Nissan's Periscope Rearview Mirror, Which Never Caught On
The early 1970s marked the heyday of “Experimental Safety Vehicles,” or safety concept cars. The Japanese also contributed to improving passive safety in automobiles.
In 1972, Nissan unveiled a near-production prototype based on the then-current Datsun 180B. It featured disc brakes with an anti-lock braking system, a stabilizing suspension, innovative headlights with greater luminosity, “mounted lamps” designed to signal braking and deceleration maneuvers to the driver behind, a type of “run-flat” tires, a passenger compartment with a safety cell, airbags, non-flammable materials, and a huge periscope rearview mirror on the roof of the car, which was intended to triple the rear field of view.
While some of the features conceived as early as 1972 later went into production in different forms, the periscope rearview mirror, despite its advantages, remained stuck in the prototype stage.
Today, now that we've even done away with rear windows, cameras and displays can, of course, electronically provide any perspective.
Incidentally, the safety vehicle also had its drawbacks: with the interior unchanged, it was 20 cm longer and 4 cm wider, but above all, it weighed 135 kg more than the standard Datsun 180 B.
These studies, which were widely written about at the time , were certainly interesting. That's why we've also published the photos from back then in our archive.
