VW Fit/Use Citroen Idea !

[ACTIVE8]

Wasn't it the Edsel that had the first turning headlamp (single, center one)?

The Tucker Torpedo with "cyclops" eye front headlamp

Ah yes the Tucker Torpedo.

It featured a directional third headlight, dubbed the "Cyclops Eye", for use in turns. It lit up whenever the car was steered by more than 10 degrees.

[FrenchLeave]

The clutchless gearchange was quite popular in the mid to late fifties. If I remember correctly it used a metallic powder as a clutch which, when magnetised, gave a solid drive to the gearbox. When the driver grabbed the gearlever it switched off the current and the powder turned to mush.

That device was fitted to the smaller Hillmans and Standards (there's a blast from the past) amongst others but it died the death so presumable wasn't too effective.

Derek

[ACTIVE8]

Given that many new cars need a dealer to replace front fog bulbs, the cynical part of me thinks this is just a gimmick to decrease the life of the bulbs and earn dealers more cash.

Electrically speaking......

Although not a gimmick, there is a certain irony when watching TV, and the adverts come on.

It could be late at night or early morning, and you don't want to disturb other members of the family.

So all of a sudden the volume intensity goes up, there is more bass to attract you attention, or some inane tune.

Therefore trying not to disturb others you reach for the remote to turn the TV down, only to notice that the product being advertised is for batteries like the ones in your remote, that has now stopped working, because of constant needs to sort out the volume.

So as Alanis Morissette sung, "Isn't it ironic!"

[myglaren]

While the above may only be an illustrative example rather than a practical problem, on a lot of fairly recent TVs there is an option to 'normalise' the racket produced - compresses the output so you can hear the quiet bits but not be deafened by the loud bits.