Gate

Gate (pronunced geyt)

(1) A movable barrier, usually on hinges, closing an opening in a fence, wall, or other enclosure.

(2) An opening permitting passage through an enclosure.

(3) A tower, architectural setting, etc., for defending or adorning such an opening or for providing a monumental entrance to a street, park etc.

(4) Any means of access or entrance.

(5) A mountain pass.

(6) Any movable barrier, as at a tollbooth or a road or railroad crossing.

(7) A sliding barrier for regulating the passage of water, steam, or the like, as in a dam or pipe; valve.

(8) In skiing, an obstacle in a slalom race, consisting of two upright poles anchored in the snow a certain distance apart.

(9) The total number of persons who pay for admission to an athletic contest, a performance, an exhibition or the total revenue from such admissions.

(10) In cell biology, a temporary channel in a cell membrane through which substances diffuse into or out of a cell; in flow cytometry, a line separating particle type-clusters on two-dimensional dot plots.

(11) A sash or frame for a saw or gang of saws.

(12) In metallurgy, (1) a channel or opening in a mold through which molten metal is poured into the mold cavity (also called ingate) or (2), the waste metal left in such a channel after hardening; (written also as geat and git).

(13) In electronics, a signal that makes an electronic circuit operative or inoperative either for a certain time interval or until another signal is received, also called logic gate; a circuit with one output that is activated only by certain combinations of two or more inputs.

(14) In historic British university use, to punish by confining to the college grounds (largely archaic).

(15) In Scots and northern English use, a habitual manner or way of acting (largely archaic).

(16) A path (largely archaic but endures in historic references).

(17) As a suffix (-gate), a combining form extracted from Watergate, occurring as the final element in journalistic coinages, usually nonce words, that name scandals resulting from concealed crime or other alleged improprieties in government or business.

(18) In cricket, the gap between a batsman's bat and pad, used usually as “bowled through the gate”.

(19) In computing and electronics, a logical pathway made up of switches which turn on or off; the controlling terminal of a field effect transistor (FET).

(20) In airport or seaport design, a (usually numerically differentiated) passageway or assembly point with a physical door or gate through which passengers embark or disembark.

(21) In a lock tumbler, the opening for the stump of the bolt to pass through or into.

(22) In pre-digital cinematography, a mechanism, in a film camera and projector, that holds each frame momentarily stationary behind the aperture.

(23) A tally mark consisting of four vertical bars crossed by a diagonal, representing a count of five.

Pre 900:  From the Middle English gate, gat, ȝate & ȝeat, from the Old English gæt, gat & ġeat (a gate, door), from the Proto-Germanic gatą (hole, opening).  It was cognate with the Low German and Dutch gat (hole or breach), the Low German Gatt, gat & Gööt, the Old Norse gata (path) and was related to the Old High German gazza (road, street).  Yate was a dialectical form which was an alternative spelling until the seventeenth century; the plural is gates.  Many European languages picked up variations of the Old Norse to describe both paths and what is now understood as a gate.  The Old English geat (plural geatu) was used to mean "gate, door, opening, passage, hinged framework barrier", as was Proto-Germanic gatan, and the Dutch gat; in Modern German, it emerged as gasse meaning “street”; the Finnish katu, and the Lettish gatua (street) are Germanic loan-words.  Interestingly, scholars trace the ultimate source as the Primitive European ǵed (to defecate).  The meaning "money from selling tickets" dates from 1896, a contraction of 1820’s gate-money.  The first reference to uninvited gate-crashers is from 1927 and gated community appears in 1989; that was Emerald Bay, Laguna Beach, California although conceptually similar defensive structures had for millennia been built in many places.  Gate is a noun & verb, gated is a verb & adjective, dating is a noun & verb and gatelike is an adjective; the noun plural is gates.

G Gordon Liddy (1930–2021) was the CREEP lawyer convicted of conspiracy, burglary, and illegal wiretapping for his role in the Watergate Affair.  Receiving a 20-year sentence, he served over four, paroled after Jimmy Carter (b 1924; POTUS 1977-1981) commuted the term to eight years.  He was one of the great characters of the affair.

