Cars of the Future - Part 9

Car Interiors

There will probably be more visible changes in the interior of cars of the future than in any other area. The changes will be designed to provide driver and passengers with comfort and convenience along with safety features. Changes are likely to come in seating, instrument panels, steering wheels, and new safety restraints replacing seat belts. The world of electronics will play a bigger role in the car's interior. There will be more electronically controlled signals flashing to the driver. The car of the future, within 20 years, will likely have a closed circuit television set to provide the driver with rear view vision. Television sets for rear passengers may become common place, particularly with the advent of videotape cassette TV systems, which lets a viewer choose his own program as he would choose a phonograph record. Improvements in telephones may bring the production cost down to where they will become common- place in automobiles. 

Any forecast of interior design of automobiles will have to take into account the affect of government safety regulations. In a talk a few months ago before the American Society of Body Engineers, C. M. MacKichan, Executive in charge of Advanced Automotive Engineering, International Design and Forward Planning for General Motors Styling, said: "Functional requirements on the interior of the car are no less rigidly prescribed, both by governmental agencies and our corporation. In fact, because the driver and passengers of the car are more intimately involved with the interior, it could be said that there are even more constraints for interior design than there are for exterior design. Our designers are subject to the criteria of serviceability, assembly (that is, within the car), buildability - or the ease with which pieces come together, suitability of materials, and safety, in addition to being competitive in terms of appearance. 

"Today, we are very concerned with the ability of service People to have access to items in the interior of the car which have a recognized frequency of repair. We are designing instrument panels which are removable so that components can be replaced; light bulbs can be exchanged as they burn out. We have designed heater units that can be exchanged for service and have provided access panels to other areas of functioning equipment in the instrument panel. "The instrument panel on a modem American automobile is no simple fascia board that can be slipped into place with ease. It is a large, bulky affair which has to be threaded into the body as it is being trimmed. How to get this bulk in and around other components requires a study of the sequence of operations. Thus, the assembly procedure must be integrated into the design process. In terms of buildability, the ease of how the various components come together, how one material will act with another, whether or not the design can be built for a reasonable cost, are other areas of concern subject to some constraints. 

All of these factors are very closely interrelated with the aspects of safety. Safety presents a broad range of constraints in the interior of the automobile and, should it be found that some aspect of the design directed toward serviceability, assembly or buildability is in conflict with a safety requirement, then the process must be completely reexamined in order that the design meet that safety requirement. 

"All areas that are in danger of being impacted, have special conditions applied to them. For example, if the instrument panel can take a force of 80 G's in three milliseconds but the panel knobs cannot, then the knobs themselves are subject to a series of restrictions - they must have rounded edges, be recessed, or if not they must be breakaway, or if they can't be broken off, they must project no more than 318 of an inch beyond the surface that surrounds them. In evaluating proposed designs, a device called "Trauma-safe," that has been developed within the corporation, is sometimes used. This is a mechanical approximation of the human head which provides an indication of the injury potential of various designs. 

"In addition to the physical characteristics of the interior components, there are other areas of applied constraints. Vision requirements are established by our corporation. They have to do with up and down, and left and right forward vision, affecting the design of the instrument panel, the windshield pillar and the hood. To the rear, we are also concerned with upward vision, downward vision, and to the left and right to eliminate blind spots. 

"To insure that good forward vision is maintained, the government has divided the windshield into three areas and prescribed the percentage of wiping action which must be provided for each of these areas. The most critical area is that portion directly in front of the driver. Our corporation has developed some elaborate methods to insure that reflections will not occur in that area. 

"Automotive designers are even involved in the sound level of their interiors. Much of the work is directed toward developing a quiet environment for the driver and selection of material and shapes plays a part here. This is in the interest of promoting greater safety through the reduction of irritation and subsequent fatigue; also by making it more easy for the driver to hear outside warning devices, such as police and fire sirens, at times when he has the windows rolled up and his air conditioner on. 

"The legibility of instruments and controls is of extreme importance to us. We take into consideration that many of our drivers wear bifocals glasses. Thus the size and frequency of gradations are of concern. We also study instrument size, color and intensity of lighting and provide them with anti-reflective lenses. In addition, there are requirements for the location and standardization of controls, established both by the corporation and by government. All of these controls must be within the reach of what we call a Class Two belt system, which includes a seat belt and shoulder harness. 

"There are under study requirements for passive restraint systems designed to further protect the driver and passengers in the event of a collision. One approach, of course, is the 'air bag,' a subject which is, at the moment, fraught with unanswered questions. We feet that in the event passive restraint systems become realities, they will have as great an influence on interior packaging as anything that has occurred in the past. 

"With all the constraints imposed, the design must took good and it must be competitive. It must meet or exceed the efforts of other groups of designers working under the same constraints at Ford, Chrysler, and American Motors, All of our designers are facing this challenge and we are proud of our ability to design well under all of the applied constraints."

(1) Interior of this Ford experimental station wagon has curved sofa that comfortably accommodates three adults who could watch television set shown in upper right of this photo. Slatted, polarizing sun roof can be changed from opaque to transparent at touch of a button. 

(2) Telephones are likely to become more common in cars of the future. 

(3) Door handles in this Ford experimental car are replaced with small power control panels, located to rear of door opening. Note doors open straight out from body rather than swinging. 

(4) Steering column on this Chrysler experimental car gives driver fingertip control of his car. Controls are placed on steering wheel console. Buttons on horn ring activate directional signals. 

(5) Safety features of Chrysler experimental car includes rear view mirror with lights which indicate position of traffic behind car. Combination seat and armrest also serves as a rear facing child's seat. 

(6) Seats automatically move forward and upward as canopy raises and steering wheel swings away in this space age interior of sporty Dodge Charger experimental car, 

(7) -Centrally-mounted steering wheel and arm pivot up and down and slide in and out at touch of a button on Allegro /I, Ford experimental car. 

(8) Cab of experimental GM truck reveals steering is done with two coupled hand grips on a console extending over driver's lap. Console includes steering optional selector lever speedometer, and a maintenance monitor light.