Freak Or Unique: Motoring Innovations

[UmBongo]

Good or bad, happy or sad?

 

Gadgets or gashness?

 

List your goodies and baddies here!

 

Austin Maestro 'Talking Dashboard'

 

Not exactly on a par with K.I.T.T from Knight Rider but this is what some guy on the internet thinks.

 

''The Maestro captured the imagination most with it's voice synthesizer system on the top models programmed in 15 different languages, more a means of promoting the car as being more technologically advanced than the competition (although unfortunately Renault came up with a similar feature on the Renault 11 two months earlier). The voice was that of Nicolette McKenzie who appeared on TV's General Hospital, Van Der Valk and Churchill's People. The voice formed merely part of a 32 word voice synthesis system operating through the driver's side radio speaker. Many customers found the system to be rather gimmicky and irritating. It is interesting to note that the electronic dashboards, together with their voice-synthesized warning announcement system were very short lived, returning quickly conventional analogue instruments by the latter end of 1984.''

 

It was unreliable and clunky, but was this the precursor to modern sat-nav technology, or just an attempt to sensationalize the brand?

 

Citroen DS 'Swivelling Headlights'

 

''In 1967, the DS and ID was again restyled, by Robert Opron, stylist of the later SM. This version had a more streamlined headlamp design, giving the car a notably shark-like appearance. This design had four headlights under a smooth glass canopy, and the inner set swivelled with the steering wheel. This allowed the driver to see "around" turns, especially valuable on twisting roads driven at high speed at night.''

 

I know the DS had lots of great features, but this one stands out for me.

 

I've never driven one so were they really useful or just a gimmick?

[Wilko220]

It's always intriguedme too - but I'd have thought that if the swivelling headlamps were any good, everyone would be doing them by now (or the EU would have made them compulsory for OMG SAFETY reasons or something).

[richardmorris]

They are quite good on dark country lanes or mountain passes (France has a few of both). Only the main driving lights swivel I think, the outer are standard dipped.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZjqIwKV3WM

[warren t claim]

Dog leg gearboxes seem of died out in performance cars over the last 10 years which is a shame because they're a much more logical layout.

[dollywobbler]

2CVs have dog leg gearboxes. Pretty much unique in suspension terms too, with tie rods linked to underfloor springs.

Hydropneumatic suspension seems a dead end too. Which is a real shame. It seems far for reliable, practical and comfortable than air suspension. Presumably expense killed it off.

[Richard]

I'd settle for headlamps that light the way ahead at all, like you used to get in the 70s and 80s.

 

I'm sure there's been a new car in the past year or so with swivelling headlamps.

[dave21478]

I see a few cars now have one fog light switch on as you turn a corner.....which is weird.

My sister has a....a....I dunno, a Peugeot something-oh-something....cabrio with folding hard top, not a 206....anyway...it does this. I assumed there was a loose connection somewhere in the headlights first time I was in it. Turns out its supposed to be like that.

[DVee8]

Aftermarket DRL's (daytime running lights)as spotted on a 02plate clio yesterday.2 tiny strips mounted either side of the number plate.

[mercrocker]

My mates old MG Y type had built in hydraulic jacks (Smith's Jack-all, IIRC) on all four corners, cranked from an underbonnet pump.   You could fool around so that the rear wheels didn't quite touch the ground and watch him try and pull away.   It was only funny the once, though....

 

Same car had a little dash-operated rear window roller blind, too, which it did cross our mind to write rude messages on.

[Richard]

Does anybody other than Volvo do built in booster seats? The 850's one is quite impressive, the base spreads out as you fold it down. It almost makes me want to get my plumbing reconnected so I can use it.

[chaseracer]

I'd settle for headlamps that light the way ahead at all, like you used to get in the 70s and 80s.

 

I'm sure there's been a new car in the past year or so with swivelling headlamps.

 

I think GM tried to claim the idea as their own with the (current...?) Arsetra?/Insipid?, until it was pointed out that Citroen had beaten them to it by more than four decades.

[daveb47]

Motorcycles beat them to it anyway.............

[Rusty_Rocket]

Innovations- the 80s/ 90s VX clutches that you could change by pulling the input shaft out of the 'box and dropping the cover/ plate out of a hole underneath... brilliant idea!

[Richard]

Not a new idea though, you could do that on the SAAB 99/900.

[Junkman]

Those auxiliary headlights, that swiveled with the front wheels as you steered,

where actually quite a common aftermarket accessory in the 1920s-1930s.

 

 

 

Tucker wanted the single central headlight to swivel, and it did in the prototype,

but the idea was abandoned for the 'production' cars for cost reasons.

 

Citroen merely revived an old hat 'because they could' and IMO they

never amounted to more than being a gimmick.

 

Much more usefuller are the cornering lights the yanks came up with in the early 60s.

[Ratdat]

Not a new idea though, you could do that on the SAAB 99/900.

 

And on Datsun 100A's from 1970. 

[Ratdat]

Ford's latest idea, the pillarless MPV is quite an innovation... oh hang on..

 

[Junkman]

Curved side windows.
Pioneered by the 1957 Imperials for production cars (they had been around for ages in coachbuilt cars).
 

 
Initially introduced merely for styling reasons, it quickly was noticed, that they tend to fog up less,

than flat ones.
 
 
Rear view mirror glued to the windscreen, an industry first on 1958 Thunderbirds:
 

 

Unfortunately it's the daft ideas that are copied most.

