Weird/unique driver aids and conveniences

[Zelandeth]

I think the little mini sun visor above the rear view mirror on VAG stuff is a great idea and used it numerous times and especially miss it now I’ve gone all Bmw.

 

Renault 25 had that too!

[mercrocker]

Huggy, being a 1973 Cadillac, has a strange thing: an inclinometer in the stalk of the driver's door mirror.

 

Didn't some of those Colt things have these instruments as well?

[Sheefag]

My OH’s old Hyundai Tucson had an area at the bottom of the windscreen that was electrically hearted. It was a great idea, when you had it turned on it stopped the wiper blades freezing when the weather was really cold, which meant they always swept the screen nicely.

 

My Legacy still has that.

[Sheefag]

I think the little mini sun visor above the rear view mirror on VAG stuff is a great idea and used it numerous times and especially miss it now I’ve gone all Bmw.

 

Well I say Bmw as my compact is fitted with a Ford Ka mirror as I couldn’t find a mirror pad strong enough to hold the heavy old Bmw mirror on and was getting annoyed after a day or two of it falling off again.

 

Renault 25 had that too!

 

My Scorpio estate had that.

[lesapandre]

apols for cros posting.

 

Is that like when you had two punctures in a day you could say it was "The Day of the Jackall".

[Sheefag]

My New Zealand import 626 estate had the crotch vent.

[bramz7]

The Safrane and XM had that too, possibly the 605 as well.

 

Safrane had a weird sunglasses holder in place of the grab handle above the drivers door too.

[lesapandre]

Electric adjustable steering column on Rolls Silver Spirit. Too expensive to drive about but endless fun with the wheel.

 

Electric side window on the load area of the Cedric Estate - I think it was for the supermarket employee to put groceries in while you waited in the car.

[anonymous user]

My Cherokee had the sunglasses holder in the centre roof console, there was also a compartment in the roof console to put the remote for your garage door, so that when you pushed it a pin inside would push the button on the remote control. (Unfortunately neither my sunglasses nor door opener fitted properly in these compartments)

[AMC Rebel]

My 2000 Jeep Grand Cherry had a warning system in the dot matrix unit above the mirror where it displayed the compass headings - it would bleep and moan at you after a certain amount of elapsed time of continual indicator operation - potentially useful reminder. 

 

It also claimed to set the car clock from the RDS signal - this was a marvel when I emerged from Eurotunnel and it automatically knew France was an hour ahead.  After that it never did it again and I had to reset it manually.

 

The seat, mirror and radio preset memories were a great idea and hilariously random in working only when they felt like it.

[mercrocker]

Something so simple yet so rare I really value is illumination of the ignition keyswitch when I open the door.

 

 

 

 

The Oxford had, or should have had, a ghostly green glow over the ignition keyswitch once the sidelights were on.   I went to a great deal of trouble on my Cowley to get it working again!

[lesapandre]

My 2000 Jeep Grand Cherry had a warning system in the dot matrix unit above the mirror where it displayed the compass headings - it would bleep and moan at you after a certain amount of elapsed time of continual indicator operation - potentially useful reminder. 

 

It also claimed to set the car clock from the RDS signal - this was a marvel when I emerged from Eurotunnel and it automatically knew France was an hour ahead.  After that it never did it again and I had to reset it manually.

 

The seat, mirror and radio preset memories were a great idea and hilariously random in working only when they felt like it.

Yes, the electrically adjustable seat...great fun until it decides to only move one way ...and that is nearer to the wheel whatever you do....

[155V6]

That dreaded XM I had had a passenger side mirror that would tilt when put into reverse. Useful I guess.

I think my Xantia had that.

[cros]

I quite like a feature on my Rover P4 which had a petrol tank type float sender in the engine sump so that by pushing a button the oil level appeared momentarily on the fuel gauge. I didn't like it enough to bother to move the device to the later engine I fitted that lacked the feature though. A Commer lorry I used to drive also had this along with a lever which dropped the door glass in a quarter turn.
Less useful is the red light under the dash board which provides a 'log-glo' effect in 50's Sunbeams when you turn the heater fan on. In case all this sophistication malfunctions there is an extensive tool kit in the boot lid as well as a steel tool cupboard located in the footwell.

