😂, Did you notice that when she was "parking" that the car in the background was driving backwards! That means that the woman was pulling out when they filmed it then reversed the film in post production!😂
Steering wheels, shift levers, and physical knobs are three things that have worked since the inception of motor vehicles. Manufacturers just cannot seem to resist the urge to “improve” them. Now we have “yokes”, rotary shift dials, and remarkably dangerous touch screens (which FORCE a driver to look away from the road to operate).
We actually started with tillers, steering wheel throttles, and shift pedals, among other things 😂 but yeah, in general, we've settled on what's easiest. Some of the new stuff has gone off the deep end, while some has been an improvement, I suppose.
I remember seeing this ad when I was a kid. My dad was in the room with me at the time. I thought it was the neatest idea I’d ever seen. My dad poo-pooed it immediately saying it would never be used. He was right.
Years ago when i saw this for the first time I assumed it worked like a normal steering wheel with the hand grips also rotating kind of like those accessory knobs youd see on 60s steering wheels. This was certainly not what i had expected
I like how the woman test driver at the end immediately stops putting her thumbs through the holes and keeps them on top. I had suspicions about the ergonomics, and she's confirming some of them.
What exactly? That she is placing her hands on the wheels like a normal human? You know a lot of humans also rest their hand on the tree of the steering wheel? They also rest their hands on top the steering wheel at times. Waitaminute! They also rest their hand GASP! At the bottom of the wheel. That confirms a lot of what I think about the ergonomics of steering wheels.
@@ducksoff7236 There's a whole in these where youre supposed to put your thumb but people wont do that because it's weird. Did you even watch the video?
@@LeCharles07 There is also a notch, just to the side of the hole, that when used in conjunction with its opposite number on the other side of the column, would work perfectly without needing to put your thumbs through the holes. (remember what was said about the power steering pump being a lot stronger) I suspect that the holes are only meant for when you need extra grip or for when you want to go lock to lock. Did YOU even watch the video? You can see the woman using the outer notch. Which is clearly designed to accommodate the thumb. addendum: If you want people to take you seriously, don't make your responses look like kneejerk reactions. Do at least a small amount of copyediting.
Wrist twist steering with a manual transmission? Guaranteed theft resistant vehicle! Parallel parking with the manual transmission in a downtown business district would have been a nightmare. And good luck with valet parking.
On a slightly different note, I went to a job interview in downtown Chicago where for security reasons, all employee cars were valet parked in an underground garage. My 09 Dodge Challenger r/t is stick and doesn't have back up cams. The valet lost his mind and refused to park it. They made me do it myself and picked me up in the garage with a golf cart...( if you're wondering, no I decided not to take the job for various reasons)
@@adamtrombino106Some day, if I ever own a model T, I just want to give it to valet, and watch as they can’t even figure out where the door is to get in! (Most T’s only had one door, kind of like how early minivans only had a sliding door on one side.)
I, too, remember seeing this as a young boy - in an elementary school film. I thought that this would be common by the time I was old enough to drive. So glad to see this! I have told several people about it over the years, but now I have PROOF that it (almost) existed! Thank you!
My dad, William Kohn, was an engineer in the safety group at Ford at this time. He brought one of these home. All of us climbed in and went for a ride. The steering was done with the index finger. Shifting was easily done with the left finger in the hole and the right hand on the shifter.
Thanks very much for sharing. 🙂 I wonder with those steering wheels to be so responsive, that you could easily control them with one finger... how stable was the steering when you turned around to look back while driving in reverse? Was it feeling different from other cars of the era?
@@fogit4668 It is indeed an intriguing concept and I would also have very much liked the opportunity to try it out. I think it was great from your Dad, that he gave the whole family a ride in such an interessting car 🙂It must have been a quite facinating ride. And also quite unique. Thanks very much for sharing 👍
? did we, I mean, actually land on the Moon? I was in 1st grade, seen it, but : NOW: they say we've "LOST" all of that information, and that's why we can't go back to the moon...................That's B/S!! So really,,,,, did we even go? I'm not so sure
@user-zh4cq4zy1n you're showing that you need to look more deeply into the reasons why we haven't gone back. In short, we won the race to the moon; there was no need to expend ridiculous funds to prove anything further. Space budgets have rightly shrunk since then. NASA got itself lost in a budget nightmare with the disaster that was the Space Shuttle, though they did begin to focus more on practical uses for space, like all the communications and weather and GPS satellites we now have. NASA has, since the moon program, been designed as a budgetary nightmare intended to give money to every congressional district for no good reason other than a rocket scientist welfare program. As for why they can't return to the moon? There's a whole lot involved, but just look at the costs of SLS versus anything SpaceX is doing. NASA and the old space industry have utterly lost their way and can't get much right at all. SpaceX is fixing that.
