1) Range Rover Rapport Excelsior
Designed for the tired huntsman, the Range Rover Rapport Excelsior has an electrohydraulically operated rear bench that elevates passengers through the open roof. You simply spot something alive, press a button, shoot its face off, then retreat into the Rangie without leaving your seat.
2) Toyota iQ
As well as two front seats and two rears, there’s an additional baby’s chair astern. Which makes the cubic sub-three-meter iQ even more preposterous. In a good way.
3) McLaren F1
Like several Matras before it, the McLaren F1 wore an intriguing three-abreast front seat layout, giving the driver superb visibility. Probably saved a few quid on building left-hand drivers, too.
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4) Felber Autoroller T 400
This features a small child-sized seat behind the driver on the left and a conventional passenger seat diagonally behind to the right. Needless to say, the Autoroller wasn’t a volume seller.
5) Toyota i-Real
This thing’s actually just a weird seat. The three-wheeled, all-electric i-Real is Toyota’s answer to nothing much at all. It leans back when you engage high-speed mode, though. Which sounds exciting.
6) Messerschmitt Kabinenroller
For the ultimate road-going airplane experience, there’s this. Firstly, an actual plane manufacturer built them, secondly the driver’s seat is directly in front of the passenger’s. Perfect for dogfighting on the A3.
7) Peugeot EX1
Remember this? It’s the supercar-beating electric-car concept from Peugeot. And instead of having a set of normal seats, they’re incorporated into the door. Which is a bit odd.
8) Slingshot Dragster
For added lethal, early drag racers fitted their seats over the top of the differential between the rear tires. Which meant that when they suffered the inevitable engine explosion, most of the detritus would head straight for their face.
9) Tumbler Batmobile
Okay, so this isn’t technically real. But it did feature in the pleasantly noire Batman Begins and The Dark Knight films. What’s unusual about it? Not so much the seating, more the adjustable angle of attack—the chair tilts forward till you’re lying down when you engage the big thrustery things.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
