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The automotive industry has tried to reinvent the car many times over. From nuclear engines to headlights that move with your axle, to giant spoilers and concepts that never caught on. Take a look at 20 classic auto engineering and design failures.

20. Gull-wing Doors

Not since Doc Brown and his time traveling DeLorean have Gull-wing doors been even close to becoming hip. An idea parlayed by Mercedes during the 1950′s on their Mercedes-Benz 300SL, the vertically rising doors never took off. Between the tension bar that would eventually loosen and small openings, getting in and out of your vehicle grew to become a challenge. Now, if all gull-winged vehicles came with a Flux Capacitor things might be different.

19. Giant Spoilers

There wasn’t a high school in North America that didn’t have a tricked out, spoiler accessorized Honda Civic in its parking lot between 1997 and 2003. It was quite the rend throughout suburbia. They were suppose to cut down on wind resistance, right? Obviously, what teenager wants they car to actually go fast AND look cool? Not these ones. The biggest FAIL about the gigantic spoiler craze was that most car owners didn’t even bother finding a wing that matched their ride.

18. Hand Controlled Windshield Wipers

We should all take to our knees and thank Allah and Greg Kinnear for inventing the automatic/intermittent wiper blade. To think, cars were once equipped with wipers that had to be hand cranked. A knob located above the dash connected to the blade, and you jostled it back and forth to clean you windshield. The greatest example of this can be seen on WWII era Jeeps.

17. Four-Way Axle

Would you drive a car that made perfectly fluid 360 degree turns and could easily parallel park by maneuvering sideways? Apparently no one else would. In 2005 Jeep introduced their Hurricane Concept to auto show floors. The four-wheel, double shifter system allowed tires to turn inwards or out. This would certainly make driver’s ed a little more complicated. Since those few ’05 appearances we haven’t heard much about this steering concept – maybe it should be given to an auto company that isn’t on the verge of going out of business.

16. Suicide Doors

If they had a more welcoming name “suicide doors” might have become more popular. The original slogan comes from the fact that old style doors would pop open unexpectedly at high speeds, when wind pushed against them. It also makes climbing out of a car more dangerous, as you may not be able to notice a car coming at your. Some vehicles, including the Saturn Ion Coupe and GMC/Chevy pickups still implement smaller suicide doors in extended cab models.

15. T-Tops

Unless you’re The Bandit or Michael Knight (the first one) T-Tops probably don’t seem very appealing to you. But during the late 70′s and 80′s every coupe from Firebird to certain Chrysler products tried the T-top design over a drop-top or convertible. Between that and fine Corinthian leather Ricardo Montalban would be proud.

14. Coffee-Can Exhaust

Enhanced exhaust systems were right up there with the huge spoilers. Any white kid in the suburbs who drove a Japanese import added this obnoxious, bad for you muffler noise can to their car. Thankfully, except in some parts of Michigan, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the coffee-can exhaust has all but gone extinct.

13. Halogen Lights

So, are these things illegal? The way it seems if you’re pulled over for one reason the halogen headlights will be added as a secondary cause to your ticket. Or, if you happen to be black, and third reason. (See, black people tend to be profiled by some highway patrol officers) Halogens were cause for concern in the United States, saying the lamps were too bright and distracted other drivers. Would you prefer not seeing the car coming at your in the opposite lane at 65 mph?

12. Moving Headlights

Another ahead of its time headlight f**k-ups was a third headlight which moved with your axle. Actually, it sounds like an amazing idea! Some higher end vehicles today use moving headlights. The concept was originally worked in the Tucker ’48 – but never caught on. Tucker, the man who designed this classic Studebaker lookalike was never able to bring his creation to mainstream car lots.

11. Pontiac Aztek

Pontiac’s Aztek was such a horrid failure it deserves it’s own category. Why? It’s hideous, and had an oddball dash which was designed and engineered by a former NASA contractor. Oddly enough, the Aztek had one of the highest Customer Satisfaction Index scores of 2001.

10. Three-Wheeled Car

Made famous by the British TV series Mr. Bean – three wheeled cars seem like a great idea for anyone looking to save rubber plants. Unfortunately, they all just look as though they’ll fall over. It’s also kind of a ridiculous idea.

9. Submersible Cars

Aren’t the waters of our world polluted enough? Now we have to add fossil fuels and exhaust into the mix. Boat-cars and sub-vehicles have been tested and perfected since the 1950′s – but traffic on land is bad enough – who wants to be stuck in a rush hour maritime backup?

8. Human Powered Vehicles

The only type of Hummer we’d admit to buying is the greenist H2 you can find. The idea of a Flintstones car has become as popular as a Nuclear Powered car…and yes, we get to one of those in a moment. Imagine all the sneakers you’d go through during a weekly commute.

7. Flying Cars

We’d still love a flying car, or one of those saucer-vehicles from The Jetsons. Forget about your driver’s license, a pilots license and LOTS of air time needs to be logged before you can launch one of these puppies.

6. Nuclear Fusion Powered Vehicle

We have our own opinions, but Canadian Automobile Association (their version of AAA) says it best – Nuclear fusion: The ultimate alternative fuel! A now-hilarious relic of 1950s America’s fascination with all things atomic, the uranium-powered Nucleon was expected to completely revolutionize driving—Ford’s engineers figured it could go about 8,000 kilometres between recharges. But what of the radiation, you ask? Fear not! The Nucleon’s extreme cab-forward design, coupled with a few inches of good old Detroit steel, would keep any stray neutrons safely at arm’s length.

5. The One-Seater

You may have trouble picking up your girlfriend or going to the grocery store, but it will be easy sliding in between taxi cabs on the isle of Manhattan. One-person vehicles are not very popular now, but who knows, what with the SMART Fortwo starting to build up steam. Speaking of steam…

4. Steam Car

Before we realized raping the globe for petrol was the best way to power an automobile, steam engines were seen as a viable way to get from place to place. A steam engine is an external combustion engine, meaning the fuel is not combusted in the engine, and gave off a low amount of emissions. Once readily available fuel and electric starters came into practice, the steam car was phased out of production.

3. Rocket Car

Gas stations can be hazardous places to begin with, now add rocket fuel to the mix and we have a problem. Batman has a jet-powered car, why shouldn’t you? Unfortunately, national speed limits prohibit the use of jet engines on the road.

2. Who Needs 4 Wheels When We Have 8!

The I.D.E.A KAZ was a 2001 luxury limousine concept. It was a zero-emission vehicle with a total of 8 wheels, 6 of which are involved in turning. Each of the KAZ’s 8 wheels is powered by its own electric motor, leaving a final buying price much more than a Toyota Prius.

1. The Car Phone

The car phone was about as useful as those huge 1980′s portable phones. You had to own a Cadillac or some other high end monstrosity of a vehicle to have one, and the damn thing didn’t work half of the time. Of course, neither does an iPhone. With all the futuristic cell phone and hands free technology available in cars today – the large car phone is no more than a dinosaur.

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