Extinct Car Features Only Boomers Remember

When Chevrolet unveiled the Corvette C4 in 1984, it wasn’t just the sleek redesign that turned heads—it was the inclusion of the Air Cushion Restraint System. Mounted on the passenger side, this padded dash was an early attempt at passive safety, a forerunner to the airbag. But it never fully caught on.

By 1989, with customer interest lukewarm and airbag technology evolving rapidly, Chevrolet quietly swapped the system for a standard airbag. The original crash pad’s effectiveness was never widely tested or documented, making it a curious footnote in the Corvette’s legacy—a bold idea overshadowed by more advanced technology.