Some people say that today’s cars are boring...
Reeves-Overland Octoauto
Indiana’s Milton Reeves had been one of America’s earliest tinkerers of ‘horseless carriages’, and was an inventor of various early engine technologies. But in 1910 he tackled a key problem with driving at the time: appalling road surfaces. So he took an 1910 Overland and added four wheels – the theory was that the extra wheels would smooth out the ride, much like how multiple wheels did on trains – and all eight wheels steered.
The Ocoauto was indeed comfortable, but also very long (248in - 6300mm), complex to build and thus pricey to buy. With no customers, Reeves lopped off one axle to make a six-wheeler, but that didn’t work either, and Reeves returned to his engines.
Volkswagen Thing
Adolf Hitler co-parented the civilian Type 1 ‘Beetle‘ but then his fondness for invading other European countries triggered the Second World War, forcing it to be rapidly morphed into the military Kübelwagen. Volkswagen continued developing it after the war and the West German army and other NATO forces ultimately adopted 50,000 of them between 1968 to 1979.
VW realised it could have civilian appeal, and started selling the car that was known as Model 181 in Europe in 1971 and America the following year. It didn’t last long in the US as safety regulations arrived to throttle its birth. Odd to look at and certainly with an interesting prehistory, but the car surely wins in this story for its name in America: The Thing.
Nissan Cube
The Cube wasn’t a car – it was a mobile living room. Or at least that was Nissan’s idea apparently, with a tightly defined brief to appeal to young couples in their 20s or early 30s. Its small stature and practicality for multiple generations proved popular in Japan, but exports were less successful as it was usually sold at prices that proved optimistic.
Chrysler Turbine Car
The Chrysler Turbine Car was a concept car produced from 1963 to 1964. All coloured in bronze, the Ghia-designed-and-built cars were powered by a gas turbine engine that could run on diesel, unleaded gasoline, kerosene, or even tequila. At full-tilt the engine pumped out 130bhp, an impressive 425lb ft of torque, and turned over at an extraordinary 60,000rpm.
Of 55 built, 50 were given to the public to test; however, many of them were baffled by the complex starting procedure and unimpressed by its sluggish acceleration, enormous fuel consumption, and noisiness. Chrysler conclude there was little future in the technology and withdrew the cars and junked most of them; nine are still left, with two of them still owned by the company and most of the rest in museums, including one at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.
Nissan Land Glider
Nissan has explored many unusual ways to improve the car and the Land Glider was another attempt in this search. With electric power, the Land Glider was billed as a zero-emission city commuter car to predate the Renault Twizy by some margin. Unlike the French machine, the Nissan used a tilting wheel design to mimic a motorcycle’s leaning action, which counted against any real prospect of it making it into production.
Lamborghini LM002
The LM002 is one of several very powerful off-road trucks built by Lamborghini in the past, and the only one to go into production before the Urus arrived in 2017. The LM002’s notably angular body concealed a big V12 engine which drove all four wheels. To put it mildly, this was not exactly the kind of thing Land Rover was building at the time.
If an off-road truck seems an odd thing for a sports car maker to have built, remember that Lamborghini originally built farm tractors, and the LM002 could have been a truck produced for the US Army, but the contract went to Hummer instead.
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2008 Mazda Demio |
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