[HN Gopher] The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Had the Wildest Dashboard ...
___________________________________________________________________
The 1986 Oldsmobile Incas Had the Wildest Dashboard You've Never
Seen
Author : austinallegro
Score : 65 points
Date : 2024-08-11 18:28 UTC (4 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.thedrive.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.thedrive.com)
| maxlin wrote:
| Cybertruck vibes on how much of a takeoff this was. Engineers who
| get ideas like this sold to the upper management always have my
| props (as long as they don't compromise the product too much that
| is)
|
| EDIT: jumped the gun on this one and confused some memories. This
| was just a prototype, with obviously different requirements for
| "selling" the idea but there were some actual production cars
| with ahead-of-their-time graphical terminals like
| https://youtu.be/Lkaazk68iGE?si=_qpkZaVobI6zK-Cs&t=305
| dano wrote:
| I suspect designers rather than engineers. General Motors has
| always been the bigger fins are better company.
| iancmceachern wrote:
| Bigger fins are better
| netsharc wrote:
| A touchscreen to change the temperature?! I'm glad that never
| caught on!
| throwup238 wrote:
| In the upcoming version you'll have to argue with an LLM over
| voice about the optimal temperature, before threatening to
| drive into opposing traffic unless it sets it to 70.
| willismichael wrote:
| There's no way to win that argument, the LLM will take
| control of the vehicle and refuse to let you make any
| decisions at all after that point. If you're really
| unlucky, it will really go rogue and make its own decision
| to veer into oncoming traffic.
| Cockbrand wrote:
| "I'm sorry, Dave"
| Mountain_Skies wrote:
| We've replaced the CANBUS with a CANTBUS. For your
| protection.
| Bluestein wrote:
| (And it will sound like _you_ while doing it - ie. deep-
| faking your own voice ...)
| ChrisMarshallNY wrote:
| Anyone remember this HN submission, from awhile back?
|
| https://jenson.org/tesla/
| Animats wrote:
| It's a terrible steering wheel, but has possibilities as a game
| controller.
| partiallypro wrote:
| Really wish Oldsmobile were still around
| PlunderBunny wrote:
| I'm no car guy at all, but even I can see the faults with the
| doors (driver gets wet when the passenger jumps in while it's
| raining), and with the steering wheel (imagine trying to do a
| hand-over hand turn without accidentally pressing one of the
| buttons!)
|
| More car makers are better, and engineers should be allowed to
| have a bit of fun, but concept cars are almost laughable
| sometimes in their basic flaws.
| excalibur wrote:
| I miss my quad 4. Those things were a blast to drive.
|
| I like how the flip-top cockpit in this concept compliments the
| fancy joysticks and display to give the impression you're driving
| a luxury fighter jet.
| aleksiy123 wrote:
| If you like this sort of stuff this BERTONE video always inspires
| me.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynDCCXNg0Cc
|
| Wonder if there are any css/ui kits for this sort of analog retro
| style?
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| Bertone definitely had a "look". Cyber Truck looks now like an
| extension (almost parody?) of the Bertone design.
| gumby wrote:
| Example of bad UX: controls where your hands already are is great
| (curse you, idiotic touchscreens) but gear controls for an
| automatic transmission aren't used while in motion, so put them
| elsewhere.
|
| Forgivable, as it's a concept car, so just give people an idea.
| spzb wrote:
| But are they in early this year?
| Cockbrand wrote:
| Whoa, with this amount of 7 segment LED displays, it's a total
| mid-80s car UI dream! It definitely has its major flaws, but
| that's also common for mid-80s digital car UIs.
|
| The exterior looks like the love child of 70s wedge design and
| 90s rounded corners.
| rmason wrote:
| Oldsmobile has some really terrific engineers. I know because I
| attended schools in the Lansing area with their kids. What killed
| the brand was a series of general managers in the late nineties
| and early two thousands. Until then Oldsmobile outsold Pontiac
| and Buick.
