The April Fool Archive

BMW Moveable Steering Wheel    (April Fool's Day - 1986)

BMW announced that its engineer Aap Rilfühl had figured out a way to allow drivers to switch the position of their steering wheel, so that British drivers could move the wheel whenever they crossed the channel from Britain to France:
By incorporating a second-unit steering wheel socket and instrument panel into a conventional glove compartment, Dr. Rilfühl was able to provide the basis for a secondary driving position.

The fascia, naturally enough, conforms to 'Continenal' standars — with a kph speedometer, and the 'Lawson' fuel gauge reading in litres.

Then, by the insertion of a lynch-pin into the steering wheel column, fellow engineer Hans Grabbem was able to devise the first quick-release steering wheel. (Incorporated, too, into the column is a secondary 'Continental' horn — the 'Vorin-Drivers' 80 decibel air-horn.)


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