Here's The Coolest Car Tech That Never Went Mainstream

Four-wheel steering is making a comeback on some brand new high-tech machines, like Chevy's electric Silverado. I say comeback because, well, Honda, among dozens of others, had experimented with the technology decades ago and for some reason, it just never took off.

I still remember sitting in front of the television as a kid, and watching ads for the GMC Sierra Denali. The truck had four wheel steering, which just blew me away. How!? What necromancy had GM conjured to make the rear wheels both push and steer the truck? I mean, I thought that was it; every single carmaker would have to follow suit and put four wheel steering on their cars, or risk being left behind and unable to follow in the sinewy trail left by GM. Boy, was I wrong.

Four wheel steering came and went without fanfare; it never took off. Now, it's back again, and maybe will finally make a lasting impression. We'll see. We asked our readers to tell us what they thought was the coolest tech and/or features found in cars that never went mainstream. Here are their answers:

Child safety seats

Imagine how much money parents would save if the car they are driving had these from the factory rather than buying new safety seats every year.

Submitted by: TheDriveress

Saab Night Panel. Pressing a button turns off all cabin lighting except the speedometer between 0 and 100 MPH. As someone who hates bright screens and gauges at night, I wish this was standard

Submitted by: caddyak

So the government mandated TPMS, but didn't require that all automakers display tire pressure at each wheel?

While we're at it, infotainment systems should be mandated to display fault codes, with explanations in plain English.

As a bonus, I'd like to see live performance data, like the stuff displayed in some sports cars, accessible in all cars. Doesn't need to be crazy, but oil and water temp, oil pressure, vacuum, voltage would all be handy.

Submitted by: MaWeiTao

Two things...

1) To the best of my knowledge, Ford is the only the car company who still offers numbered keypads on the door to lock/unlock your car. I worked for Ford for many years and that was a real asset anytime we didn't want to take our keys with us (think the beach, amusement parks, etc.). We used to get a lot of customers for whom it became a staple of their routine.

2) I remember when I was a kid the first time I heard a car "talk" to someone and remind them to put their seatbelt on. Blew my mind that a car could TALK! We are in the FUTURE, MAN! In retrospect, I am infinitely grateful that did not become mainstream.

Submitted by: Gamblour

Heads up displays. My parents had a 1998 Pontiac GTP with an orange overlay heads up display, and it was legitimately the handiest thing imaginable.

Virtually no automakers have adopted the tech, and I have no idea why, because it should be extremely easy to implement.

Submitted by: Richard Dawson's Ghost

The Saab parking mirror. A little button next to the power mirror controls would tilt the passenger side mirror down to look at the curb. Pushing it again returned the mirror to its previous location.

Submitted by: theart

Mazda had another good one. 929's of a certain year had a solar powered fan that exhausted hot air out the moonroof when parked. If they had that today, and integrated to the sensors of rain-sensing wipers so the roof would close if it rained, that would be the shizzle. My 83 Civic had a dedicated lidded coin tray left of the steering wheel on the top of the dash. That was great.

Submitted by: spookiness

Beverage coolers. Growing up my parents bought a used 90s minivan (Voyager I think?) that came with a minifridge that could hold a 6-pack. Maybe it was aftermarket, but it was flawlessly integrated to the center console. Anyway, having a cold Sprite ready to go with your sandwich on long road trips was heaven.

That's a feature that I'd like to see more often on modern cars. The only thing that I've seen gets a little bit close is on my parent's X-Trail, which has a little AC vent pointing to the center cup holders.

Submitted by: Pablo Mejia

Automatically closing windows. Some non-US market cars with rain sensing wipers will close the windows if it starts raining when parked. When I bought the W211 that I used to own, I found out about this and immediately tried to find a way to hack mine and unlock this feature. Alas I was never able to, but why the heck don't we have this?

Submitted by: NEBcruiser(now with FSD)

Uncarpeted, un-stylish, rubber coated Trunks/hatches. Seriously, anyone who's ever been to the beach knows that the carpet in the hatch is really only good for trapping sand for 2-3 years. Instead of carpet, give me a hatch that converts into a van-style bed when I fold the seats down. No carpet, no easily scratched plastics around the wheel arches, something that I can feel OK with throwing 15 bags of mulch in the back, knowing it's not going to ruin the car.

Bonus points if the headliner in the back half of the car is made of something that can be easily cleaned off with a sponge.

Submitted by: buckfiddious

It's been an add on for a few brands (BMW and VAG products) but Infiniti EX35 had an option for a built in coat hanger on the back of the driver's seat. Such a clever idea to keep your suit jacket or blazer wrinkle free

Submitted by: NebraskaStig

The onboard vacuum-cleaner a number of mini-vans come with these days seems like a great idea that should never go away. (I don't have a mini-van or kids, just seems like a great idea)

Submitted by: SupersonicATX