The practice of using -gate as a suffix appended to a word to indicate a "scandal involving," is a use abstracted from Watergate, the building complex in Washington DC, which, in 1972, housed the national headquarters of the Democratic Party.  On 17 June, it was burgled by operatives found later to be associated with Richard Nixon's (1913-1994; VPOTUS 1953-1961 & POTUS 1969-1974) CREEP (Campaign to Re-elect the President committee).  Since Watergate, there have been at least dozens of –gates.

Notable Post-Watergate Gates

Billygate: In 1980, US President Jimmy Carter's brother, Billy (1937-1988), was found to have represented the Libyan government as a foreign agent.  Cynics noted that, unlike his brother, Billy at least had a foreign policy.

Crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947; US secretary of state 2009-2013) has provided the lexicon many "-gates".  A marvellous linguistic coincidence gave us Whitewatergate, a confusing package of real estate deals later found technically to be lawful and Futuregate was a reference to some still inexplicable (and profitable) dabbles in her name in the futures markets.  Servergate was the mail server affair which featured mutually contradictory defenses to various allegations, the Benghazi affair and more.  There was also a minor matter but one which remains emblematic of character.  Crooked Hillary Clinton, after years of fudging, was forced to admit she “misspoke” when claiming that to avoid sniper-fire, she and her entourage “…just ran with our heads down to get into the vehicles to get to our base” when landing at a Bosnian airport in 1996.  She admitted she “misspoke” only after a video was released of her walking down the airplane’s stairs to be greeted by a little girl who presented her with a bouquet of flowers.  Even her admission was constructed with weasel words: “…if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement”.  That seemed to clear things up and the matter is now recorded in the long history of crooked Hillary Clinton's untruthfulness as Snipergate.  Most bizarre was Pizzagate, a conspiracy theory that circulated during the 2016 US presidential campaign, sparked by WikiLeaks publishing a tranche of emails from within the Democrat Party machine.  According to some, encoded in the text of the emails was a series of messages between highly-placed members of the party who were involved in a pedophile ring, even detailing crooked Hillary Clinton’s part in the ritualistic sexual abuse of children in the basement of a certain pizzeria in Washington DC.  Among the Hillarygates, pizzagate was unusual in that she was innocent of every allegation made; not even the pizzeria's basement existed.

Closetgate: References the controversy following the 2005 South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet", a parody of the Church of Scientology in which Scientologist film star Tom Cruise (b 1962) refuses to come out of a closet.  Not discouraged by the threat of writs, South Park later featured an episode in which the actor worked in a confectionery factory packing fudge. 

Grangegate: In Australia in 2014, while giving evidence to the state's Independent Commission against Corruption (ICAC), Barry O'Farrell (b 1959; Premier of New South Wales 2011-2014) forgot he’d been given a Aus$3,000 bottle of Penfolds Grange (which he drank without disclosing the gift as the rules required).  He felt compelled to resign.

Perhaps counterintuitively, a lacuna in the history is there seems never to have been a Lindsaygate or Lohangate.  In that sense, Lindsay Lohan may be said to have lived a scandal-free life.

Irangate: Sometimes called contragate, this was the big scandal of Ronald Reagan's (1911-2004; POTUS 1981-1989) second term.  As a back channel operation, the administration had sold weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran and diverted the profits to fund the Contra rebels opposing the Sandinista government of Nicaragua (Congress had earlier cut the funding).

Nipplegate: Sometimes called boobgate, this was a reaction to singer Janet Jackson’s (b 1966) description of what happened at the conclusion of her 2004 Superbowl performance as a “wardrobe malfunction”.  In Europe, they just didn't get what all the fuss was about.

Monicagate: The most celebrated scandal of President Bill Clinton’s (b 1946; POTUS 1993-2001) second term.  Named after White House intern Monica Lewinsky (b 1973), with whom the president “…did not have sexual relations…”.

