I just read this article on the Autopian about the KF 100/4 Coffee Filter, manufactured by Mann + Hummel, and I love it. I was originally going to ask if there were any other non-automotive products you like that have been made by auto companies, but honestly it's always fun when a company makes a product you wouldn't expect, no matter what industry it's in. I already know about the Peugeot pepper grinder, but what are some other examples of unexpected product cross-pollination?
Honda and Yamaha just asked for their beer to be held.
Volkswagen manufactures more sausages than anything else in their factories.
How about an Alpina typewriter?
And I can't forget the Mitsubishi A/C unit (though I'm not sure it counts because it's from a subsidiary):
Williams Advanced Engineering lent their expertise to design aerofoil refrigerated shelf edges to help keep the cold air inside and save energy.
Saginaw & GM made M1 Carbines. Lots of auto manufacturers made lots of arms, etc. during WWII
M2Pilot said:Saginaw & GM made M1 Carbines. Lots of auto manufacturers made lots of arms, etc. during WWII
Yeah, WWII resulted in a lot of weirdness. Electrolux, the vacuum cleaner company, was building automatic rifles based off the Lee-Enfield design
My dad bought an avacado green refrigerator in 1970 that finally died in 2010. Oddly GM made a decent fridge.
In reply to Datsun310Guy :
Did the cab corners rust out in 1971?
Pininfarina Coke machine:
NickD said:Electrolux, the vacuum cleaner company, was building automatic rifles based off the Lee-Enfield design
They also didn't want to be in the motorcycle business anymore and that's how Husqvarnas ended up being manufactured in Italy by Cagiva.
I think cars count for Hyundai. They make everything from microchips to container ships.
What I knew them for before they started importing cars.
Samsung has cars too.
Tesla, I mean, so much oddness from them, from Qi chargers to "flamethrowers" to tequila.
VW just recently stopped making sausage.
In reply to Mike (Forum Supporter) :
The "flamethrowers" were The Boring Company, and I think the tequila and other "lifestyle" products are just branding. But Tesla does a lot of battery-related stuff, not just residential Powerwalls but also utility scale storage. It's not radically different than the cars in that they obviously overlap, but a lot of people probably don't realize it.
I have a couple of Yamaha musical instruments, and even they don't have anything in common - one's a DX7 synth, the other is a tenor saxophone.
Keith Tanner said:I have a couple of Yamaha musical instruments, and even they don't have anything in common - one's a DX7 synth, the other is a tenor saxophone.
My mother used to have a Yamaha piano -- we would joke about her upgrading it to a Suzuki. :)
I have a Black-and-Decker kitchen hand mixer. On the surface it's an odd branding, but the guts of a mixer and a drill aren't really that different.
I used to run several different Ryobi printing presses.
Datsun310Guy said:My dad bought an avacado green refrigerator in 1970 that finally died in 2010. Oddly GM made a decent fridge.
International Harvester used to make one helluva freezer.
Not automotive, but the Kaman aircraft company used to also make Ovation guitars.
mitsubishi
Textron, makes all kinds of stuff. Plastic tanks for Chevy, bell helicopters,snowmobiles, golf cars, and a bunch of stuff in between.
From my experience, they are not very good at anything, but they try to do everything.
Bosch. They have their hands in just about everything.
I owned one of these back in the day.
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