Car Eccentricities

[sn00pie]

The first thing to my mind are the Citroën BX's indicator controls, which are switches.

And speaking of Citroën, check out the steering wheel on this DS:

This is the gear lever pattern for that car.

The starter was operated by moving the gear lever from the neutral [N] position to the left. It was thus impossible to start the car in gear.
First gear [1] is selected by moving the gear lever forwards.
Second gear [2] is selected by pulling the gear lever backwards through the neutral [N] position.
Third gear [3] is selected by moving the gear lever to the right.
Fourth gear [4] is selected by moving the lever to the right and down.
Reverse [R] is selected by moving the lever to the right from the first gear position.
In order to ensure smooth parking manoeuvres, the idle speed of the engine varies according to whether the brake button is depressed. With the brake button held down, the engine speed drops, when the brake is released, idle speed increases, the clutch begins to engage and the car creeps forwards (or backwards if reverse is engaged). As engine speed is increased by depressing the accelerator, the clutch fully engages. The clutch is disengaged when the gear lever is moved.
It is impossible to stall the engine.
Actually driving the car requires the driver to use his or her right foot as if driving a car with a conventional manual transmission - lift off the accelerator when changing up and blip the throttle when changing down.
The speed (and quality) of the gearchange can be varied from very smooth but lethargic to very quick but fierce.

 

[TopHat]

Isn't the single spoke wheel Citroëns thing? It really is kinda silly looking!

 

[Sage]

The first thing to my mind are the Citroën BX's indicator controls, which are switches.

I love that episode of Top Gear where Jezza drives the C6: Is this an indicator? Yes it is – it shouldn’t be. That should be the boot release. The indicator release should be, I dunno, in here [the center console] somewhere. It’s all wrong! Wrong wrong wrong!

I wish we got TVR and some of the French manufacturers just for the sheer madness of it all. You guys get all the fun.

 

[ND4SPD]

Wow, that gear pattern is quite absurd.

 

[iceburns288]

I love Saabs, I was so close to buying one before commonsense took hold. But that center ignition is just too cool for school. (The handbrake is pretty neato too)

It's also stupidly hard to find at night!

 

[High-Test]

It was easier with a pencil and a french curve, I'll bet. Of course, you could try the compound curve on the nose of the General Motors EMD F-unit.

I'd probably find an SBC for it, (one of the few cars i'd put an SBC in) and it'd probably fit right up to your stock transmission, run like a top a long time. Then again, I know how you love that I-6.

You weren't being sarcastic, were you? The stovebolt was a torque monster, but it couldn't keep the monster 4 speed that was in the car happy.

The mighty Monojet fed Stovebolt is on wooden blocks in Linn County, Missouri. Instead, the car has a mighty fire breathing 305 cubic inch V-7 3/4! (It seems to miss a bit.. I need to get that fixed) That, and it now has a Turbo/Hydramatic 350. Damn thing's impossible to start, and has problems with the solenoid in the starter. It's either the starter, the choke, or a loss of compression. Or, all of the above. (Hooray!)

F unit!? I had enough trouble doing a T-Bucket body shell in AutoCAD at school! I knew it. AutoCAD killed the age of the fin. Go back in time I must.



Anyways, On topic now,

GREAT THREAD!


I've always wondered why GM made the frame of the 1958-64 fullsize cars in the shape of an X. two piece driveshafts are goofy and expensive. Silly GM. The Bushings around them go bad, and that can be a nasty problem.

Saab does the ignition in the center for two reasons. The main one is that in an accident, the knee usually hits where a key would normally be. A piece of metal in a kneecap is a bad deal. It also makes the car very difficult to hotwire. But in the older ones, it causes problems when one spills coffee.

I've also been pondering as to the number of ounces of Opium Harley Earl smoked when he ordered that there be 100 pounds of chrome on every fullsize car in 1958. That was dumb. But, we all know what John Z. was on when he went to Ireland.

 

[///M-Spec]

WOW, that shift pattern on the Citroën is NUTS!



I always thought the exterior door handle on the Mazda Miata NA was interesting. This is a picture of my wife's old car. You can see the handle at the bottom of the pic.



There is just enough room there for your index finger. You just give it a gentle pull and the door opens with a lightness that will surprise you. I've always thought the design captured perfect the essence of the Miata.

There are some other real neat door handles out there... probably enough different designs to have it's own thread.


M

 

[YSSMAN]

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, but I love the way to open the hatch on the '07 VW Rabbit...

(Thanks for the pic FoolKiller!)

