Weird features that have been patented by carmakers but not made it to production... yet

What goes on inside an automaker’s research and development department is top secret but patent filings help shed some light on what we can expect to see in the future. Most of these outline ways to make cars safer, cleaner, or both but there are some oddball features that never see the light of day and for good reason… For instance, do we need a car with a tear gas dispenser and retractable telescopic tail? Toyota thought so back in 2012. It seems the Japanese giant had watched too many James Bond movies if it really thought it could add tear gas on its models or a telescopic 'tail' to improve aerodynamics? Hmm, just imagine a Land Cruiser with that on the back… But the idea by an engineer named Peter W. Ripley for a wind turbine system mounted on the roof in search for alternative automotive energy may have some legs in it.

In 2013, Google wanted to glue you to a car's bonnet, all in the name of safety... It felt pedestrians had a better chance of surviving getting hit by a vehicle if they were to remain stayed glued to it. Tesla submitted a patent for a laser-powered windshield cleaner in 2018 and in 2011 Hangoo Kang wanted to leave the design of a car in the hands of the buyer even going so far as to allow asymmetrical vehicles! What would they have looked like, we shudder to think…

Ford had the perfect solution for those who weren’t quite sure if they wanted a car or a motorbike by offering a car with a deployable motorbike! The Blue Oval went one step further in its bid for practical motoring via its in-car conveyor belt to make getting to your groceries - without having to pull over, getting out of the car. And this ‘brainwave’ was as recent as 2017. Scary, yes…

More goodness from Toyota; in 2014 the carmaker had aspirations of making a flying car, a staple of sci-fi, and came up with The 'Aerocar' which had a “shape morphing fuselage” that could transition from “land mode to flight mode”. BMW, on the other hand, wanted to take flight in terms of car washing by using robots and drones…

We all lead busy lives and are often rushing around in our cars heading from one meeting to another. Sometimes, we’re late - but in light of autonomous cars, Ford submitted a patent for a "meeting room on the move". It consisted of a circular passenger compartment at the back of a self-driving car. If this ever got off the ground and you were still late you would have needed a great excuse to explain why… Meanwhile, we could well be seeing mounted light-up signs, by Uatc LLC, designed to show the intention of an autonomous vehicle to pedestrians.

They say old is gold but not this time. These two idea from 1923 and 1945 respectively will leave you scratching your head. Imagine if your car could park on its back? After all, parking spaces have always been a major issue… In a bid to conserve room, a vertical parking patent was submitted by Leander Pelton. Almost 100 years later, we’re still waiting for this to become a reality and if it does then you’ll be topping up on those fluids quite often… If you think standard car doors are boring and gullwings are not nearly flashy enough then what about a car with a pivoting end section? This concept had the whole front section of the car raise up to help you get in and out…

If an on-the-go toilet system doesn’t sound too appealing then you better wait for the next service station. But who wouldn’t want an in-car coffee machine for a nice hot cuppa while you’re driving? But brewing it and then pouring it while you’re steering? Yes, it’s probably not a good idea…

A huggable seatbelt for kids that is also a plush toy isn’t such a bad idea – but parents would probably love having a partition back there to separate bickering siblings on those long journeys…