr/1967/MobileDirector/1967/Fully-Set-Up.jpg. The Imperial Mobile Director’s Coupe 1967-1968.
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I can’t imagine the pieces staying in place in even the best-riding vehicle, unless they were magnetic.
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How about a candle lit dinner in the same car then? http://www.imperialclub.com/Yr/1967/Ads/HazeBig.jpg
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I’m considering this copy, “…the newest prestige automobile in a decade.” Does that mean that there were vehicles from more than a decade earlier that were newer?
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This was the age of the three martini lunch. That was written and approved after lunch.
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Cars just for the ladies … and men who like — the ladies.
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Dodge La Femme! – That went over big, didn’t it. Even then, there were limits as to how much women wanted to be condescended to.
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Because it’s Tuesday (even though I still do this when it’s not):
Honda Inboard Discs
https://cdn.rideapart.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/1984-CBX550F2.jpg-
Okay, let’s try that image again…
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1930 GPS – scroll it your damn self
http://www.wired.com/wp-content/uploads/images_blogs/autopia/2013/04/01b_nav-hist.jpg-
They still use these in rallies. In fact, I think until very recently they were used in the Dakar.
http://www.touratech-usa.com/Store/3177/PN-020-0012/Motorized-Roadbook-Holder-RB-TT-MvG-
Fact. I have a device very similar on my dirt bike for keeping track of trail junctions.
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Actually the really trick ones were driven by your odometer cable, so you didn’t have to scroll it your damn self!
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Because it’s Tuesday (even though I still do this when it’s not):
Honda Inboard Discs-
I was going to say Audi’s inboard brakes. I know several others used them, but they never really became widely used.
http://giddy-shoe.flywheelsites.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/audi100-1971.jpg-
The HMMWVs use(d) them too, which I always thought was interesting. Then again, it was pretty radical for a vehicle produced in 1984 as it had portal axles, a fully independent suspension, etc.
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Portal axles weren’t THAT revolutionary in 1984, the VW Kuebelwagen had them: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Kdf82_redukce.jpg
By Vladimirch – Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8914168-
That’s very true. Maybe I should have said it was complex for an American military utility vehicle designed in the early 1980s.
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The Audi 100 is notable as being one of the few cars with front inboard brakes. The only other i can think of is the Alfasud.
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Citroen 2CV and DS, as well. Maybe the Traction Avant, not sure.
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Yeah, Citroen used them heavily. The Subaru G used inboard drum brakes. That might have been a better choice.
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And GS and SM too and the NSU RO80
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Not just the ‘sud. A bunch of Alfa models used them.
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Yeah, but only the Sud and early Sud Sprints had them at the front.
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The Rover P6 had inboard rear discs. The Comstar wheels are also uniquely Honda.
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“Inboard” means something different to motorcycles than cars. Honda’s inboard discs were almost exactly like Audi’s UFO brakes — reversed caliper that wraps around the inside the rotor. In Honda’s implementation, the rotor is attached to the wheel with three square bosses around the outside edge.
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/$%28KGrHqFHJCMFCg!yGd%29eBQsNDeJjd!~~60_35.JPG-
Didn’t Buell do the to the extreme? With the inside of the wheel basically serving as the disc?
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Sort of. Garrett’s photo shows the arrangement. Honda’s was shrouded — to “protect it from the elements,” — but they had to let air flow through it for cooling, so it just allowed corrosion to fester inside the hub.
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And S1 to S3 XJ Jaguars, XJSes and all E-Types had inboard rear discs.
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Buell won’t let go!
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My choice too. All the disadvantages of drum brakes combined with all the disadvantages of disc brakes and none of the advantages of either except one. No visible brake disc which conventional wisdom at the time said were best made of cast iron, like on Ducatis of the time, but which quickly rusted and stained.
Unconventional wisdom quickly came up with stainless steel discs which were lighter and braked better and didn’t stain everything around with rust and rendered these a dead end reminder of Honda’s ‘we can do anything with technology’ period.
This period perhaps culminated in the NR 750, the V8 that was a V4 with oval pistons and 32 valves.
And leads to my nomination, oval pistons.
Something only Honda could conceive of and make work.
http://thekneeslider.com/images/2010/11/nr750-engine.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/1b/ff/49/1bff49515b8ea917b3b8974baac32dbb.jpg
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Built in cellphone.
My friend’s mom had a car with the optional Star Tac flip phone. It was integrated into the alarm, so that if an intrusion was detected it would call a preprogrammed number (your house, typically). Of course, you had to teave the phone plugged into the console for it to work: 1) isn’t the point of a mobile phone having it with you, and 2) if someone broke into your car, the console would be the first place they would look and the phone would be the first thing that they would steal.
http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/comment-image/260856.jpg-
Car phones were quite big. I wouldn’t say they didn’t “catch on”, just that they have fallen out of favor. Like drum brakes.
Edit: Ah…wait. I see you’re talking about a different take on the car phone. It was an actual mobile phone, just integrated into the car. Similar to Sync/Apple Car Play/Whatever Android’s Response to Car Play Is/etc.-
I was referring to integrated car phones offered by the manufacturer. Most people would take the car to a third party for a universal model and an installation kit. Why finance for 60 easy payments a technology ready for upgrade in 24 months?
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You could get them as a factory option on many high end European cars. I know BMW offered them on the 7 and 8 series.
Today, Onstar is a factory car phone.
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If I could give you a thousand up-votes, I would.
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Oh, yeah.
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For a couple of years in the early 1980s (’82 and ’83, maybe?), Kawasaki offered very cool anti-theft cables that stored inside the frame. There was a little plugged stub tube that came standard on a number of models. Pull it out, and a swagged metal barb on the end kept the cable attached inside. Wrap it around a stationary object, and use a padlock to lock it to itself. I thought it was utterly ingenious. And then it went away. I don’t get it; it was the ultimate in convenience.