I guess it really isn't that spectacularly different, but cool nevertheless. Most people probably wouldn't assume it to be the latch, as they would probably feel around in the license plate holder for the "button" to release it.

VW has a lot of nifty things they do with the cars these days. If you look closely on their new cars at the headlamps, there are tiny VW symbols in front of the bulbs... You normally have to be looking for them to see them. I know they are on the Rabbit, and I believe the Passat as well, but I'm having a hard time finding the photographs of them...

Similarly, on the Rabbit the turn signal has a neat trick in which you press it once and it will automatically signal three times instead of you having to hold it down when changing lanes. Nifty ideas that I'm surprised no one had come up with before...

Okay, one last VW thing; When you unlock your car with your keys, turn and hold, all of the windows will go down. Again, a nifty idea...

 

[Vonie]

I always thought it was cool that Maybachs had two brake calipers per wheel at the front.

 

[Sage]

I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier, but I love the way to open the hatch on the '07 VW Rabbit...

They’ve been doing that since the original New Beetle.

 

[jammyozzy]

Similarly, on the Rabbit the turn signal has a neat trick in which you press it once and it will automatically signal three times instead of you having to hold it down when changing lanes. Nifty ideas that I'm surprised no one had come up with before...

My Dad's '04 Mondeo does that too.

 

[land sea air]

hold the key to the lock position on some older Mercedes (all new ones obviously) and all windows and sunroof will close all the way. If you then hold the key in the unlock position everything will go back the way it was... On later convertible models I believe this includes the folding top as well!!

 

[Duke]

Many cars do that.

 

[land sea air]

But I felt special (even though my particular car doesn't have this feature)

 

[sn00pie]

WOW, that shift pattern on the Citroën is NUTS!

True. Yet when you consider the technology and the age of the car it's in fact quite amazing. They're exceptionally smooth and easy to drive.

In fact I know of an original Chapron DS convertible that was taxed at around 90,000EUR in 2006.

 

[wfooshee]

I just noticed today that the Chevy Cavalier we have as an office car has two different size wipers, but not just by an inch or two as is common. Passenger side is 17" and the driver is 22"!

 

[land sea air]

I just noticed today that the Chevy Cavalier we have as an office car has two different size wipers, but not just by an inch or two as is common. Passenger side is 17" and the driver is 22"!

!! what year was it? my dads cavalier had two equal length wipers until I wrecked it, I dont remember what year his was, but it was the last year before the facelift

 

[///M-Spec]

The wife's Nissan Murano has a 19 passenger and a 26 driver. Talk about hard to find... grrrr. If one brand had a 19, they wouldn't have a 26. If they had a 26, all the 19s are gone. I went to 4 different places before I finally gave up and bought the insert replacement at the dealer.


M

 

[daan]

Mine are completely different sizes too. The last time I replaced them, I went into Halfords and looked up their wee book to get the sizes and connection type. Found Peugeot, looked through the 406s to I got to the coupe. It had a figure for the driver's side but the passenger side box just said - . So I just picked up one the same size as the 406 saloon. It ended up being slightly smaller than the one I took off, but it still works fine. Its only the passenger's side anyway. They don't need to see!

 

[Duke]

I went to 4 different places before I finally gave up and bought the insert replacement at the dealer.

Call me stupid, but I almost always get OEM wiper refills at the dealer. Usually, the metal spines that come with the refills are shaped to fit the curve of the windshield well.

 

[wfooshee]

The wife's Nissan Murano has a 19 passenger and a 26 driver. Talk about hard to find... grrrr. If one brand had a 19, they wouldn't have a 26. If they had a 26, all the 19s are gone. I went to 4 different places before I finally gave up and bought the insert replacement at the dealer.

Wow! 7-inch difference. Ours was only 5. I feel so . . . . . inadequate.

!! what year was it? my dads cavalier had two equal length wipers until I wrecked it, I dont remember what year his was, but it was the last year before the facelift

It's the last body style, don't know the year. The tiny curvy one.

I say tiny because the doors curve inward at the top far enough to interfere with my head.

 

[///M-Spec]

Call me stupid, but I almost always get OEM wiper refills at the dealer. Usually, the metal spines that come with the refills are shaped to fit the curve of the windshield well.

I've been a fan of Bosch's Micro Edge Excels for years and used to put them on my cars until the 330 and Z4 (BMW gives 'em to me for free now) I was looking for a set for the Nissan, but no luck.

The 2 OEM inserts (NWS) I bought at the Nissan dealer cost MORE than a pair of whole Bosch blades!