[Skizzer]

I'd settle for headlamps that light the way ahead at all, like you used to get in the 70s and 80s.

 

I'm sure there's been a new car in the past year or so with swivelling headlamps.

 

My Yeti has swivelling headlamps (as standard, it's not an option I would have ticked).  In 75,000 miles, plenty of them on country roads in the dark, I have never, ever, noticed any benefit.

[RedSparrow]

 

 was this the precursor to modern sat-nav technology, or just an attempt to sensationalize the brand?

 

 

The second one, without a shadow of a doubt.

They were aware that the Maestro looked outdated at launch and were trying to sex it up a bit.

Apparently they (Roy Haynes I think) managed to catch the Montego before production and make the front end look a bit more modern.

[rml2345]

IIRC they did an awful lot to the Montego in an effort to make it look more modern before launch but were too late to do much to the Maestro.

That single fog lamp coming on when you turn corners had me really confused the first time I saw it and I still can't work out what the benefit is.

The Yaris had a sliding back seat so you could trade rear leg room for boot space, which was quite a good idea.

 

Edited to add; +1 on the Volvo child seat as it's very useful.

[Richard]

The ZX had sliding back seats, only the posh models though IIRC.

[dollywobbler]

Roy Axe, not Haynes. Both worked for BL, but Haynes was responsible for the square-nose Mini and Maxi frontal styling.

 

He could indeed do nowt with the Maestro as he'd just joined BL/ARG at the wrong moment. He did get to tidy the Montego up a bit but properly got into his stride with the 800 - still a fine looking motor car - and the neat 200/400.

[Wilko220]

That single fog lamp coming on when you turn corners had me really confused the first time I saw it and I still can't work out what the benefit is.

 

 

The controversial nature of this feature even resulted in it kicking off in amusing style on Benz World, the "best hang-out for owners of all things Mercedes-Benz":

 

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r171-slk-class/1420597-fog-lights-turn-steering-wheels-turns.html

[quicksilver]

When Ford launched the Mondeo I remember the press making a big fuss about its revolutionary feature of a storage drawer under the passenger seat. That's all fine and dandy except Mitsubishi had quietly incorporated the exact same thing into the Space Wagon back in 1985 - and I bet they weren't the first either.

[Ratdat]

When Ford launched the Mondeo I remember the press making a big fuss about its revolutionary feature of a storage drawer under the passenger seat. That's all fine and dandy except Mitsubishi had quietly incorporated the exact same thing into the Space Wagon back in 1985 - and I bet they weren't the first either.

 

The first Prairie has them under both front seats. I'll wager it wasn't a first on those either.

[forddeliveryboy]

They are quite good on dark country lanes or mountain passes (France has a few of both). Only the main driving lights swivel I think, the outer are standard dipped.

 

I've usually found them superb on fast French roads, where bends are quite different from ours. I'd say it's debateable whether in the South East of England they were ever anything more than a gimmick. In addition, DS dipped-beam headlamps would alter their vertical plane angle according to the squat angle of the car (on more powerful ones), so that when the nose rose under acceleration, the beam aim remained where it should. The whole system was beautifully simple and effective, using piano wire and pulleys.

 

 

2CVs have dog leg gearboxes. Pretty much unique in suspension terms too, with tie rods linked to underfloor springs.

Hydropneumatic suspension seems a dead end too. Which is a real shame. It seems far for reliable, practical and comfortable than air suspension. Presumably expense killed it off.

 

Citroën gas over oil suspension has been continued in a very different form, but using very recognisable hardware. The college lecturer in Western Oz (inspired by his DS) sold his 'Kinetic' business for $millions undisclosed to the Yanks - it has been suggested the military were very keen to have it. I think Tenneco is the name under which it's sold, used by McLaren, Toyota, Lexus and others. It's a superbly adaptable, simple idea - to interconnect each side of the chamber on the damper with the opposite chamber on the other side of the vehicle, via a pressurised sphere - which as well as lending compliance, dictates the strength of the anti-roll function. You can throw away those hideous bits of suspension called anti-roll bars with all the unpleasant side-effects which come with them.

 

My experience of Citroën suspension is that it's far more reliable, practical and comfortable than conventional steel suspension - unless on a PSA car, where considerable cheapness was added in both materials and design. Even then, the benefits are superb - a good Xantia makes a 406 feel bouncy when pressing on.

 

I'd suggest it's the finest motoring innovation ever. We got rid of cable brakes with wooden brake blocks pressed to the wheel rim years ago - why should suspension remain in the dark ages? Oh yea - consumer preference. Sunroofs and tinted glass etc before a quality car, as it used to be. Today I'm not even sure if there is any really superb engineering, in the mainstream market. Everything has a hugely powerful blown dizzle with inter-stellar gearing, to mask the drone of the inline 4, which goes well with MacPh strut suspension and rubber everywhere, to mask the inherent cheapness.

[brickwall]

Airscarf? Useless, but may not be unique.

[Timewaster]

I've got a 14 plate Focus as a company car.

A dull car with no innovative features what so ever that you can see but it's the uber green version that has free road tax, the lowest income tax penalty and is currently averaging 64.3 mpg.

Must be some magic in there somewhere.

[richardmorris]

The ZX had sliding back seats, only the posh models though IIRC.

 

I'd forgotten about that - avantage and aura models remembers the remaining brain cell cluster.