Section · 4 stories
Ideas that should never have left the sketchpad, and we're so glad they did.
Subaru put two rear-facing plastic seats in the cargo bed so the US government would call its little pickup a car. It worked.
Weirdest quirk Two rear-facing jump seats bolted into the cargo bed, there mainly to dodge a 25% light-truck tariff.
One wheel at the front, a fibreglass body and an aluminium engine. Britain's most famous three-wheeler is a glorious mistake, and it wasn't really as tippy as TV made out.
Weirdest quirk One wheel at the front, plus a weight under 450 kg, so it could be licensed and taxed like a motorcycle-category tricycle.
A slippery Czech sedan with three headlights, a fin, and a V8 behind the back seat. Its handling became a legend of its own.
Weirdest quirk A dorsal fin runs down the engine cover, and a third 'cyclops' headlight sits in the middle of the nose.
The wedgiest wedge ever drawn had almost no rear visibility, so owners invented the 'Countach reverse.' Pure spec-sheet theatre.
Weirdest quirk The traditional way to reverse it is sitting on the door sill with the scissor door up, looking backwards.