1973 Pontiac Trans-Am SD-455.

Dieselgate: In 2015, Volkswagen was caught cheating on emissions tests used to certify for sale some eleven-million VW diesel vehicles by programming them to enable emissions controls during testing, but not during real-world driving.  Manufacturers had been known to do this.  In 1973 Pontiac tried to certify their SD-455 (Super Duty)  engine with a not dissimilar trick but the EPA (Environmental Protection Authority) wasn't fooled which is why the production SD-455 was rated at 290 HP (horsepower) rather than 310.  Later, manufacturers in the Fourth Reich turned out to be just as guilty and, in that handy phrase from German historiography "they all knew".  Including the fines thus far levied, legal fees and the costs associated with product recalls, the affair is estimated so far to have cost VW some US$33 billion but the full accounting won't be complete for some time.  Other German manufacturers were also affected but Daimler (maker of Mercedes-Benz) avoided a penalty by snitching on the others. 

In Australia, Utegate was a 2009 campaign run by opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull (b 1954; prime-minister of Australia 2015-2018) and his then (they're no longer on speaking terms) henchman, Eric Abetz (b 1958, Liberal Party senator for Tasmania, Australia 1994-2022), in which Dr Kevin Rudd (b 1957; Australian prime-minister 2007-2010 & 2013) was accused of receiving a backhander (a gift given in secret in exchange for a favor) from a car dealer, the matters in question revolving around an old and battered ute (pick-up).  Based on documents forged by Treasury official Godwin Grech (b 1967), it led to the (first) downfall of Turnbull.  Abetz for a time went on to bigger things but Turnbull neither forgot nor forgave, sacking Abetz during his second coming (which started well but ended badly).  Abetz however proved he still has the numbers which matter, gaining preselection and in 2024 winning a seat in the Tasmanian Legislative Assembly (the state's lower house).  He now serves as Treasurer as leader of the house in the minority Liberal Party government.  

Object of desire: Nutella.

The first Nutellagate arose at Columbia University early in 2013 with allegations of organized, large-scale theft by students of the Nutella provided in the dining halls. Apparently students, unable to resist the temptation of the newly available nutty spread, were (1) consuming vast quantities, (2) pilfering it using containers secreted in back-packs and (3) actually purloining entire jars from the tables.  In the spirit of the investigative journalism which ultimately brought down Richard Nixon, the Columbia Daily Spectator, breaking the story, reported that based on a leak from their deep throat in the catering department, the crime was costing some US$5,000 per week, the hungry students said ravenously to be munching their way through around 100 pounds (37 or 45 KG (deep throat not specific whether the losses were weighed on the avoirdupois or troy scale)) of Nutella every seven days.  The newspaper noted the heist was on such a scale that, unless addressed, the cost to the university would be US$250,000 a year, enough to buy seven jars for every undergraduate student.

The national media picked up the story noting, apart from the criminality, there were concerns about the relationship between the wastage of food, excessively expensive student services, the exorbitant cost of tuition fees and a rampant consumer culture.  It seemed a minor moral panic might ensue until the student newspaper (now a blog) deconstructed the Spectator’s numbers and worked out the caterers must be paying 70% more for Nutella than that quoted by local wholesalers, casting some doubt on the matter.  The university authorities responded within days, issuing a press release headed “Nutellagate Exposed: It's a Smear!"  Their audit revealed that the accounting system had booked US$2,500 against Nutella purchases in the first week of term but that was the usual practice when stocking inventory and that consumption was around the budgeted US$450 in subsequent weeks.  Deep throat (Nutella edition) lost face and was discredited.

Nutellagate II broke in 2017 when a consumer protection organization released a report noting the recipe had, without warning, been changed, the spread now having more sugar and milk powder but less cocoa and, as a result, was now of a lighter hue.  Ferrero’s crisis-management operative responded on twitter, tweeting “our recipe underwent a fine-tuning and continues to deliver the Nutella fans know and love with high quality ingredients,”… adding “…sugar, like other ingredients, can be enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet.”  #Nutellagate soon trended ox X (the known as Twitter) and users expressed displeasure, many invoking the memory of New Coke or the IBM PS/2, two other products which appeared also to try to fix something not broken.  The twitterstorm soon subsided, the speculation being that, because it contained more sugar, consumers would become more addicted and soon forget the fuss.  So it proved, sales remaining strong.  Nutella though remains controversial because of the sugar content and the use of palm oil, a product harvested from vast monocultural plantations and associated with social and environmental damage.  Ferrero has now and again suggested they may be ceasing production but the user base has proved resistant although, movements in the hazelnut price may test the elasticity of demand.

