Article content The 1980s were all about automakers reaching for technology that in many cases still lay far outside their grasp. Computerized engine controls, turbocharging, electronic fuel injection, cylinder deactivation, voice alerts, all-wheel-drive, and touchscreens were all futzed with and then either embraced or discarded according to the perseverance and depth of pocket of each respective brand. Even if some of these features never made it past a handful of best-forgotten ’80s models, others made an immediate impact only to be erased from the order sheet by a combination of their cost and general customer indifference to the benefits they purportedly had to offer.
As engineering acumen (and the digital tools that came with it) continued to advance past the end of the decade, however, the investment required to make a splash with novel solutions to long-standing problems continued to shrink, reviving equipment that had its roots in that initial burst of forward-thinking ’80s techno-optimism. Learn more about the cars Four-wheel steering is a perfect example of the latter, a gee-whiz, cutting-edge hunk of sports-car technology that made a big splash, then sank to the bottom of the pond when the Japanese economy bubble burst—only to be dredged back up to the surface not once, but twice as car companies continued to kick the technological goalposts further down the field. The vehicles that first dared to tag in an extra axle to help get around the next bend in the .