Unecessary Complication in Road Cars

[Mike Harte]

A lot is often said about the Japanese reverse engineering a lot of their products, something that the Chinese seem to be doing nowadays.

However, it is interesting to note that Rolls Royce secretly purchased two Toyota Crowns in 1981/82 because they wanted to emulate the air-conditioning system that was in the car. I believe that the Crown was the first mass-produced vehicle that had a split heating system that meant that you could have heat in the rear and air-con in the front, or vice-versa, because it had a separate air-con unit in the back, and the temperature in the rear could also be controlled by the rear passengers. Plus a mini refrigerator box built into the rear parcel shelf.

Future Rolls had almost identical systems!