A little-known feature that I'm so glad you covered, Adam. It's always great to see you featuring innovations like this, even if they did not make it to production.
The one-spoke steering wheel of a Citroen DS also gave full visibility on the instruments. Besides this it was also the safest steering wheel of the day, with no crash center.
I noticed that the wrist-twist cars had the rare power vent windows and also the automatic headlight dimmer option and speed control. Those slimline bucket seats looked great.
I've never seen this steering system before. It may have taken some getting used to, but I would have at least given it a try. I do like the futuristic look.
Instead of putting your thumb in the hole, if you used your index finger, it would make it much easier to use. It could easily be driven with just one hand and using only one finger on that hand to steer it as long as the power steering was strong enough. There are some handicap hand controls that work similarly today. Just a single twist dial to control the steering.
There was an article about this with pic in early 1964 in the "Weekly Reader"--a little newsmagazine for grade schoolers. Wrist-Twist stuck in my head ever since.
I like how Automakers would turn a production vechile into an ‘idea car’ usually for the auto show circuit. Love those shell-contour bucket seats that Ford offered on the 1965-1966 XL, 7 Litre & Mercury S55.
Looks really neat, for sure, but it's a good example of "don't fix it if it ain't broke." But as a new product development engineer I applaud the efforts at thinking outside the box.
I remember reading about this year's ago in an magazine. The main issue seemed to be that drivers acostomed to conventional wheels found it hard to resist trying to steer by turning the whole yoke. Once used to it, was actually a pleasure to drive.
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During my years working at huge auto dealerships, and curbing cars, I have never seen anything akin to this. I kinda dig it.
Adam, Ford's choice to drop the 'Twist' steering system sounds like a missed opportunity for a profitable marketing tie-in with Chubby Checker. 😉 Let's twist again, twisting time is here...🎷
I will say this once, if you get into an accident, or hit a rock you didn’t see on a dirt road at night, or even clip the curb and that part of the curb is already broken. I can only imagine 2 broke wrists in your future if you ever drive with a steering wheel like this.
I remember seeing a car with this feature sometime in the mid-1960s, but I think it was installed in a Mustang convertible (I was only about 10 years old at the time, so my memory could be faulty; perhaps they built a few other cars with it?). The car was driven by a FoMoCo employee who was visiting my uncle near Lansing, and he took us for a ride in it. It was a very "Tomorrow Land" experience!
Olld car guy here, well just old haha, but I've never ever seen this before or heard of it. It's gotta be very rare. I remember my folks having an old Lincoln Town Car and it had a 7" record player in it that slid out like a CD drawer kinda, it was very odd. it skipped a lot, and my Mom usually just listened to the radio. There were some very weird car happenings back in the day, it's great to remember them and share, this is a great channel and video, thank you, I sure liked it!!
clearly that woman had many hours of practice with that wrist-twist setup BEFORE she made the video. I can only imagine the "immense joy" of being thrown the keys and asked to parallel park it in that exact spot having never driven it before.
@leemnav dont disagree with you but my point was more about how easy they make it look and id bet dollars to donuts that thing takes a LOT of getting used to in order to parallel park in that tight of a space. it comes across deceptively easy.
If you look carefully when she back's into that parking space there's a car in the background going backwards at hwy speed so even she couldn't back it up they filmed it in reverse but forgot to take the other car out of the shot
At the '65 world's fair the FoMoCo exhibit had you riding in some Mercs that were equipped with these. I was 15 then, and I thought it was a dopey idea. I sure was a smart kid!
Rewatch that part, she actually drove the car out not backed in. In the background you'll see a car driving backwards down the road meaning the film was reversed. 😅
@@OathTaker3 Parallel parking has always been my weak point. Barely passed that part of my drivers test, aced the rest. Had to parallel park between two Florida Highway Patrol cars. With a modern car, I can simply press a button and the car does the rest all these years later.
@@kennixox262 reverse until side mirror at rear door handle turn wheel to lock and reverse side mirror past rear of vehicle straighten out perfect park 9.5 times out of 10
Catching up on my "Adam Wade fix" today after returning from Caribbean vacation cruise. Another great video Mr. Wade showing something I never read let alone seen before. The video demonstration was icing on the cake. And thanks to others comments below.
I'd be willing to try it !! It looked like a cool idea. I noticed that she never put her thumbs in the holes. Maybe they would be more used when driving on the highway where you typically don't steer the wheel as much. It looks like you could just use 1 hand to steer it while you were backing that up.
A sidestick control would work placed forward on the left armrest (in the door panel). You could get almost 90 degrees of throw for left and right turns. A right-hand version could be placed where the shift lever is now. With drive by wire becoming a reality, I think Tesla might try something like that.
