7. Wrist Twist
In 1965 Ford wanted to continue to innovate with their cars and one such innovation was to completely replace the steering wheel. The steering wheel which was easy to use, intuitive and worked perfectly. Their idea to replace the steering wheel was as complicated as it looks. Instead of that big bulky wheel (that Ford had spent time trying to get out of the way) the driver would twist a set of dials. The dials were locked so that they twisted in unison and Ford believed that it was much easier than a steering wheel. There were a few benefits, the driver had more room, better visibility and they could even rest their arms on the armrests as they drove. Ford even suggested that it was easy enough for a woman to use!
Popular Mechanics went and tested the still experimental system in 1965 and found that it had a bit of learning curve. The lighter touch was hard to get used to and if one reverted to trying to turn the controls like a steering wheel the car would respond in dramatic fashion with a jerk. However, after an adjustment period the driver sent by Popular Mechanics, Alex Markovich, grew to like the new system. It was more comfortable be able to put arms on the arm rests and the system did have better visibility. Obviously the wrist-twist did not catch on but the reason was not because it was just too strange for people to get over or that people were just too accustomed to the steering wheel. The wrist-twist had a substantial problem that must have stalled the transition to the new steering system. During violent-lock maneuvers the wrist twist could run out of power boost. This was a problem in traditional power steering as well but it was much easier to overcome with a traditional steering wheel.
In 1968 Popular Mechanics reported that the strange steering system was not yet dead but that it was unlikely to hit production in the foreseeable future.