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My dad’s 1983 Honda V45 Sabre has a similar thing.
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Had the same on my ’82 BMW R100RS. Ignition key fit the ignition, gas tank, seat, saddlebags, and bike padlock. The lock/chain was stored under the gas tank in one of the frame tubes.
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Did your bike’s key also fit the fork lock, or did that go away during the 80-81 revisions? My 78 R100S had the key fit the ignition, fork and seat locks, and there was an optional cable lock that fit into the frame but I lived in New York so I used a Kryptonite.
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Oh yeah! I forgot about that… yes, the fork lock too. Everything I’ve had since that bike combined the fork lock in with the ignition switch.
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I can’t make out a year in that KZ750 photo, but my ’81KZ750E did not have one of those. Kinda nifty. I probably would have used it to secure my jacket & helmet to the bike rather than lock the motorcycle in place.
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Wow, I too had an ’81 KZ750E…which also had no cable and wore a big Kryptonite lock instead.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/88a310673ad2f9ebd6af5e20d01603c4a4644521c4d8cfa5b3cfc5c3a93daf38.jpg
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Nice! Mine was red, but otherwise the same, including the mirrors – originally round, I think.
I miss it. Not that it was a lightweight, but it’s enough smaller than the ZRX1100 to make it a more practical city bike. Parts are considerably harder to find than for your average CB750, though.-
Yes, Napoleon flag mirrors were all the coolness.
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An under-seat toilet (which, according to the guy who commissioned it, was just a champagne cooler. Yeah, right…)
http://www.auto-blog.com.mx/wp-content/gallery/rolls-royce-silver-wraith-1954-vignale/Silver-Wraith-Vignale-1954-4.jpeg -
The Alfa Romeo 90, in top-of-the-line Quadrifoglio Oro trim, came with a briefcase in place of the glovebox.
http://i28.tinypic.com/2mq97qw.jpg
Other notable features include a digital dash
and even active aerodynamics !
http://up.autotitre.com/1978771d17.jpg
The rest was typical Alfa Romeo madness : de Dion tube, transaxle, inbord rear discs. Believe it or not, very few were sold and it was discontinued after just three years.-
That’s rad.
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The 90 also had a spring-loaded front spoiler. At low speeds kept out of harms way by spring loading, and at higher speed, pulled into place by airflow. At least that was the theory. The reality was the springs sagged, the pivots siezed and they settled into a crooked halfway down/up stage.
http://s1.cdn.autoevolution.com/images/news/gallery/2016-alfa-romeo-giulia-qv-active-aero-splitter-can-trace-its-roots-back-to-the-1984-alfa-romeo-90-video_3.jpg
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Remember the Chevy Venture’s lego seat?
http://money.cnn.com/2000/01/12/companies/showtour/lego.jpg-
That is the answer to a different question … “What is the most awesome feature never to catch on”?
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Probably not as weird as the champagne-cooler but half-decent at most. The in-door-umbrella: where do you leave it when wet?
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It had a drain , you just popped it back in its hole.
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You mean you re-use wet umbrellas?!
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Ha! Commoners, am I right?
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Skoda Superbs and RR Phantoms so both ends of the market, with teflon coated anti-rot fabric.
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Just for grins, I looked those up one time (replacement R-R umbrellas), and they were going for about $950. So you wouldn’t want to lose one.
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Easy to see why not, because if those fins had grown to ’59 Cadillac proportions, the sides of the box would be … about as high as any modern pickup.
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I liked Mopar’s turn signal repeaters on the fenders. My aunt even had one that worked, though I never saw it ’cause it was on the driver’s side!
http://www.allpar.com/photos/vimages/plymouth/1971/duster-car.jpg-
I’ll have you know that BOTH of my GTX’s fender signals work – though they’re the MUCH cooler ‘bullet’ style
http://imganuncios.mitula.net/nos_196869_plymouth_b_body_fender_mounted_turn_signals_400_royal_oak_8710012452884892210.jpg -
Rover P6s again built into the front corner lights
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/53/38/b0/5338b016f1276473df853c13a561fd3e.jpg
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I just remembered when the Ford Explorer had a console storage compartment that was a removable canvas bag:
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a154/ncranchero/Explorer/ExplorerBroncoIIarmrest.jpg
http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/JcYAAOSws4JW7xeV/s-l300.jpg-
http://conellal.newmediadl.com/files/2013/12/7681417044_86c0f0dc5c_h.jpg
On a similar tack, the Pontiac Aztek cooler console. -
Ford cribbed that from the early Landrover Discovery
http://www.aronline.co.uk/images/jaystory_06.jpg
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60s Thunderbird swing away steering wheel:
http://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/0d/5f/0d/0d5f0d1543c267164876e048c57509df.jpg -
GMs swivel bucket seats :
http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_images/3/646/841/26612920008_large.jpg -
That old Rover P6 odd but wonderful bell crank front suspension was actually pretty clever. It was dreamed up mainly to leave room for the gas turbine engine intended for the car. As it worked out, it also left room for the Rover V8 that was inserted years later. So the suspension may not have caught on, but there might not have been a Rover V8 without it. Tricky thing about that suspension is that the shock absorber compresses as the wheel goes DOWN, not up. There were several shocks ( for example Rambler) that American owners could fit, but they were valved backwards so the wheel went up easy and met increased resistance going back down.
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Self-driving cars. I hope…
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central location for headlights
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following the theme of “in the middle”–ignition on the center console a la Saab
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In-car fax machine in a 1987 HDT Director (or HSV SV88 in this case)? Yours for the bargain price of $3300
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Forgot to add the photo.
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Central driver position:-)
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