Open-Gate Ferraris

The much admired but now almost extinct open-gate gear-shifters were originally purely functional before becoming fetishized.  At a time when more primitive transmissions and shifter assemblies were built with linkages and cables operating with rather less precision than would later be achieved, open-gates served as a guidance mechanism, making the throws more uniform and ensuring the correct movement of the controlling lever.  Improvements in design made open-gates redundant by at least the 1950s but they'd become so associated with Ferraris, Lamborghinis and such they become part of aesthetic so, given the expectations of buyers and it wasn't hard to persuade the engineers to persist, even though the things had descended to be matters purely of style.  A gimmick they may have become but, cut from stainless steel and often secured with exposed screw-heads, they were among the coolest of nostalgia pieces.  Reality eventually bit when modern, fast electronics meant automatic transmissions both shifted faster and were programmed always to change ratios at the optimal point and no driver, however skilled, could match that combination.  Conceived originally as a means to the end (quick, clean shifts), by the late 1990s, the open-gate had become an impediment to the means and while there were still a few who relished the clicky, tactile experience, such folk were slowly dying off and with sales in rapid decline, manufacturers became increasingly unwilling to indulge them with what had become a low-volume, unprofitable option.  

Not all the Ferraris with manual gearboxes used the open-gate fitting, some of the grand-touring cars fitted with a concealing leather boot but both for years became relics, the factory in 2014 officially retiring the manual gearbox because of a lack of demand.  The 599 GTB Fiorano (2006-2012) included the option but of the 3200-odd made, only 30 buyers specified the manual.  That run of 30 was however mass-production compared with the California (2009-2014), the first Ferrari equipped with a dual-clutch transmission and the last a "true" manual, ending the tradition of open gate-shifters stretched back 65 years. Testing the market, a six-speed manual option had been added to the hard-top convertible in 2010 and the market spoke, the factory dropping it from the order sheet in 2012 after selling just three cars in three seasons.  The rarity has however created collectables; on the rare occasions an open gate 599 or California is offered at auction, they attract quite a premium and there's now an after-market converting Ferraris to open gate manuals.  It's said to cost up to US$40,000 depending on the model and, predictably, the most highly regarded are those converted using "verified factory parts".

2012 Ferrari California (top) and 2012 Cadillac CTS-V sedan.

So, between 2013 and 2026, at Maranello, it was automatics (technically “automated manual transmission”) all the way and although a consequence of the quest for ultimate performance, it became the factory's dictate only because that was the path to profit; Ferrari is just another business and had customer demand existed at a sustainable level, manual transmissions would continued to have been supplied.  However, while there may not have been all that many cross-shoppers, for those looking for an alternative; between 2013 and 2026, although one could not buy a Ferrari with a clutch pedal, one could in a Cadillac showroom find cars so-configured (even in station wagons!).  For most of the second half of the twentieth century, few would have thought that juxtaposition anything but improbable or unthinkable.

Ferrari open-gate porn; clockwise from top left: 1971 365 GTB/4; 1968 275 GTB/4 NART Spider; 1965 250 LM; 1984 512 BB; 1995 F50; 1967 330 GTC; 2012 Californian; 1991 Mondial-T.

Ferrari by 1976 had begun to flirt with automatic transmissions in their road cars (GM’s famously robust Turbo-Hydramatic 400) but until 2004, Cadillac hadn’t needed the clutch pedal apparatus in their factories since the last "Commercial Chassis" (used for hearses, ambulances and such) version of the 1953 Series 75 (among the Cadillac crowd the Cimarron (1982-1988) is never spoken of except obliquely in phrases like “the unpleasantness of 1982”).  However, by the early twenty-first century, the market for the cars Cadillac had perfected was shrinking fast so, noting the success of Mercedes-AMG and the M-Series BMWs, Cadillac entered the fray and the existence of the Chevrolet Corvette’s transmission in the corporate parts bin meant offering a manual gearbox was financially viable in a way it wasn’t for the Germans.  In the same decade, advances in hydraulics and electronics meant the earlier inefficiencies and technical disadvantages attached to automatic transmissions had been overcome to the point where no car with a manual transmission, however expertly driven, could match their performance, thus Detroit and Maranello choosing to tread different paths.  The Cadillac Blackwing offered the nostalgic experience from the factory and despite engineers admitting the slight performance penalty, buyers choose the manual purely for the pleasure and genuinely the experience was enjoyable and nothing like the old, palm-bruising Muncie M22 “rock crusher” once used in big block Chevrolets.

