Many of today's 'advanced' tech features were first seen decades ago, but they didn't always work
also adopted rear-axle steering for its 1989 comeback and championed it throughout the 1990s even when the technology started to fall out of favor with other automakers.
But ironically Nissan dropped the feature from the GT-R with the death of the R34 Skyline. When the R35 GT-R appeared in 2007 it steered using the front wheels only, just as other carmakers were starting to rediscover the benefits.in favor of cleaner, quieter electric alternatives. But a very similar war was being waged in the late 1890s and early 1900s, and back then it was electric power that was forced into submission.
The introduction of an electric starter was a major boost for combustion cars, but Edwin Black writes in his bookthat petroleum interests helped derail the electric car movement. In 2022 though, with battery technology improving and climate concerns energizing governments to turn against combustion power, the EV takeover is back on track, only 100 years later than planned.
, Renault, Skoda and Volkswagen models had their engines mounted at the back. Fortunately, scary swing-axle suspension and Russian-roulette wet-weather handling, which were also often part of the vintage rear-engine experience, didn’t join frunks in making a 2020s comeback.From Citroën to Mercedes, most manufactures in the late 1960s and early 1970s were excited about Felix Wankel’s super-smooth rotary engine.
Only Mazda persevered, though when the RX-8 died in 2010 due to its inability to meet Euro 5 emissions standards, it looked like the rotary had worn out its final rotor tip and a comeback seemed unlikely. Around the same time as the RX-8 was breathing its last, however, Audi showed an A1 concept that used a rotary as a range extender, and Mazda has decided to do the same to improve the