[eddyramrod]

My Cherokee had the sunglasses holder in the centre roof console,

See also my Chevy Tacuma, and probably the preceding Daewoo versions for all I know.

[alfetta]

Japanese stuff seems to be good at having random extra switches - the "bright" one on my Scooby for making the panel lights bright in daytime, and current CRV is the only car I've owned with a separate button for the headlamp washers - they operate automatically with the screen washers too, but in case that's not enough there is a separate button.

My IS200 had that to, along with the wiper heater in the windscreen.

[MorrisItalSLX]

The 70 Series Land Cruiser had the crotch vent.

 

The Jaaaaaaag has the reading lamps in the back for reading the paper as you are driven in to the office.

It also has the map reading lamp in the dash, a good idea but not really bright enough for the job.

[Datsuncog]

Safrane had a weird sunglasses holder in place of the grab handle above the drivers door too.

 

Mmm, my higher-spec Laguna 1s had those too. I found it genuinely useful for my prescription sunglasses, to the point it was one of the few 'upgrades' I made to KAZ, the silver bASe Laguna RN (which only had blanking plates above the driver's door) when I was stripping a rotten/crashed RT Sport.

 

I also liked the RN's all-analogue dash, which had a dual-purpose temp gauge/ oil level gauge - it would light up and display the oil level for 30 seconds on start-up, then drop back to temp gauge status. The less povo cars had a digital oil level display which would appear in place of the odometer reading for 30 seconds - but I preferred the needle.

[mercrocker]

I like the taxi light in my 190E.   Don't know if that is what it's for, but being able to switch the rear courtesy light from the driver's seat is a nice touch when you have back seat passengers at night.   

[SierraMikeHotel]

I can turn the boot illumination on from the driver's seat of the Merc. You know, for when the dog asks for some light to read her book. She's got a 12v socket in there for her tablet too.

[garethj]

My Volvo 740 had a crotch cooler too.

 

The Honda CRV has a picnic table in the boot, ideal if you park next to a 2CV owner who can take his seats out for a picnic.

 

There was also an optional shower in the CRV

[kinkersaab]

 

anyone ever had one of these?  I have never seen one, it must have been a rarely ticked option

[MrBiscuits]

My E34 525 would illuminate the interior when the drivers door handle was operated. It did this even when locked - presumably so scumbags could check for stuff worth stealing

[MikeR]

coin holders ..... like in the old Ford Escort , who would want to leave money on show now a days ........?

[ProgRocker]

Nissan Almera N16 'curry' Hook has been useful on occasions.

 

VAG 1999 Seat Ibiza: not sure if it was an intentional piece of design but I liked how you could see the high level brake light illuminate through the rear view mirror. At least you knew the bulb was still working. I also liked the simply design of the remote central locking key so you instantly knew which button locked or unlocked the car without thinking too hard. Both of these minor positives missing from the more modern Almera.

[DSdriver]

Early V6 Rover 800s had column stalks whose symbols were illuminated by fibre optics.

 

Inevitably, one of the first features to disappear as it was de-contented to hell and back over the years.

The ignition key slot on the DS23 is lit by a fibre optic cable from the instrument lights. Way ahead of its time.

[DSdriver]

 

anyone ever had one of these?  I have never seen one, it must have been a rarely ticked option

Are Corsas so unreliable that having alternative method of travel is needed? I can think of other cars which would benefit from this feature

[Ohdearme]

The 70 Series Land Cruiser had the crotch vent.

 

The Jaaaaaaag has the reading lamps in the back for reading the paper as you are driven in to the office.

It also has the map reading lamp in the dash, a good idea but not really bright enough for the job.

Shiter delivers!

 

Only now after a bazillion years of wondering why Jag put them on the seatbacks does this now make sense to me thanks to the above...so obvious now.

[Partridge]

I've always liked the small central sunvisor that 605s and XMs have. Driving round here, where there's virtually no features for the sun to hide behind, it saves your eyes a lot in Summer and Winter. Really wish that more cars had it.

[face]

That bike thing is/was an option on Mokkas too.