2026 Ferrari Luce.  This was not a meme poking fun at the thing; this was an official factory promotional shot.

As early as 2024, rumors circulated hinting Ferrari might "revive" the manual gearbox as a niche option, probably on a model with the V6 engine because the torque and power generated by modern V8s & V12s would put too much strain on the clutch but, surprising many, in 2026, Ferrari announced there would be a run of 1,499 versions of the 12Cilindri (2024-) with an eight-speed, open-gate "manuale" gearbox although the semantics of the press release did demand study, the transmission not a traditional, old-style device but one of the modern "automated manuals" with some clever engineering and software to emulate the experience (the gated “manueale mode” limited to controlling six of the eight installed ratios).  Being Ferrari, few were surprised to learn the model (and it was a separate model rather than an option) incurred a US$400,500 premium over the “standard” coupé but what attracted comments was the wry observation of a few the open gate's return was Ferrari’s “act of atonement” for having released the Luce, a five-door(!) EV (electric vehicle) that looked something like a large jellybean with wheels.  Usually, the announcement of a Ferrari rated at 1035 HP (horsepower) would have met general approval but while most might have forgiven the extra doors, few seemed able to overlook the Luce’s “ugliness”.

2026 Ferrari 12Cilindri Manuale.  To ensure people outside knew the extra US$400K had been paid, the Manuale editions included some detail differences (wheels, external cladding etc).

While, in the 80-odd years of the company’s existence, some Ferraris have been less attractive than others, none have ever really been “ugly” (although some coachbuilders did manage the feat) until the blob-like Luce was shown and whether a “faux open-gate manual”, however cleverly engineered, will be a sufficient act of atonement remains to be seen but the very existence of the latter is an interesting example of “the customer is always right”.  For more than a decade, Ferrari’s position has been leaving gear-changes to humans is a bad idea because it’s less efficient and thus produces a “slower car”.  As a “fast car” operation, an element in the marque’s mystique is that things always are done n a way that maximizes performance, thus the clumsy clutch pedal and open-gate shifter being banished; those “improvements” were just another “specific efficiency”.  With bigger engines (the V12 now 6.5 litres) generating prodigious power and torque, the engineers doubtless welcomed the change because it would be no easy task to create a clutch reliably able to handle the output if operated by a human.  Still, whatever might be the motivations (on both the supply & demand sides), it had become clear demand there was for at least a niche model with an old-style open-gate assembly, thus the 1,499, US$1.2 million 12Cilindris and the model is a well-executed piece.  While not all recent "retros" have visually been so accomplished, there were in the 12Cilindri enough cues from the old 365 GTB/4 (Daytona, 1968-1973) for the effect to be achieved without becoming labored.

Knob semiotics.

While that seems expensive, the things would have been more costly still had a traditional gearbox & clutch been used; apparently, no unit currently available was suitable so either something would need to have been “beefed-up” or a device developed from scratch.  So, what was done was use the 12Cilindri’s eight-speed transmission, onto which was “bolted” some “shift-by-wire” technology (the mechanism a mix of physical connections, hydraulics, electronics and software) engineered to emulate the look, feel & sound (the latter a vital aspect) of the old ways.  Although computer simulations were of course involved, there was also literal, “hands on” development, engineered using an old Ferrari 599 six-speed assembly as a benchmark, the design-brief for the new system being to as closely as possible transmit to a driver the feel (and sound) of springs, cogs, rollers & cams moving by a manipulation of the shifter, just as in days gone by.  Curiously, what turned out to be an even greater challenge was the clutch, that simulacrum achieved with the use of a hydraulic reservoir, permitting the “progressive bite” of the plate to be transmitted through pedal to foot.  That also had the benefit of putting a “fluid cushion” between mechanism and driver, Ferrari claiming this meant even the “roughest handling” would be unable to inflict harm on the components and conveniently, the car can be driven in either an automatic or manual mode and testers were complementary of the latter, claiming the action was even more refined than the “real thing” once had been.  Although a gimmick, one nice touch was  that in “Manuale mode”, the knob’s face switches from white to amber.

