[h=2]Joystick controls[/h] Aside from the lack of steering wheel, Saab’s Prometheus prototype didn’t look that different from a standard 9000 Turbo. | General Motors



Some of the earliest cars used a tiller like a boat to control steering, but a wheel became the universally accepted control in the early 1900s and has been that way ever since. In the 1990s, Saab questioned the steering wheel’s dominance and took its “Born From Jets” slogan a little too seriously.


The aerospace-cum-automaker began testing the 9000-based Prometheus in 1992 as a means to work on its drive-by-wire system. Instead of a steering wheel, the car had a joystick where the gear shifter would normally be. Overly sensitive and difficult to control, Saab abandoned the joystick idea once it became clear the car would be safer with a conventional wheel between the driver and the dashboard.