Weird automotive engineering solutions

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I always found that the trunk release button on my Police Interceptor is in such an odd place. I can see it being accidentally hit while I'm driving, but somehow it hasn't happened yet.

Btw, it's the big black button in the middle.
 
Mg zt 260
during developement of the car, mg rover was, as we all know a bit short of cash. So they couldn't afford all the fancy computer simulations and modelling that the big manufacturers would carry out even before construction of a prototype.

When the engineers were setting up the rear suspension, they found that under hard acceleration the car was suffering from severe axle tramp but were not sure what was causing it.

To cure the problem, they bolted some chains to a big wall, then to the car, then one engineer got in and gave it some welly, whilst another one lay underneath the car to see where all the axle tramp was coming from. Problem solved.
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Philly
The C6 has one? The Solstice and Sky had them. I'm sure there are others too.
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You are correct on the Solstice/Sky. I also remembered that the Hummer H1 and H2 have flip-forward front ends.
 
Here's another weird solution...

Back in the late 90's, with the introduction of the redesigned Ford F-series, Ford decided to release a light-duty version of the F-250. It was basically an F-150, but with the addition of heavy-duty axles, suspension, and a load-leveling rear. Oh yes, did I forget to mention seven-lug hubs?!
7-lug wheel

Of course, this model was only offered for 2 years before they redesigned the Heavy-duty models.
 
ND4SPD
I always found that the trunk release button on my Police Interceptor is in such an odd place. I can see it being accidentally hit while I'm driving, but somehow it hasn't happened yet.

Btw, it's the big black button in the middle.
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Could it possible be so they could open it faster if they needed the shotgun that is normally stored in the trunk?
 
Looking at pictures on Google, it appears that the button placement is only for the police versions, so that would certainly make sense.
 
ND4SPD
I always found that the trunk release button on my Police Interceptor is in such an odd place. I can see it being accidentally hit while I'm driving, but somehow it hasn't happened yet.

Btw, it's the big black button in the middle.
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There's usually a big police console and laptop right there anyway. It'd be hard to hit unless you were going to do it on purpose.
 
buickgnx88
Looking at pictures on Google, it appears that the button placement is only for the police versions, so that would certainly make sense.
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That button is only there for 1 or 2 years and then it got placed on the lower area of the driver's side door.
 
StigNumbers
And no cup holders.
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Rotary Junkie
Nope, it's got one. And only one.

Folds out of the center armrest ;)
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I wish GM thought about that....or whoever ordered it added that cause mine dont:grumpy: the
"actual" Park avenues did have just one cup holder in the armrest and my moms Park Avenue has "two" in the armrest. Come to think of it....my dads '90 caddy has one in the armrest then "two in the glove-box like my RX7

ND4SPD
That button is only there for 1 or 2 years and then it got placed on the lower area of the driver's side door.
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Actually at the taxi service I worked at some of the cars had it working both in the center console AND one in the door 💡
 
Well to bring this thread back, I found out about a unique 4WD system used back in the 70's and 80's for vans, cars, and SUVs that didn't come with 4WD. Essentially there was a form of a transfer case attached to the transmission called a V-drive (not like one found on a boat), which sent power to two driveshafts out front.
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At the front of the vehicle were two differentials, one for each wheel. This allowed for a form of full-time 4WD.
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Here's a bit about it in an article in an old issue of Popular Science magazine.
 
neanderthal
I hope that when you say "awesome" you mean retarded.

Unnecessarily complex.
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Well, it eliminates the need for a center diff, which, mind you, was really expensive at the time - Audi's Quattro was really the first mass market application. A part-time 4WD transfer case like in most 4X4s has no Center Diff That's why it's part-time...if it were engaged full time, it puts lots of undue stress on the drivetrain components. Take a pickup out for a spin in 4HI some time, on dry pavement. It won't like it (Even worse, the front axle sometimes has a different ratio.)

In fact, this system is rather simple. Take two diff-halves of Ford Twin Traction Beam axles, and then put a gearbox behind the tranny that turns both driveshafts. The two diff segments take the place of a center diff. It's truly ingenious, if a bit heavy-handed and low-budget.
 
Plus as the image shows in the article, it was able to be used in cars and other vehicles with IFS to make them AWD.
 
Well, it was used in cars/trucks that DIDN'T have IFS, or had the Ford Twin I-Beam suspension, as far as I could see, as whatever you fitted it to needed clearance for those half-TTB axles.
 
Oh I know that was one application that physically existed, but in the Popular Science article I linked to, they show an image of a vehicle with this system and IFS, with a diff somehow mounted between the A-arms (though it's only an overhead view, so no detail).
 
It may have just been a schematic, and since TTB didn't exist since before 1980, it may have been applied to some vehicle somewhere.
 

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