10 of the best: single wipers

So, single wipers? It’s often said that lists are a very good way of boosting a website’s search engine optimisation. The theory being that people will be searching for ‘the 10 best x’ or the ‘best y for z’. That kind of thing.

PetrolBlog has never been one to chase such nonsense. We’re far happier occupying the lock-up garage under the arches than chasing the dizzy heights of stardom. Just as long as we have 50p to put in the electricity meter and a packet of Hobnobs on the go, we’ll be alright, Jack.

But the idea of lists got us thinking. What would a PetrolBlog ‘10 of the best’ feature actually look like. They’d certainly be lists that only a select few individuals would actually be searching for. So we thought we’d kick things off with a very PetrolBloggy topic: ten of the best cars with single wipers.

Because, as we know, cars just look better with single wipers. If the great man had still been alive, we’d fully expect a tip of the hat from L.J.K Setright for this list.

And as you can see, the list of cars is tremendously PetrolBloggy.

Single wiper: Audi A2

Wiper fact: thanks to the combination of a well-engineered single wiper and Audi’s super-light aluminium body, the A2 would rock from side to side when stationary and with the wipers turned on.

Single wiper: BMW M1

Wiper fact: Mary Anderson is credited as inventing the windscreen wiper, with her 1903 patent for a ‘window cleaning device for electric cars and other vehicles to remove snow, ice or sleet from the window’.

Single wiper: Citroën CX

Wiper fact: we could have selected any number of Citroëns for this feature, including the Visa, AX, BX or ZX. But this Citroën CX photo is just full of windscreen wiper win.

Single wiper: Fiat Panda Mk1

Wiper fact: this period Fiat Panda photo shows a young Fabio Capello skiing with his great friend, Sheena Easton, on the hills just north of Kettering.

Single wiper: Lancia Stratos

Wiper fact: Bosch is the largest manufacturer of bracket less wiper blades, with over 33 million in service. Its facility in Belgium produces 350,000 wipers every day.

Single wiper: Mercedes-Benz W124

Wiper fact: Mercedes-Benz pioneered the ‘Monoblade’ system, widely considered to be the ultimate single wiper mechanism. The blade extends outwards during the sweep, covering more of the windscreen. An ingenious design that is not to be confused with the Monobrow.

Single wiper: Renault Sport Spider

Wiper fact: all 96 UK Renault Sport Spiders were delivered with a windscreen, rather than the funky, but impractical air-deflectors you’d find in sunnier climes.

Single wiper: Renault Twingo Mk1

Wiper fact: the chap in this photo is going into great detail about the brilliance of the rain-sensing wipers found on the Citroën SM. A young Katie Hopkins looks far from impressed.

Single wiper: SEAT Ibiza Mk1

Wiper fact: try as it may, SEAT will never, ever build an Ibiza as cool as the ‘System Porsche’ Mk1. Alloy wheels and single wiper combination equals perfection.

Single wiper: Vauxhall VX220

Wiper fact: according to Lotus owners, the single wiper found on the VX220 is heavier, softer and not as nice looking as the one found on the Elise.

Single wiper: Volkswagen Scirocco Mk1

Wiper fact: how did Volkswagen improve on perfection? By adding a single wiper to Giorgetto Giugiaro’s glorious MK1 Scirocco in 1977.

The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that there are 11 cars above, but hey, who’s counting? They’re in good company, too, as we could have included the likes of the McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Countach and Lotus Esprit.

Today, the single wiper honour is kept alive by the likes of the new Toyota Aygo, Citroën C1 and Peugeot 108 collective, as well as the Alfa Romeo 4C and McLaren P1.

They may be more expensive when they go wrong and – aside from Merc’s Monoblade – they don’t perform as well as their twin wiper cousins, but in PetrolBlog’s books, single wipers are simply better.

Fact.