33 magnificently random things made by car makers

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Citroën’s V-shaped gears©Daniel Villafruela
André Citroën’s first company specialized in making gears with V-shaped teeth. They were quieter than straight-cut gears and they were much stronger, though they needed to be machined with utmost precision. Patents in hand, Citroën started companies in Russia and in France that provided V-shaped gears to a long list of clients, including Škoda.
He founded the car company that bears his name in 1919. The double chevron logo its vehicles still wear today directly references Citroën’s start as an international gear-maker.

 

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Toyota’s speedboats©Toyota
In 1990 Toyota saw an opportunity to apply its automotive expertise to the marine sector, and today offers a range of craft for the well-heeled. Its most powerful, the Ponam 35 (pictured), is propelled by two 4.5-liter V8 diesel engines more commonly found in the Land Cruiser SUV. They deliver a combined 740bhp of power and a top speed of around 30 knots (35mph), and is 11.95m long (39 feet). They sell for around US$800,000 (£620,000) each, and can carry 12 people.
Unlike Toyota’s land-based vehicles, this particular Toyota club is an exclusive one – the company only builds 15 or so of these boats a year, though the company also makes slightly smaller and cheaper vessels.

 

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Citroën's helicopter©Ronan Glon
Citroën built a small personal helicopter as a last-ditch attempt to cash in on its Comotor fiasco; Comotor was a joint venture with Germany's NSU to make rotary engines. Named RE-2, the company's first and only helicopter used an evolution of the ill-fated GS Birotor's Wankel engine equipped with larger rotors and a fuel injection system designed in-house.
Early on, Citroën removed the prototype's doors in case something went wrong and the test pilots had to jump out mid-flight. No one had to use the parachute, but the RE-2 failed to obtain flight certification because its engine overheated high in the rev range. Development continued at a snail's pace until new owners Peugeot ordered Citroën to immediately end the project and focus on more lucrative ventures, like finally concocting a replacement for the 2CV. The prototype flew for a total of 38 hours.

 

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Honda's private jets©Honda
Honda’s global reach extends well beyond cars. The Japanese company also makes snow blowers, ATVs, motorcycles and even planes. Officially named HA-420, the HondaJet takes the form of a small aircraft intended as a private plane for travellers in the 1%-and-above bracket. It offers space for up to six passengers and two crew members. We’d say it’s the first Honda with wings, but we’re afraid the Civic Type R will protest with a rev of its turbo four.
You can pick one up new for around $6 million (£4.6 million), which as private jets go is something of a bargain. Over 200 have been built so far in Honda's plant at Greensboro, North Carolina, and it’s the best-selling plane in its class.

 

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Volkswagen’ sausages©Autocar
Volkswagen’s most popular product has no wheels and no engine. For decades, the company has manufactured pork sausages and uses them to make currywurst, a popular type of fast food in Germany. It distributes its currywurst to workers in some of its factories, in brand-owned restaurants and at events like classic car shows. They’re even sold at some grocery stores in Wolfsburg, the company’s home town, along with ketchup also made in Volkswagen’s kitchens.
The sausages carry their own part number, like a fuel filler flap - it’s 199-398-500-A for next time you’re down at the dealership - and they’re very popular. Volkswagen makes around 7 million sausages a year, against 4.9 million VW-branded cars produced in 2021. We had a snoop around the factory in 2018 (pictured).

