@oblivion There is actually an aerostar on ebay right now that someone converted to a manual trans I think I have seen one manual trans aerostar in the wild, and I have seen one or two manual trans astro vans in the wild.
I have also seen a few ford econoline vans, and a a 80’s dodge van b series van in stick.
Yes there was a Trek edition jetta, come with a bike and rack.
There was also that sequin? edition golf that had multiple colored body panels from the factory. I have seen one around here before, but its been a while.
A friend also had a Plymouth “Trail Duster” with a 440 V8 and 4WD. It was a 1978 I think. It was kind of a rare bird as I recall. You could also unbolt the steel roof and drive it as a convertible, though it took 3 or 4 guys to lift the roof off and back on. Was a pretty cool vehicle, but got about 6 MPG as I recall.
In 1953, the lowest priced Dodge series was called the Meadowbrook. There was a sub-series in the Meadowbrook line called the Meadowbrook Special. It was so austere that it might have given the Studebaker the idea for the Scotsman four years later. At any rate, the Meadowbrook Special was dropped about 4 months into the model year. Very few were sold.
In 1950, Nash offered a passenger side seat belt that was supposed to make riding more comfortable for the passenger. Very few of the Nashes were sold with this option.
It wasn’t rare for Rambler but my 62 Rambler Classic did offer bed hooks so the front and rear seats could be folded into a bed and near totally flat. I have not seen anything close since. Of course, they did sacrifice a little comfort as a seat. But hey, priorities.
It’s motorcycle rather than car-related but back about 20 years ago Harley Davidson manufactured a limited edition model with only a few thousand produced sold every one PDQ.
HD has often used the term “Glide” with a lot of models; Hydra-Glide, Duo-Glide, Wide Glide, etc.
This model was only available with black and white paint, had a Jersey cow seat cover, and was referred to as a “Cow Glide”.
I have a 2002 Miata that came in Laser Blue only if you ordered it through the internet for about a month in 2001. There were give or take 150 built. My other car is a 2005 Lexus IS300 Sportcross, and there weren’t too many of those either.
When I was a kid a friend’s dad had one of these. This car was very popular at the local drive-in theater.
1986 Volkswagen golf synchro with 4wd, or a 1990 Volkswagen country with raised suspension, 4 wheel drive, brush guard etc.
The other day I saw a Chrysler Maserati convertible driving down the highway. Apparently Lee Iaococca thought it was a good idea back in the late 80s. I’d never seen or heard of one. It just looked like a generic Lebaron to me, other than the Maserati trident logo.
To provide more information on the first A/C option, on Packards, it was actually 1941–not 1942–when they began to offer that option.
And, the price of the A/C option was $1080.
Since it was possible to buy some of the less expensive Packard models for less than $3,000, that was a really expensive option, which may help to explain why so few people chose it.
And, to put relative costs in perspective, if we used inflation rates to convert that price to today’s dollars, that option would cost ~$17,000 today. When you convert the price of the cheaper Packard sedans to today’s dollar, they would cost somewhere ~$48,000, so while these were expensive cars, the cost of that option was almost beyond ridiculous.
http://www.unimogcentre.com/unimog404specs.html
Unimogs can also be special ordered with trannys with 16 forward speeds and 8 reverse speeds. They’re used to pull trains in the yards.
How about a hand crank? (1965 Sunbeam Imp) It also had provisions for Arctic gasoline heater for those cold nights at the south pole.
Gas powered VW Beetle heaters were a common owner add-on.
@irlandes Yes, VW took notice and later made them a factory option. The standard oily smelling heaters using hot air from around the engine were useless in the Northern states.
One option on the 1948 Pontiac was a rear window wiper. On the fastback, the rear window was more like a skylight and the wiper was probably useful. I’ve only seen this rear wiper on a couple of 1948 Pontiac fastbacks and I don’t know if it was available on the other models or earlier years with essentially the same prewar body style.
The 1949-50 Nash Airflytes offered a rear windshield wiper as well, but I have never seen one with this option.
@JosephEMeehan Many Citroen models such as the DS, ID, GS, Dyane and Ami (2cv variants) had hand cranks also.
My 1989 Mercury Grand Marquis, had an electric windshield defroster. When it worked it was great 20 seconds and no frost. Unfortunately it tended to crack and they became unavailable after the warranty period was up. Oh, and they cost $1200 to replace after that.
@ docnick
There are people that used to say that the Vw bug heaters were fine if in perfect working order, I dont agree,
Now If we could have harnessed the heat from the bugs 4 wheel drum brakes people would have been better off.
The hot water heat is much better IMHO.
“Unimogs can also be special ordered with trannys with 16 forward speeds and 8 reverse speeds. They’re used to pull trains in the yards.”
They also find users in off road racing.