Buckle up! Car designers have always tinkered with more than just cupholders—here are the wildest features that define automotive oddity.

Weirdest Car Features Ever Made: 15 Head-Scratching Auto Oddities

If you thought fuzzy dice were the height of car customization, prepare to have your mind blown. The history of automotive technology is littered with curiosities—downright bizarre features that range from practical to utterly perplexing. Let’s steer down memory lane and spotlight the weirdest (and boldest!) features carmakers have dared to put into their rides.

1. Swiveling Front Seats

Have you ever pulled up to the curb, looked at the solid lump that is your driver’s seat, and thought, “If only this spun 90 degrees”? No? Well, certain 1970s Chrysler Imperials had front seats that swiveled to let you exit with grace. Half-lazy Susan, half luxury for your lumbar.

Bonus quirk: Paired with deep pile carpet, it made getting in and out feel like exiting a time machine—destined for the disco.

2. In-Car Record Player (Highway Hi-Fi)

Before Spotify, before CD changers, there was pure analog madness. Chrysler in the 1950s offered the Highway Hi-Fi, an honest-to-goodness, needle-on-wax record player built directly into the dash. It played proprietary 7-inch records that spun at a now-legendary 16 2/3 RPM.

Fun fact: The bumpier the road, the… jumpier your playlist. Audiophiles and potholes didn’t mix.

3. Joystick Steering System

Imagine tossing the steering wheel and grabbing an aircraft-style joystick instead. In the 1980s, Saab built test vehicles with a joystick steering system in place of a wheel, promising sharper handling and more space. The system never hit showrooms for one obvious reason: panicky cornering could hurl drivers into full flight simulator mode.

Safety departments everywhere breathed a sigh of relief.

4. Built-In Toaster Oven

Japan’s 2001 Suzuki Lapin “G Toast” edition wasn’t content with heated seats—it came with a toaster oven in the dashboard. Yes, a working toaster! While it was meant for warming your favorite roadside snacks, many presumed it was a prank, until they saw the golden toast in the glovebox.

No word on what happened during emergency stops at breakfast.

5. Pop-Out High Heels Storage

Consider the 2009 Nissan Cube, which featured a nifty, hidden compartment under the back seat that was sized for storing high-heels. Form follows function—and function follows fabulous footwear, apparently.

6. Stowaway Front License Plate (for Evasion, Maybe?)

Several 1960s cars boasted mechanically retractable license plates, mostly to help clear the driveway curb. But really, it let adventurous souls channel their inner spy, Bond style, with a press of a button.

Potholes claim many things—let’s hope it wasn’t your license.

7. Water-Repellent Car Windows

No, not Rain-X. In the late 1980s, Nissan and Lexus installed hydrophobic coatings on their windows. Raindrops rolled off in perfect beads, making wipers almost unnecessary. It felt like driving a giant lotus leaf down the highway.

Imagine bug guts rolling away—science, please deliver.

8. Front Seat Typewriter (Citroën DS)

Yes, you read that correctly. The legendary Citroën DS has seemingly housed everything, but a customization in 1958 included an integrated typewriter for dictation on the go. Sure, online chat messages make more sense today, but the image of a driver clickety-clacking away while barreling down a French country road is pure cinema.

9. Miniature Bumper Picnic Tables (Fiat Panda)

Italian carmaker Fiat once equipped the Panda with pull-out picnic tables stored behind the bumpers. Brilliant for spontaneous roadside cheese and Chianti moments, but less so for quick escapes—unless you’re escaping hunger.

10. Cupholders for Soup Bowls (Honda Element)

Honda’s famously quirky Element came with adjustable cupholders deep enough to accommodate actual soup bowls. The future isn’t always V8s and turbos—sometimes it’s ramen-on-the-run.

_{Photo by Brandon Atchison on Unsplash}

11. Onboard Vacuum Cleaner (Honda Odyssey Touring Elite)

Cheerios everywhere rejoice! Minivan mania reached new heights in 2014 when Honda installed the HondaVAC, a built-in vacuum system behind the third row. If minivans had mics, this would be the moment they dropped it.