 

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GM’s Face masks©GM
Like many other companies around the world, GM began to manufacture face masks in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The GM Technical Center in Warren, Michigan was said to be capable of making 1.5 million masks per month. It later began producing more complex facepiece respirators too.
Meanwhile, in April 2021 the GM plant in Oshawa, Ontario, fulfilled an order from the Public Health Agency of Canada to supply 10 million masks, having started work the previous May.
PICTURE: GM Canada mask production reaches 10 million

 

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GM’s Heart pump©GM
The Dodrill-GMR mechanical heart pump was developed by GM Research Laboratories in conjunction with surgeon Forest Dodrill (1902-1997). The GM team was led by Edward Rippingille (1887-1964), who wrote in an internal publication, "We have pumped oil, gasoline, water and other fluids one way or another in our business. It seems only logical we should try to pump blood."
The machine, which slightly resembled a 12-cylinder engine, was used by Dodrill's team when they were performing heart surgery on Henry Opitek at Harper University in Detroit in 1952. Opitek, who might otherwise have died at the age of 41, lived on for 29 years after the operation.

 

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GM’s Lunar Roving Vehicle©David Scott
General Motors was heavily involved with the design and construction of the Lunar Roving Vehicle used in NASA's Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions. According to Ferenc Pavlics (born 1928), who worked at GM's Defense Research Laboratories, the division developed the LRV's chassis, wheels, suspension, steering, electric drive, controls and displays, while Boeing handled the power system, navigation, communication and integration with the lunar landing module.
Pavlics himself came up with the idea of making the LRV foldable, so that it could be stored in a space of approximately 30 cubic feet while being transported to the moon. Three LRVs remain on the moon, but we reckon their batteries may need a charge.

 

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GM’s Refrigerators©GM
At the start of the 20th century, the only way to keep food cold and fresh was to put it in an ice box. The problem with this was that the ice had to be replaced on a daily basis. Refrigeration units which kept the ice cold were developed, but in 1915 Alfred Mellowes (1879-1960) went a step further by creating a self-contained electric refrigerator in 1915, and setting up the Guardian Fridgerator Company to manufacture it the following year.
Guardian was initially very unsuccessful, but it was saved by GM President William Durant (1861-1947), who bought it in 1919. Now within the GM orbit, the renamed Frigidaire company became a market leader. The company's technology later helped GM's cars to be among the first to receive air-conditioning in the '50s.
PICTURE: Frigidaire refrigerator in 1919

 

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GM’s Shells©GM
Oldsmobile built a phenomenal number of artillery shells during the Second World War. The total, produced at the Janesville, Kansas City and Lansing plants, is believed to be over 45 million, ranging in size from 75mm to 155mm.

 

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GM’s Sonobuoys©Autocar
In the brief period between GM-owned Hughes buying Magnavox Electronic Systems and selling its aerospace and defense operations to Raytheon, it manufactured a type of device called the sonobuoy. Sonobuoys detect sounds in water (perhaps echoes of ones they have emitted) and relay them to the ship or aircraft they have been dropped from, or perhaps to a satellite.
Among other applications, they can be used to track the movements of enemy submarines.

 

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GM’s Tanks©GM
GM brands on both sides of the Atlantic built tanks used in the Second World War and later conflicts. Buick, for example, designed and manufactured the M18 Hellcat, which was strictly speaking a tank destroyer, intended to demolish enemy tanks.
The Cadillac Gage division produced tanks for decades under GM ownership before being acquired by Textron. It is now known as Textron Marine & Land Systems. In the UK, Vauxhall suspended all car production at its Luton factory and devoted itself to building several thousand examples of the Churchill tank.

 

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GM’s Ventilators©GM
In August 2020, General Motors fulfilled a US Government contract to scale up production of ventilators in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The V+ Pro ventilators were designed by Ventec Life Systems. GM made 30,000 of them in just 154 days, reportedly an 80-fold increase in the normal production rate.
They were built in Kokomo, Indiana. GM subsequently handed over operation control of the facility to Ventec.

 

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GM’s washing machines©GM
Having started out building devices to keep things cool, Frigidaire began to devote its attention to ensuring other things could be kept clean. At first, the company made top-loading washing machines, which at the time were considered superior to front loaders in the US.
After GM sold Frigidaire to White Consolidated Industries in 1979, the focus switched to front loaders. Frigidaire washing machines and dryers are still made in this format today, now part of Sweden’s Electrolux.