October 5, 2024

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Automotive rocks

Ford’s Experimental “Wrist Twist” Steering System From 1965

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This quick film from Ford is focussed on their “Wrist Twist” steering procedure from 1965 – a way of steering a vehicle that essential significantly a lot less place and physical effort than a more conventional steering wheel.

It is well worth remembering that in 1965, most of the cars and trucks on the highway didn’t have electricity steering, in truth some persons had under no circumstances even pushed a motor vehicle with power steering. With this in thoughts you can only imagine how futuristic the “Wrist Twist” program must have seemed to the American public.

The automobile that the experimental controls are equipped to is a 1965 Mercury Park Lane convertible, it’s driven by a 400+ cubic inch V8 (~7. liters) and it tips the scales at close to 4,211 lbs or 1,910 kgs.

Ford Experimental Wrist Twist Steering System Collage

Image DescriptionThe “Wrist Twist” process was built with twin dials, which are fundamentally little steering wheels. They’re mechanically connected and convert at the similar time, hydraulics then function a somewhat standard power steering process.

The Park Lane convertible is 215 inches (5.4 meters) very long and 81.1 inches (2 meters) extensive. Provided the sheer actual physical sizing and excess weight of the auto, it’s no surprise that engineers were on the lookout at means of creating the vehicle controls as simple as probable to use.

The “Wrist Twist” system consisted of two tiny dials, in essence small steering wheels with a single for each individual hand. Because of to the different ergonomics the driver experienced arm rests on either aspect that they rested their arms on even though working with the dials to handle the car or truck.

Ford Experimental Wrist Twist Steering System Collage 2

Image DescriptionThe deficiency of a steering wheel opens up a ton of house in the automobile, specifically when you take into consideration the sizing of the wheels that had been usually applied prior to ability steering grew to become commonplace.

Finally the “Wrist Twist” hardly ever caught on and was hardly ever put into generation. It’s a single of quite a few new steering techniques that have been experimented with in excess of the years, only for the common steering wheel to get out in the close.

Potentially the 1 exception to this is the Tesla Steering Yoke, an plane yoke-like steering device remaining equipped to many modern-day creation Teslas, and it is mentioned to be the only steering program on offer in the impending Tesla Cybertruck slated for 2023 creation.

Ford Experimental Wrist Twist Steering System 1
Ford Experimental Wrist Twist Steering System 6

Illustrations or photos courtesy of Bob McVay and the Ford Motor Organization.

Ford Experimental Wrist Twist Steering System

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