Wow! 7-inch difference. Ours was only 5. I feel so . . . . . inadequate.

It's okay, man. Next time she tells you to give her 10 big inches of wiping action, just hit the stalk twice.



...or something


M

 

[Jim Prower]

It's okay, man. Next time she tells you to give her 10 big inches of wiping action, just hit the stalk twice.

I don't care who you are, that's funny right there..

 

[Freddie]

Hmm, my father had some pretty interesting cars, before he found what is now my current car.

An '85 Saab 99 - the windshield wipers were mirrored, in addition to the "regular" centre-located ignition and associated gear-lock. Glove-compartment was rather than hinged, held on by three pieces of string (from the factory!)

An '86 Citroen CX25 TD - Weirdest car I've ever been in. First the hydro-pneumatic suspension, brilliant whenever we needed to change tires. Rise the car to upper level, put something sturdy under it and set suspension to lowest - the car would then lift all wheels for us. Ride-quality was the best ever. Pity the hydraulics kept leaking. (BTW; This was neither the first nor the last model to use this system).

It had two radio brackets, both of which were vertical and mounted between the front seats. Second radio bracket had separate audio input intended only for the rear passengers.

Instruments, controls and such were mounted seperate from the rest of the dash in a seperate pod - the entire dash was an angular shape, tilted at 45 degrees forward, with pod located slightly elevated and seperate from it. It also had lots of buttons located under the dash, were one could find the toggles for less-used functions (headlight and rear wipers, for example).

The sedan versions had a concave rear window, which is also used on the new C6.

Other oddities by Citroën:
AX: Horn sounded by pushing the light-stalk.
2CV: Wipers were controlled by the output shaft on the transmission, so the faster you went, the faster the wipers went. Early models also didn't have a proper boot lid, but instead the roof canvas was stretched from the windscreen to the back, covering the boot. Gear-shift-pattern was HL, meaning all shifts (R-1-2-3) were in a H pattern, but to engage fourth, you had to move the dash-mounted lever to the right while from third. Some models also had a clutchless 1-2 shift.
SM: Headlights and the front license plate is mounted behind a transparent panel on the front of the car.

 

[1X83Z]

One I've always thought was interesting is that on the current Pontiac Grand Prix, the windshield washer fluid comes out of the wipers themselves, as they rotate across the windshield, making sure to wash everywhere. I'm sure many cars do this, but I've only noticed it in action on the Grand Prix.

Also cool is that on the new Lexus GS, some of the lesser-used interior functions are hidden inside a compartment near the driver's left knee when not needed:

It's the one on the left; it shuts fully and when open it reveals eight or ten buttons which each control minor functions (stuff like the mirrors, if memory serves).

 

[land sea air]

My Trans sport has the wipers with built in fluid jets, it was the only way to get fluid to the whole windshield since it was so huge, also the wipers were interlocking rather than moving in the same direction

 

[Sage]

Also cool is that on the new Lexus GS, some of the lesser-used interior functions are hidden inside a compartment near the driver's left knee when not needed […]

 

[xXSilencerXx]

Its a German thing, my car, my gf's car, sister's and friends BMWs. All do it

No. Well I don't know who started it but my 98' Trans Am does the same thing and so does my mom's Equinox.

 

[Pupik]

Also cool is that on the new Lexus GS, some of the lesser-used interior functions are hidden inside a compartment near the driver's left knee when not needed:

It's the one on the left; it shuts fully and when open it reveals eight or ten buttons which each control minor functions (stuff like the mirrors, if memory serves).

It also controls the headlight washers, rear sunshade, the folding mirrors, instrument cluster illumination, trip odometer, trip reset, (dis-)engages the auto-moving lights, and Parking Assist sensors. There's also at least one blank button that does nothing at all. Also, there's a button above it that opens the change binnacle, and it too glides down as one unit. By the way, if you don't have all the optional features, the buttons still remain, reminding you that you didn't get all the features. Saves the trouble of mixing up part numbers, I suppose.

It is a neat feature, but if you leave it open, it's a great way to poke the "funny" part your knee cap. Trust your local Lexus service manager on this one, kids.

 

[Eric.]

hold the key to the lock position on some older Mercedes (all new ones obviously) and all windows and sunroof will close all the way. If you then hold the key in the unlock position everything will go back the way it was... On later convertible models I believe this includes the folding top as well!!

So you have to have the key in the lock? I can count the number of times I've used my key to unlock my car on one hand. That was when the battery was dead on the key fob.