35 years ago, this GM prototype had a steering wheel, four-wheel steering and satellite navigation
Steering wheel and touchpad controls are considered cutting-edge car technology today, but 35 years ago a prototype from General Motors had those features and more.
The 1987 Pontiac Pursuit was intended to showcase what cars would be like in the distant 2000s. MotorWeek recently posted a recurring review to YouTube, as part of the show’s Reverse Review series.
Pontiac’s designers and engineers actually got a few things right, including satellite navigation — or at least the idea of it — plus a built-in display. Other features are a bit unorthodox.
1987 Pontiac Pursuit prototype on MotorWeek
The Pursuit also has a fork with two large handles and some thumb-activated toggles for the digital driver display, reminiscent of the recently introduced car. Tesla Model Book. However, while Tesla’s version behaves more or less like a regular steering wheel, the Pursuit’s latch only rotates 180 degrees when locked into a lock.
That’s because the unit is designed to work with a wire-driven four-wheel drive system, which has no mechanical connection to the road. That results in “absolutely no road feeling,” according to the reviewer.
The steering system also allows Pursuit to turn sideways, no different GMC Hummer EV. Tesla has also indicated that they will add a similar feature to Cybertruck, though it’s still unclear when that pickup truck will go into production.
1987 Pontiac Pursuit prototype on MotorWeek
Sporty front bucket seat interior with integrated four-point seat belts, integrated rear child seats and integrated rear-passenger screens – similar to the rear-seat entertainment system offered on many family cars today.
One technology that Pontiac overlooked was electrification. Pursuit is powered by a turbo-4 petrol engine. However, it set the stage for the all-electric GM Impact concept and Production model EV1. The styling of the Pursuit is also related to the “kammback” shape, for aerodynamic reasons, Still the future for cars.
While much of the technology introduced in the Pursuit has now become a reality, there is one benefit that engineers then perhaps could not have predicted: The kind of steady, incremental battery progress that created a Tram 500 miles possible without any real encapsulation concessions.
