Great Car Features That Failed (And Vice Versa) — The Carmudgeon Show w/ Cammisa & DTS — Ep 231

Great Car Features That Failed (And Vice Versa) — The Carmudgeon Show w/ Cammisa & DTS — Ep 231

From The Carmudgeon Show by Hagerty Media

March 30, 2026 · 52 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the best and worst automotive features throughout history, exploring what has succeeded and what has failed in the industry.

Every year, manufactures launch new features that we usually don’t know that we want. Sometimes, these features are so effective and popular, they disrupt an industry and become government-mandated. Other times, they become quickly forgotten and unwanted by society. Until recent years, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class was the purveyor of new automotive technology - we’d see something in an S Class that we know we might get 15 years later on a Nissan Versa. But even the S-Class had some misses - debuting technology that quickly went away after the next generation. === Visit http://JasonSentMe.com to get a Hagerty Guaranteed Value (TM) collector-car insurance quote! === Nowadays, more than ever - we notice manufactures cutting corners in areas where they have no business doing so. No one-touch windows (Subaru Crosstrek), CarPlay being a $4,000+ option (Ferrari, until 2023), non-amber turn signals (BMW), and lacking spare tires on cars we know need them (Volkswagen e-Golf). This got us thinking - what are the best and worst features in history that have ever been invented? What features seemed like they’d be popular, but flunked? What features seemed dumb and first, but are now on every…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jason, Derek

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Hagerty

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Ferrari, BMW, Volkswagen

Places: Nissan Versa, Volkswagen e-Golf

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