12. Clear “Vista” Roofs (Nash Rambler Palm Beach Special, Corvette)

The transparent roof: dreamy in design, questionable in a desert climate. Models like the 1956 Nash Rambler Palm Beach Special and later, various Corvettes, let passengers fry under the sun—er, see the stars at night.

Just don’t leave your ice cream on the dashboard.

13. Driver-on-the-Right “Safety Car” (Stout Scarab)

The 1930s Stout Scarab, arguably the world’s first minivan, put the driver on the right so that curbside drops would be safer. It also featured lounge seating—think “Rolling Living Room,” decades before RVs became chic.

14. Retractable Turn Signal “Arms” (Semaphores)

Flashy lightbulbs are so passé! In the mid-20th century, several European cars (like the Volkswagen Beetle) sported retractable arm indicators—a mechanical “semaphore” that flipped out from the B-pillar, lighting up to tell the world you intended a turn.

Watching one pop out gives new meaning to “giving a signal.”

15. Cooled Gloveboxes for Champagne (Skoda Superb)

As if it was built for a Bond villain’s off day, Skoda’s flagship sedan, the Superb, offers a glazed, cooled glovebox designed for chilling champagne or yogurts. Your road snacks are kept at the perfect temp, as are your secret agent credentials.

Honorable Mentions: The Bonus Oddities!

Rain-sensing seats that warn you if the roof’s off and it’s about to pour (Mazda Miata, Japan-only)
Scent dispensers baked into the ventilation system (Mercedes S-Class)
Built-in umbrella holders (Rolls-Royce, Skoda)
Wristwatch starter switch (Oldsmobile), decades before all the smart keys.

Why Do These Weird Features Exist?

Car manufacturers are locked in eternal battle—not just to sell, but to surprise. Novel features test technology, capture attention, and sometimes just make people laugh. Automotive design, especially in concept cars, is where engineering meets theater. The birth of these peculiarities lies in four main arenas:

Creative marketing: Being different often means being remembered.
Showcasing innovation: New gadgetry, even failures, fuel progress elsewhere.
Cultural quirks: Weird in Detroit, practical in Tokyo (or vice versa).
Sheer fun: Sometimes, engineers just want to see if they can.

Completely Useless or Just Ahead of Their Time?

Features like joystick steering or onboard typewriters may sound outlandish, but some were prototypes for future variations:

Touch controls started as complicated dashboards and now sit on your phone.
Climate-controlled gloveboxes evolved into cooled seats in luxury rides.
Curious seat layouts spawned today’s flexible minivan interiors.

The auto industry’s odd ducks sometimes become tomorrow’s must-haves.

For the Tech-Obsessed: A Quick Timeline of Bizarre Features

1950s: Analog tech (record players), innovative dashboards, semaphores
1970s: Swiveling seats, clear roofs, mechanical license plates
1990s: Water-repellent glass, umbrella holders
2000s: Built-in vacuums, cooled gloveboxes, toaster ovens

Would Anyone Actually Buy These Today?

Admit it: There’s something irresistible about a car with just the right kind of weird. Many “normal” modern features were once regarded as outlandish—think heated steering wheels, heads-up displays, or even cup holders! So next time you’re stuck in a rainstorm with your hydrophobic windows, eating soup behind your gaming joystick, raise a (cooled) glass to the inventors who keep pushing the envelope.

Curiosity Fueled the Car—And Still Does!

Weird car features tell us a lot about what manufacturers think we want (even when we don’t). Are they impractical? Sometimes. Dangerous? Occasionally. Unforgettable? Absolutely.

The next time you complain about paying extra for a backup camera, remember: somewhere, an engineer wanted you to have soup, toast, or fresh soundtracks—on the move.

Drive safe. And if you see a man typing on a Citroën DS at a stoplight, honk—it might be history in the making.

External Links

The Weirdest Features Offered In Cars Throughout History - CarBuzz What are the weirdest car features? - Quora Bizarre Car Features: 5 of the Strangest Ever Offered - Motorlease The 13 weirdest car features, according to you - Hagerty Media What are the most obscure car features you know of? - Reddit