| ofalkaed wrote:
| Back in the 80s one of my father's summer past times was test
| driving cars. Once a week or so he would stick me on his lap in
| our Dodge Horizon and have me work the wheel while he took care
| of the pedals and gear shift with a Camel in one hand and a
| bottle of beer (generic) in the other, Uriah Heap or Deep Purple
| on the 8-track since for what ever reason those were the only
| cartridges that 8-track would not eat. Remember taking a car with
| a setup much like the Inca's for a test drive (I was never on his
| lap for the test drive but the Camel and beer (generic) were
| often still with him), no idea what model it was just remember
| that it had a yoke loaded with controls instead of a wheel and a
| dash filled with LCDs. Unexpected bit of nostalgia.
| IIAOPSW wrote:
| Great taste but bad execution. It makes a ton of sense IMO to put
| all the controls on the steering wheel so that the driver never
| has to take their hand off of it to do something. Physical
| buttons like this are also great UI for critical controls (unlike
| touch screen). My only gripe is the layout they went with. Its
| very disorganized.
|
| For things which are symmetrical within the car (door
| lock/unlock, windows up/down, turn signal) they should be
| symmetrical on the wheel as well. Critical elements to driving
| like the windshield wipers, defrosters, horn and turn signals
| should all be extremely self evident at a glance whereas amenity
| controls like radio and AC should be off to the side.
| Propelloni wrote:
| True, controls should be in range without taking the hands of
| the wheel, but putting buttons onto the steering wheel is only
| the second best option. I think a better choice are
| "satellites", as used by Renault or Nissan, behind the steering
| wheel and below the turn indicator and so on. Those are always
| at the same position, regardless of the steering wheel's
| rotation, and I can find and operate them without looking and
| without taking the hands of the steering wheel. I guess there
| are some issues with those, too, because they haven't been
| generally adopted.
| jccc wrote:
| This headline would be much less effective if it told you the
| truth, that the car never existed:
|
| "Unfortunately for us, Oldsmobile never went ahead and produced
| the Incas. They made a slew of other wild concept cars as well,
| but none of those saw the light of day either [...]"
| ofalkaed wrote:
| How does "that you've never seen" not convey that sentiment?
| Sure it is hyperbole but that hyperbole seems well founded
| since the only people who have likely seen it are those which
| followed concept cars of the 80s or stumbled onto an article
| like this one.
| johnea wrote:
| Ah yes, back when the future was still bright.
|
| But now we have so many shades of corp grey.
|
| So we've got that going for us...
| jccalhoun wrote:
| The steering reminds me of Mercury's "wrist twist" steering
| concept from the 60s
| https://youtu.be/PWWYkxQCFfQ?si=i_Gh4gtXjJv5Pn51&t=52
| MadnessASAP wrote:
| That's looks pretty neat. Right up until power steering fails,
| then it becomes kind of a problem.
| ryandrake wrote:
| Honestly wish there was more experimentation in automotive human-
| UX besides the current "Just put it all in touchscreen LOL"
| design rut we're in. A car today functions almost entirely like
| every car that's existed since the 1950s: Big, transparent window
| in front, a handful of "critical" gauges and displays underneath
| that window, a steering wheel that hasn't changed in a century
| (besides the addition of buttons), accessory
| devices/entertainment in a center stack on a central console, a
| glove box or some other storage in the passenger side. Any time a
| manufacturer deviates from the norm, even slightly, the result
| gets derided as weird and ugly, and we revert back to the 1950s.
| Have we really settled on objectively optimal controls?
| kcplate wrote:
| There was an Isuzu vehicle in the late 80s early 90s (Impulse?)
| that had a similar button pad design within finger reach off the
| steering wheel.
| UniverseHacker wrote:
| The Subaru XT Turbo was a nearly as weird futuristic car that
| they actually made. I had one and it was fun... a great little
| sports car with a futuristic design, that with the touch of a
| button lifted high in the air and was also great offroad- with
| real center diff lock 4WD.
| rodgerd wrote:
| Similarly, the Citroen GSA actually existed:
| https://www.autoevolution.com/cars/citroen-gsa-1979.html#aga...
| ein0p wrote:
| US auto manufacturers could coast for 50 years on reissuing the
| classics upgraded for fuel efficiency and crash safety. Instead
| we get soulless, gaudy, plastic bullshit that falls apart the
| moment the warranty expires.
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2024-08-11 23:00 UTC)