There is such a thing as being ahead of your time! The first automotive air conditioner was a bulky contraption but it worked. A guy in Texas, I believe, put it in Buick. Car manufacturers wee not interested and stressed that flow-through ventilation was the way to go.
Nash (American Motors) had a Kelvinator domestic fridge division. They first saw the light and adapted a refrigeration unit to their “Weather Eye” car system. It was by far the best unit, better that GM, which although they owned Frigidaire, was too compartmentalized to envision widespread use of automotive air.
The snowmobile, pioneered by Ski-Doo of Bombardier fame, came from a demand by ski operators and outdoorsmen who were already using the larger industrial Snow Cats.
Dr. Armand Bombardier, a physician, contrived the first car-snowmobile hybrid so he could visit his patients in the winter. The heavy snowfall in Quebec drove the demand. Out of that grew the need for industrial units and the result is history.
All snowmobiles are an imitation of the original Ski-Doo.
The first OEM automotive A/C was actually offered by Packard.
The Packard staff car that was ordered by General Douglas MacArthur had every available option–including the A/C that was probably a good idea since it was shipped to The Philippines.
I guess that Packard liked the positive publicity that flowed from MacArthur’s choice of their model instead of the competition’s models, so they sent his check back to him. The only thing better than owning a Packard is owning a Packard that was free!
On a side note, there was no clutch on the original Packard compressor’s drive mechanism, so the A/C compressor was constantly engaged. As a result, the few Packard owners in The US who ordered that option would have the special drive belt installed for the summer, and removed when the summer ended. The other problem was that there was no thermostatic control, so the faster you drove, the colder the car’s interior would get. That might not have been a problem in The Philippines, but it was problematic for some US-based Packard owners.
The dell computer example is irreverent - a product with effectively no regulation vs highly regulated cars.
Kenworth is a closer to autos but they’ve always been built that way. Customers expect it and unit cost is very high. $150K to over $200K. Not comparable to a $30,000 car.
And quoted from the article itself;
“There is a real benefit in simplifying and using standardized components,” adds Gardner. “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. The more parts you have, the more difficult it is to find an existing part.”
And this;
“Many industrial products that are currently engineered-to-order can be pre-engineered and modularized to accommodate a build-to-order strategy,”
Cars have always been pre-engineered and modularized. That pre-engineering costs money for each and every component and assemblies that require validation testing to meet that regulation. Some of that can be simulated, some requires physical testing.
Every additional part adds cost, whether computers are involved or not.
In the early days of the automobile, nearly all cars were custom built for the owner. Then came Henry Ford whose aim was to put a car in every driveway. This called for maximum standardization and large volumes to drive down cost. “You can have any color as long as it’s black”! became the mark of standardization.
Luxury car builders, on the other hand gave clients a lot of options, and they still do at the very top of the pyramid. Your Rolls Royce can be custom tailored to your taste.
Henry Ford relied on volume and uniformity to drive down cost, which is admirable! However, today’s production methods allow much more variation and still keep costs low. Unfortunately, if your car is built halfway around the world, a custom order will of necessity, take a while to execute!
Cars built in Asia have options that market research has found most people want, and they come in Packages of several items. You can still buy a “stripper” Corolla where I live, but most dealers don’t like to stock them. Toyota has 3 levels of trim packages. Ours is the CE with air, automatic and cruise as the only options. All other items are included in the CE package.
Hyundai had some crazy option packages when I was shopping. In order to get one thing you had to buy a sliding roof, which I did not want.
Hasn’t Mini done that since the start? Of the modern Mini, I mean? I just spec’d about 20 options on one of the bottom of the line models and I assume you would get more choices on the pricier models…
HUH??? What does regulation have anything to do with automated manufacturing techniques. Car regulation will have ZERO impact on custom manufacturing.
Never said otherwise. Each company will have to decide for themselves if it’s right for them. But it DOES WORK.
Completely different argument now Mustangman?? First you’re arguing that it CAN’T be done…now you’re arguing about SHOULD it be done. I never ever said anything about if it should…just that it CAN. The technology is there. Some companies have adopted it others haven’t. IF a company WANTS to have CUSTOM ORDERS…it CAN be done.
A good dealer will let you order a car built to your specifications. I did that with my 2015 Jeep Cherokee. Caveats are, it must not be at the end of the model cycle (for instance, the 2019 Cherokee is already in production so you couldn’t custom order a 2018), and you would need to stick with regular production options. Just go to the build and price section of the make you’re interested in, create your ideal car, print out your build and locate a dealer who will order if for you.
I ordered an Olds and got it in about four weeks. The dealer said they just changed the specs on a car that was already in the pipeline for them.
At any rate like I said, even if you can or need to order a car from a long laundry list of options, manufacturers do not want to deal with the public with individual orders. That’s what dealers do and retailers. So I’m not seeing much future for ordering cars on the internet, or new houses for that matter. Years ago, friends in Detroit though could go down to Chrysler and order a car quite a bit cheaper. Must have been something like a city desk or something but they did it a couple times in the 60’s.
There are also a great many manufacturer-offered options that are dealer-installed. That’s why wiring harnesses generally have unused plugs and panels and dashboards often have plastic “plugs” in them. That worked great for me when I installed my driving lights. The wiring was all there, as were the plastic “plugs” under the dash that I just needed to pop out to install the switch. I could have even gotten a manufacturer-approved, dealer-installed supercharger that would not have affected the warranty and would have even been covered by it.
I remember installing things in my '72, and I had to drill holes and install wiring. The “platforms” and infrastructures (like the wiring harnesses) on modern cars are much more accommodating.
Agree! Our Mazda 3 was ordered with cruise control, but that model had it dealer installed. A more expensive version of the car would have it already in stalled at the factory. Similarly, block heaters are normally dealer installed since many people don’t want them.
… and with the “foreign” makes, there are also so-called “port-installed” options, which are more labor-intensive than the dealer-installed options. When I custom-ordered my 3 Outbacks (all made in Indiana), before they were transported to the dealership, they had to go to “the port” (which I believe was actually the headquarters of the distributor, in Orangeburg, NY) for installation of certain options.
I doubt if Subaru is the only mfr that has “port-installed” options in addition to dealer-installed options and those that are installed at the factory.
