Strangest Options

[Eagle Kammback]

Well, with the vacuum Honda, it reminded me of some strange options I've seen.
Or, well, only one comes to mind at the moment.
A book I have, "Standard Catalog of American Cars" lists late 1950s Chevrolets to have an "Electric Shaver" available. I also recall tissue dispensers being available

Anybody else know of any strange options that were available on cars?

[Barry Donovan]

I spotted a beetle with a coffee/tea something maker.
it was oem.
. Maybe they got a vw camper van and beetle bug options mixed up at the factory..silliness. Although vw is silliness.

[Monk]

1969 Chevrolets
Rear traction option.....dispenser put out traction compound
when in the snow etc.

Would be cool to have today.........help produce some
great smokey burnouts.

[Chassisman]

Once bought a 73 Plymouth Wagon...had a Plymouth dictaphone mounted in it. Still had the Plymouth tape in it and instruction book in glove box. We bought it for a derby car...heard it was a rare option.

[Monk]

Not sure if it was a dealer option.......was stationed with a guy
on the East Coast in '68.........had a '59 Chevy Imp with an under dash
record player for 45rpm records.

That was high tech back then.

[Scott Liggett]

I found this really clean '69 Dodge Coronet wagon with a fifth headlight off center on the drivers side. It was like ten times brighter than the headlights. Like B-52 landing light bright. The car's owner said it was for dark, rural roads. I kept thinking it for that blind butt wipe who drives on lit city streets with brights on all the time.

[Beagle]

Not sure if it was a dealer option.......was stationed with a guy
on the East Coast in '68.........had a '59 Chevy Imp with an under dash
record player for 45rpm records.That was high tech back then.

tree'd by Monk! Oh yeah, and this -

http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Chr...V-06-AI_07.jpg

[BOOOGHAR]

some of these new cars have had some options I have to ask myself why, amp jacks to plug in your guitar to "jam out" 12v ac outlets in the dash, um yea, lets hook up a blender and make cocktails, and I think it was the dodge caliber that had a mini ice chest built in the center counsel that held 4 bottles of water, couldnt fit in a 6 pack

[Loren]

There was a GM low washer-fluid indicator around '70, which isn't so strange except for the way they did it. A plastic float inside the container slid up and down with the level, it had a tab that went out the top with a green section and a red. When you used the wipers a light bulb at the washer bottle would shine through the tab...the green part if the level was up, or otherwise the red...into an actual 3/32" fiber-optic cable which then fed across the engine compartment and through the firewall to the clear lens on a little JCWhitney-grade indicator module under the dash, which then showed what ever color. I found one at Pick-Your-Part in the eighties and was amused enough to bring it home and stick in in my El Camino.

A guy's '67 Chevy I borrowed had the speed warning indicator, this thing that buzzed like the old seat-belt buzzers after you hit a pre-set speed. For me, he set it at 45 which was damn annoying but also funny...loan a car out but make it that awful to drive.

Tissue dispensers under the dash were common once, our '59 has one that actually swings out so you can pull Kleenex out the top instead of downward. A wonderful convenience for the modern lady to dab a little on her makeup, or just blow some snot. To go with that, you did not get a wastebasket. The windows did roll down however, which is partly why the U.S. wound up needing an anti-littering campaign in the '70s.

Another sensible option idea but with an odd execution (and which actually became standard) was the 3rd-gen Corvette anti-theft system. To activate it you turned a normal door lock-type key switch, and since the 'Vette didn't have a trunk they stuck the switch right out there on the back of the car for like it did. Now if you're not familiar with Corvettes and can't figure out if they have a trunk or not 'cause of that lock thing being there, you know the story. Get out of your car at the mini-mart, go around to the back and stick you key in the switch, nothing apparent happens, then turn and go in the store. Reverse the process on the way back out. Look like a dork both times.

As for the mini-vans with all the gadget sh*t...I suppose it helps sell the car at the dealer lot, and is a great profit-center for the service dept. in five years when it's finished working, like my sister-in-law's Taurus SHO which cost over $400 to fix the little motor in the sunroof (which sealed fine when it was closed but unfortunately stuck wide-open). By gawd, if the outlet for the laptop power and the drop-down video screen both quit at the same time, you might as well junk the car.

Me, I like stuff a little more raw and can do without it all, but it hasn't been that long since I finally began to accept power windows so I guess that's where I'm at.

[nesabo]

A "low option" model today is one that does not have a Navigation system.

[DanStokes]

My nav system in Truck folds up and goes in the center arm rest console.

Weirdest one I personally owned was the vacuum gage on the center console of the '65 Impala SS convert. Evidently if the person doing the ordering cheaped out and didn't get the tach the space became occupied by a (seemingly) cheaper vacuum gage. I don't recall seeing another one but I've seen several '65 SSs with the tach.

Dan

[70chevyC-10]

Tic Toc Tachs on Chevy trucks were pretty rare options too (similar to what Loren mentioned)

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=tic+toc+tach&qpvt=tic+toc+tach&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=47D0280D40E54CE4ACD74E209CD0B785FD7EA5FF&selectedIndex=0

How about squirters to clean your headlights - I always thought those were dumb on our Bonneville SSE.........

[Deaf Bob]

My nav system in Truck folds up and goes in the center arm rest console.

Weirdest one I personally owned was the vacuum gage on the center console of the '65 Impala SS convert. Evidently if the person doing the ordering cheaped out and didn't get the tach the space became occupied by a (seemingly) cheaper vacuum gage. I don't recall seeing another one but I've seen several '65 SSs with the tach.

Dan

Funny.. Seen more vac guages than tachs in that spot... Guess a matter of where the car was sold?

[milner351]

Flex can be ordered with the fridge - 12v outlets at every corner is becoming the norm -
"speed alarm" speedo - my buddies sea foam green 67 camaro had that - along with a lighted compass - power windows, and trunk release.

I'm still unsure as to the history of the "sun visor" on our '54 - were those ever offered as a GM accessory?

I know the "clam shell" light minder was a GM part - as with the sun visor - you can't see traffic lights if you're the first in line.

[Scott Liggett]

Non SS models had a.big clock there in that round pod in the middle of the dash. The SS models got the console and the clock was moved there. The vacuum gauge was placed in that pod. An optional tach was put in place of thd vacuum gauge. Not many got it. Almost useless for racing. Though, they are pricey now.

The fourth trailing arm that came with the heavy duty suspension was the one that I find strange, the upper left. Engine size had no determination on the fourth arm. I've big block cars without it. Cant remember if the F41 was part of the SS option. It was only $12 for the F41 option.

Also, the SS didnt get you a V8 like the Chevelles. The 250 /3 on the tree was the base engine. If you had an SS with the three speed on the column you still got a console. It was the auto trans console with a plate where the shifter would normally be. I have only seen one like that. They are the rarest of of the 65 SS's, only 2200 out of 252,000 SS models in '65.