7 of the most complicated cars ever made

27 Mar 2016

The automotive industry has most of the times relied on simplicity to fabricate colossal numbers of automobiles, with the “less is more” phylosophy. However, these automakers got bored at some times and decided they would let their engineers play freely to do the maddest and most complicated cars they could. Here are examples of these complexity monsters:

1. Mercedes 600 Pullman

A favourite among the rich, famous and dictators with a Hydraulic system so complicated, it activated almost anything in the car; from steering to power windows, all provided by 3200psi of oil. It also could snap unattended fingers with the windows, such was the hydraulic force provided. Ouch.

2. Mazda RX7 FD

A sequential twin turbo that was so complex that many owners chose to remove a turbo only to reduce maintainence. Still worth keeping the sequential turbines though.

3. Auto Union race car

With a monstrously difficult 295hp V16 (!!!), this late 1930’s race car had one overhead cam to take care of 32 valves on each cylinder bank. It took a team of specialists about a year and a half to restore one of these.

4. Mercedes W06 hybrid

The latest Formula 1 cars are formidable machines, with a hybrid system very few people can understand. All of this complexity makes the whole power unit produce around 700hp. Not bad for a 1.6 litre V6. Besides all of that, the aero on these challengers is amazingly difficult as well.

5. Aston Martin Lagonda

The original Lagonda was incredibly well-equipped for a late 1970’s car. It had an electronic system that was ludicrous for its time, which cost what Aston Martin had estimated for the whole car. Despite all of that, it was very prone to breaking. More complexity does not mean more reliability.

6. Mitsubishi 3000GT/GTO

This JDM icon was absurdly ahead of its time, featuring active aero, four wheel steering and many other perks some manufacturers would put in their cars some 20 years later. A true benchmark for modern sports cars.

7. Bugatti Chiron/Veyron

You can all rant whatever you want about the Veyron (and now the Chiron), but both are engineering masterpieces. Two cars sold for a price inferior to their production costs, both Bugattis have a 8 litre W16 engine with four turbos, ten radiators, active aero and the list goes on.

This is it! Do you think I left any car out? Would you change any of the cars? Would you take maintainance costs for such complex cars? Leave your opinions in the comments :)

Comments

Koenigsegg regera

The Regera isn’t that complicated to make, and they sell them for a price that returns every single penny used.

Yeah. It has loads of new tech, including direct drive.

959

Excellent choice! It had many breakthroughs which would be the future of car engineering, such as its suspension setting and AWD system. It was a test mule for a race car after all.

I think the bugatti has a 8 litre engine, Not 16 litre

Another typo. Thanks again!

My father had a 3000GT/GTO and if the gearbox didn’t break so many times over he’d probably still have it! Shame it went, at that age I only really understood that it was a cool car but now I know so much more about it :(

Great story! Wish it had better reliability too. Hope you and your father get another one :)

What about Jeremy Clarckson’s Porsche 928 that suddenly got possessed and wouldn’t stop activating the windshield wipers?😛

Well, possession doesn’t count as complexity (at least from the engineering point of view) XD

THANK YOU for calling it a GTO. It had electronics more advanced than any other car at the time, but I can’t recall what they were - it shared some with it’s sister car, the FTO. I know that the R32 GT-R had active aero and 4WS, while the Toyota Celica and Mazda MX6 from the same era had 4WS.

You’re welcome! It has two names, so it must be called like such. It was a revolutionary car that would dictate sports car design for the next two decades. Some other cars, like the GTR, Celica and RX6 had some minor features, but not to the extent of the Mitsubishi. Hope they come back to making such great cars again…

WTF. Hydraulic power windows. Haha 😂

Yup. When it was made in the early 60’s, they had no technology for electric power windows, so the only method available was via hydraulic actuators or the ye good ole’ mechanical lever.