Because wheel doesn't work particularly well on the stairs. Doesn't master how well something works; there's nothing Wrong with trying to make IT work even better.
But it featured the iconic Winged Messenger at the center so it wasn’t all bad 😍 I grieved when that went away - it’s one of my earliest childhood memories
Was the Twist-Wrist available with the famed Whirl-A-Way steering feature? Younger RU-vid users may not remember that the Ford automobile had an optional steering feature which would allow the driver to swing the entire steering column to allow easy entrance and exit.
Not sure about now, but Lexus cars in the 90’s had a similar feature with the steering wheel electronically would move out of the way and into place when putting the keys in / taking them out. (LS400 and GS400)
Ok, that's too cool! Would love to see innovative steering inputs in the future as many cars inevitably transition to steer-by-wire. So ho-hum for EVERY car to have a wheel.
Nah, I’ve driven several trucks with rear wheel steering. It helps a lot in tight areas. Thinking about adding a kit for it to my Hummer for better offroading.
Wow, so instead of giving them props for trying something new, in low production and not forcing it on the public, you just bash it. Hmmm I’m glad new technology and social adaptation is not solely reliant on your myopic viewpoint.
I had an uncle that worked the midnight shift on that Dearborn test track as a driver. He started in the late 70s and was there for about 20 plus years. I remember in the summer of 78, I stayed at his house, and it seemed like every night at dinner he would have a story of so and so who fell asleep and went off the track.
Very interesting - thanks for posting. I had no idea such a steering alternative had been tried. As for all the other dumb advancements today, I’m amazed designers would ignore such basic human factors as switches and knobs that provide instant no-look access and tactile feedback. It’s a major reason aircraft panels were standardized decades ago across manufacturers. Landing gear and flap levers were also changed in small aircraft so the knobs had different shapes you could feel without looking at them which reduced accidents from mix ups. Every instant your eyes are searching for controls vs looking outward increases risk.
SAAB once had a prototype of the 9000 equipped with a joystick to steer (and all other things that are on the steering column). I found that a neat idea. I would have bought it, I think. Some car journalists were invited to try it out. They said it worked well, after getting used to it. I don't remember if the gas and brake pedal were also integrated in it (forward is faster and backward is braking).
It is pretty neat. I could see it with a manual, as your left hand could operate it while shifting. It would certainly be fun to at least try it out, for sure, although it would take a while to get used to it. An excellent video, as always.
Honestly this looks pretty awesome. There appear to be more than a few ways you could use the little wheels; certainly not just with your thumb in the wheel. I’d love to try one of these, even though surely none still exist.
Well that's really cool, thanks for the video. Glad there was a demonstration video too, I was having trouble picturing how it worked. I'm glad to have a wheel but the better gauge cluster visibility is nice.
It looks like they were also addressing RSI - repetitive stress injuries - with this innovative steering wheel. It looks so comfortable, I'd try it in a heartbeat! Way better than the conventional steering wheels I've been stuck with that can really be hard, and sometimes painful, to use with my RSI. Plus, as sometime who likes driving a stick, it'd be fun to see if this gives the precision control it looks like it could deliver.
My dad replaced the steering wheel on our tractor with a bar that goes across in front of you like a turnstile, that you can push forwards or backwards. It actually works very good while mowing. You don't have to spin your hands left or right while making a turn, you just push forwards or pull back. No big round circle in your lap.
As far as the thumb holes go, you wouldn't need to use them at all because if you notice on the side of them there is a place to place your thumb instead of a hole, there are thumb rests so standard transmissions & accidents wouldn't be a problem so the thumb holes I would consider to be more of a novelty like a neckers knob.🤔
If one has ever operated a skid steer or zero turn mower, you’d be amazed how intuitive a right and left joystick-like lever can be to steer, although it cannot be done one-handed. I’m surprised there hasn’t been a modern concept car that employs a fighter jet type yoke for steering.
Yeah, Saab did try that. Unfortunately it's an objective downgrade from a precision standpoint. The range of motion with a stick or lever is limited since it can't make multiple rotations like a wheel can, so it's _conceptually_ worse for an application where you need small adjustments way more often than quickly going lock-to-lock. You simply have less angular range. If I'm not mistaken, fighter jets use one-handed sticks since the other hand is controlling throttle, and while that provides an extra axis of control, it doesn't offer as much leverage or angular control as a two-handed wheel. Since cars don't have those extra control axes, it's a solution without a problem. The wrist-twist system shown here, of course, has the disadvantages of a one-handed control without the advantages of a two-axis stick, making it an objectively worse way to control anything. Which is fine if it helps enough with other design constraints like ergonomics or safety or ease of manufacturing... but it doesn't. You'll lose your wrists in a crash, if RSI doesn't get to them first.
