Cars with strange design quirks: from talking dashboards to square steering wheels

Classic cars have always been more than just transport. They’re rolling testbeds for bold design, daring experiments, and sometimes, gloriously odd ideas that left drivers scratching their heads. While some innovations became industry standards, others slipped into obscurity, remembered mostly for their eccentricity.

From quartic steering wheels to dashboards that talked back, here’s a tour through some of the strangest automotive design quirks ever to grace our roads.

 

Wheels of fortune

No list of automotive oddities would be complete without the infamous Austin Allegro. Launched in 1973, the Allegro was saddled with what British Leyland proudly called the “Quartic” wheel. Shaped somewhere between a circle and a square, it was meant to free up legroom and improve visibility of the instruments.

In theory, it was clever. In practice, drivers found it awkward, ugly, and almost comical to handle. The Quartic was quietly dropped after a couple of years, but it cemented the Allegro’s reputation as a car full of odd decisions - a reputation that, ironically, makes it a classic curiosity today.

Britain wasn’t the only country experimenting with steering wheels. Citroën, ever the pioneer, fitted its 1970s grand tourer, the SM, with an oval, single-spoke steering wheel. This unusual design was part of a futuristic interior that also included self-centring power steering and high-tech instrumentation.

Other manufacturers took it further. The Maserati Boomerang, a radical 1971 concept car designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, placed the speedometer, tachometer, and switches inside the centre of the steering wheel itself. The wheel rotated around this fixed hub, creating a visual spectacle - though likely a nightmare to use in daily driving.

The 1980s Oldsmobile Incas concept dispensed with the wheel entirely. Instead, it offered a pair of vertical fighter-jet-style handles, surrounded by glowing electronic displays. It looked like something out of Tron rather than a showroom.

 

‘Playing’ with instruments

If steering wheels caused headaches, dashboards were equally ripe for eccentric thinking.

Citroën again led the way with the CX, which in its early versions featured rolling-drum instruments. Instead of needles sweeping across dials, rotating cylinders displayed your speed and revs. Stylish, yes - but not the easiest to read at a glance.

Britain’s own Aston Martin Lagonda went even bolder. Its late-1970s saloon introduced a fully digital LED dashboard at a time when most cars still had analogue dials. Unfortunately, the technology was far from reliable. Owners complained of constant failures, and repairs were eye-wateringly expensive. But when it worked, the futuristic display was unlike anything else on the road.

Concept cars also got in on the act. Volkswagen’s 1986 Orbit concept overwhelmed drivers with a glowing, button-filled instrument panel that even included an early stab at satellite navigation. BMW tried something different with the 1993 Z13 city car concept. Inspired by the McLaren F1 supercar, it put the driver in the middle of the cabin, flanked by two passengers. It was practical in a quirky way, though it never reached production.

Some quirks went beyond form and ventured into function. One memorable example is the MG Maestro 1600, launched in 1983 with a talking dashboard. A synthesised voice provided warnings such as “oil pressure low” or “lights on.” Drivers at the time found it more irritating than helpful, and the feature was quietly phased out.

Weird, yet wonderful

Japan, meanwhile, took quirkiness to new heights. To dodge U.S. import taxes on pickup trucks, Subaru fitted its BRAT pickup with two rear-facing jump seats bolted into the load bed. They were technically “passenger seats,” exempting the vehicle from tariffs - though riding in them was a bracing experience.

The Italians offered a more civilised eccentricity. Certain versions of the Fiat 500L could be ordered with a built-in espresso machine that plugged into the car’s 12V socket. Perfect for a roadside caffeine fix, though perhaps not ideal on bumpy roads.

Some ideas were luxurious to the point of absurd. A custom 1954 Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith was fitted with a toilet under the rear seat. The owner cheekily referred to it as a “champagne cooler.”

While many of these quirks were dismissed at the time, they’ve become part of motoring folklore. The Allegro’s Quartic wheel, once derided, is now a badge of oddball charm. The Aston Martin Lagonda’s unreliable digital dash has become a collector’s talking point. Even the Maestro’s talking dashboard enjoys nostalgic affection among enthusiasts of 1980s tech.

And sometimes, what seemed strange becomes normal. Digital dashboards are now commonplace, steering wheel-mounted controls are an industry standard, and quirky design flourishes like hidden gear selectors are everywhere.

For enthusiasts, they remind us that cars are more than machines. They’re cultural artefacts, snapshots of the era that produced them, and in some cases, they’re eccentric enough to become icons in their own right.

So next time you climb into a car with a slightly odd feature, from guitar-string door pockets to espresso machines, don’t roll your eyes. Remember: today’s quirk could be tomorrow’s classic.