Today, cars take up a significant part of our lives. They help us get from point A to point B with relative convenience and provide us with a freedom and independence that public transportation is mostly incapable of providing. Among all of these modern marvels, there are ten especially oddball concepts that illustrate just how imaginative (and occasionally absurd) engineers have been when dreaming about the perfect ride – welcome to the world of 10 curious automobile inventions.
Below, we’ll stroll through a gallery of the most out‑there ideas ever sketched on a drafting board. Some were meant to harness the wind, others to keep pets safe, and a few even tried to turn a car into a floating yacht. Strap in and enjoy the ride through history’s most eccentric automotive experiments.
10 Charvolant
The Charvolant, sometimes called the kite‑carriage, was a 19th‑century marvel that relied entirely on large, sturdy kites to pull a passenger‑laden carriage along the road. Its inventor, English schoolteacher George Pocock, was fascinated by the lifting power of kites and set out to prove they could move not just toys, but people and light loads.
Capable of carrying several occupants, the Charvolant could achieve a respectable clip when the wind was strong and steady. Contemporary newspapers reported sightings of these kite‑driven rigs cruising across the English countryside, sparking both public curiosity and a flurry of press coverage.
Pocock championed the Charvolant as a safe, pleasurable mode of travel, even suggesting naval and military uses as well as river crossings. Critics, however, warned that relying on fickle wind made the concept impractical, especially since the direction of travel was dictated by the prevailing breeze.
9 Horsey Horseless
In the fledgling days of the American automobile industry, horse‑drawn wagons and motor cars shared the same streets, often leading to startled horses and chaotic collisions. To calm the equine traffic, Uriah Smith, a devout Seventh‑day Adventist, proposed a bizarre solution: a car topped with a massive wooden horse’s head.
The head was not merely decorative; its hollow interior doubled as a fuel tank. Smith reasoned that if a car resembled a horse, other horses would be less likely to panic, allowing the vehicle to zip past before the animal realized the deception.
Predictably, the Horsey Horseless never entered production, and it remains unclear whether any prototypes ever rolled off a workshop floor. The concept serves as a quirky footnote in automotive folklore.
8 Routefinder
The Routefinder was an early attempt at satellite navigation, predating the GPS era by decades. Housed inside a pocket‑sized watch, it featured a scroll of paper maps that the driver manually advanced as the journey progressed, allowing the user to track mileage and the intended endpoint.
While innovative, the device suffered from several drawbacks: a limited library of pre‑loaded routes, an inability to adapt to turn‑by‑turn changes, and no alerts for traffic, roadworks, or hazards. Moreover, automobile ownership in the United Kingdom was still relatively rare, which hampered widespread adoption.
7 Running Boards
Before pet‑friendly interiors became a norm, owners who preferred to keep their dogs outside the cabin could mount a “running board” carrier onto the side of the vehicle. Simple versions were essentially flat platforms with a raised edge, while more elaborate designs, like the Bird Dog’s Palace, featured a steel‑framed enclosure with a lockable barred door.
The Palace model came in several sizes, offered a detachable oilcloth cover for inclement weather, and even allowed the driver to release the door without leaving the seat. It was a clever, if somewhat clunky, solution for traveling with a canine companion.
The most extreme iteration was the “dog sack,” a canvas pouch with a head opening that could be clamped to the car’s side – a design that, by today’s standards, would be deemed both uncomfortable and unsafe.
6 Wrist‑Twist Steering System
In 1965, a team at Ford unveiled a radical steering concept that replaced the traditional single steering wheel with two small, hand‑held dials that the driver twisted with their wrists. The Wrist‑Twist system promised a more ergonomic grip, better road visibility, and a simplified parallel‑parking maneuver.
Engineers claimed the effort required to steer would drop dramatically because only the forearms, wrists, and hands were engaged, unlike conventional steering which recruits the entire arm, shoulders, and torso. The system was marketed as a futuristic, low‑fatigue alternative.
Interestingly, the lead designer was a missile engineer with little automotive background, underscoring the cross‑disciplinary curiosity that often fuels unconventional ideas.
5 Water Mobile
The Water Mobile, also known as the Vacationer, was an ambitious amphibious concept envisioned by industrial designer Robert Zeidman. Inspired by his wartime service, Zeidman imagined a vehicle that could glide seamlessly from pavement to pond, targeting returning GIs who craved a dual‑purpose adventure craft.
Featuring six wheels, the craft could transform into a sleek yacht or a trailer, measuring roughly ten metres (34 ft) in length and accommodating up to six occupants. Its interior was fitted with a full suite of domestic comforts: stove, shower, dishwasher, sink, oven, refrigerator, freezer, and a bathroom.
For those who preferred to be chauffeured, a bunk could be installed in the driver’s compartment, effectively turning the vehicle into a self‑contained holiday home that could sail or drive at the owner’s whim.
4 Glare‑Proof Glasses
Glare‑Proof Glasses were a quirky accessory consisting of a cone‑shaped shield that clipped onto ordinary spectacles. Each shield featured a 2.5‑centimeter (1‑inch) aperture to preserve forward vision while blocking direct headlight glare from oncoming traffic.
When a driver encountered an approaching vehicle, a slight turn of the head to the right would align the shield with the glare source, effectively cutting off the bright beam and allowing the driver to focus on the side of the road without being blinded.
While the concept promised enhanced safety, many onlookers found the oversized, comical shields more likely to provoke laughter – a distraction that could, paradoxically, increase the risk of an accident.
3 Pedestrian Safety Devices
Early automobile designers experimented with front‑mounted pedestrian safety devices, borrowing the concept of a train’s cow‑catcher. These mechanisms were intended to catch or cushion a pedestrian who had been struck, rather than merely crushing them.
One variant, the Protector, resembled a small seat that would scoop the fallen individual up and hold them upright. Another, the Man‑Catcher, employed a rolling cage that would roll the victim along the vehicle’s front until the driver could bring the car to a halt, thereby preventing fatal compression.
While innovative for their time, such devices highlighted the era’s rudimentary approach to road safety, predating modern crash‑avoidance technologies.
2 Fifth‑Wheel Parking
Parallel parking has long been a dreaded chore for drivers, and in the 1950s inventor Brooks Walker tried to make it obsolete with a system he called Fifth‑Wheel Parking. The concept used a hydraulic pump linked to the car’s spare tire, which was mounted beneath the chassis, to guide the vehicle into and out of tight spaces with minimal driver effort.
Walker first demonstrated his prototype on a Packard Cavalier sedan at several auto shows in 1953. Over the next two decades he refined the mechanism, adapting it to a variety of makes and models, hoping to create a universal retrofit that required no major structural changes.
Despite his persistence, major manufacturers showed little enthusiasm, and the system never achieved commercial success – leaving drivers to continue wrestling with parallel parking to this day.
1 Ford’s Soybean Car
During the 1940s, Henry Ford embarked on an ambitious experiment to replace traditional steel panels with bio‑based plastics. The result was the Soybean Car, a vehicle whose chassis was tubular steel, but whose exterior comprised fourteen plastic panels fabricated from a secret blend of soybeans, wheat, hemp, flax, and ramie fibers.
Ford’s motivation was threefold: to fuse industry with agriculture, to address wartime metal shortages, and to promote the notion that plastic‑covered bodies could be safer than their steel counterparts. The car was unveiled at Dearborn Days in 1941, showcasing its innovative materials to the public.
Unfortunately, America’s entry into World War II halted automobile production, and when the war ended, the sudden flood of cheap metal made the soybean‑based panels less attractive. The concept faded, but it foreshadowed today’s growing interest in sustainable, plant‑derived automotive materials.