The Golf GTI’s plaid upholstery was created by Volkswagen designer Gunhild Liljequist, who drew inspiration from checked fabrics she admired in Britain. She also suggested the golf-ball gear kno
If a car’s head restraint pushes your head forward, check the seat setup and the adjustment instructions for that model. Some restraints tilt as well as move vertically, and their reset mechanis
The speed readout was there a moment ago, floating neatly above the bonnet. Put on sunglasses and it fades, perhaps to the point where it seems to have disappeared altogether. An expensive electronic
A photograph of a Citroën DS traveling with one rear wheel missing looks as though someone has caught the car halfway through a mechanical disaster. The body sits unexpectedly level. The front wh
Approach a BMW Isetta with the keys and the usual question comes first: where is the door handle? The answer is on the front of the car. Open its single door and the windshield, dashboard and steering
There is a particular stretch of road where the sun finds the narrow gap that your visor cannot quite cover. You swing the visor toward the side window, adjust it twice, and the light still lands squa
Open a car door slowly and you may feel it pause partway, then settle again when opened farther. Those pauses are useful when you are climbing out beside another parked car. They also explain why a fa
There is a point in parallel parking when a space stops looking like a space and starts looking like a judgment of your driving. The front of the car is almost where it belongs. The rear is still out
Open the door of a large American sedan from the 1950s and the front seat looks less like a modern cockpit than a particularly comfortable sofa. There is no center console dividing driver and passe
Pulling into a gas station should not require advance planning. Yet anyone driving an unfamiliar car knows the little moment of uncertainty that arrives before choosing a pump. Which side is the fu