Ford Cockpit

Ford Cockpit was created in 1981 by the American company Ford Motor Company. The car was presented in 1982 at the Detroit auto show and was developed amid interest in fuel-efficient cars, caused by the oil crises of the 70s. It was so named because it resembles the cockpit of a fighter plane

The concept car was equipped with a single-cylinder 200 cc engine rated at 12 hp and mounted inside the rear wheel. It was projected to achieve fuel economy better than 75 miles per gallon in city driving. The car body was created by the Italian studio Ghia.

There was a place for two inside the cabin: the driver and passenger were placed in tandem. Access to the cabin was through the front part of the roof, lifted hydraulically. It is 119 inches (ca. 3 m) long, 56 inches (1.42 m) wide, 48 inches (1.22 m) high, and weighs 770 pounds (0.35 t) – about one-third the weight of Ford Escort.

The windshield was made of laminated glass and the canopy and rear window were made of reinforced plastic. The transverse-spring front suspension was controlled by hydraulic shock absorbers. While the rear-mounted engine and driving wheel were set at the apex of the chassis and sprung by two integral coil spring shock absorbers.