Recent experience suggests Ferrari will not only find 1,499 buyers prepared to pay the US$1.2 million invoice but the offer likely will be over-subscribed, thus the announcement the “Manuale” will be sold only to customers in good standing with the factory (those who already own several Ferraris and at least one of the earlier “special editions”).  The approach (adopted also by several other manufacturers of high-priced stuff) has created a genuinely new market segment: series production cars bought not to drive but to keep in collections and re-sold for profit, a kind of “Ferrari futures”.  The phenomenon has existed for a while but in years gone by once was serviced by bespoke one-offs or those produced in tiny runs; cars as instant “collectable commodities” despite being made in hundreds or even thousands is new and that such a market exists at this global scale need to be considered in the context of the protests staged in French cities in October 2026.  Those protests were about the “cost of living crisis”, shortage and affordability of housing, crumbling public infrastructure, declining education standards, dismal employment prospects and other pressures.  That annually there are thousands of customers for million dollar Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches and such while simultaneously what used to be called the “working class” have been reduced to low-paid, insecure employment and high rents is because in recent decades there has been an extraordinary shift in the percentage of global wealth held by a tiny number of the population (the so-called “1%” although the number involved is more like 5-10%).  Because this 10% like to get richer, those investing their money apply it to sectors offering the best return and in recent decades that has been residential housing.

1970 Ferrari 365 GTB/4; the 12Cilindri's stylistic ancestor.

What this has done is increase asset prices meaning rents must also rise.  With incomes for renters being effectively static or (in “real terms”) falling, the percentage they need to spend just for “a roof over their head” has risen dramatically and this at a time when food and energy costs have also increased.  Historically, renters were able to adapt by entering the property market but many are now “priced out” of ownership and nor are governments able to respond as once was possible. With Western governments heavily in debt, borrowing costs rising and it being just “too hard” to tax the rich (their "taxable income" something of a gestural in-joke and their wealth politically ring-fenced) or corporations, the already embedded income & wealth inequalities in societies seem likely to be exacerbated.  Politicians understand they can't fix the problem and are well-aware of their likely fate should they try to re-distribute even a fraction of 1% of wealth down rather than up (the on-going trend).  Some though are better than others at “managing the problem” and in Australia, whenever the issue is raised, with confected empathy the politician's script is: “We know people are doing it tough”.  That dutifully done, they go back to studying their property portfolio, fretting about some of the rents they're charging not being quite at “market rates”.

Nye Bevan (1897-1960) and Jenni Lee (1904-1988), shortly after their wedding, London, 1934.

For twenty-first century politicians, the “problem” is not the substantive issue but that they're being asked tiresome questions about it.  Of course, the “business as usual”  approach (tax the middle class) may yet have some life but while so much attention is focused on the US mid-terms, it may be the success in Serbia of the “Student List” proves more influential.  In his book In Place of Fear (1952), the Welsh Labour Party politician Aneurin “Nye” Bevan (1897–1960) pondered: “How can wealth persuade poverty to use its political freedom to keep wealth in power? Here lies the whole art of Conservative politics in the twentieth century.”  As political parties came to understand, it was possible to convince the poor to vote against their own economic interests if the “culture wars” dangled before their eyes could be made to seem enough of a threat, thus the weaponization in the US of guns, God, pickup trucks, trans rights, abortion, gay marriage and much else.  For decades that approach has allowed the ruling class to retain control but the system depended on the poor having just enough to survive; if a critical mass falls between that threshold for even a few days, the system becomes unstable and at some point (lower in the West than in places like the Islamic Republic of Iran), not even state-sanctioned violence will be sufficient to contain the pressure.

The high-end manufacturers however continue to plan on the basis the revolution should at least for a while be postponed and richest of the 10% will continue conspicuously to consume, hopefully in the most Veblenesque way.  For some of them, few things better convey a “price tag on four wheels” than a bespoke multi-million dollar Porsche, the attraction being even other billionaires can’t buy one because the factory is prepared to accept commissions with a contractually guaranteed exclusivity clause (the prized “one of one”).  Porsche’s Sonderwunsch (special wishes) division has existed since 1978 as the factory’s “customizing house” but the operation has assumed a new importance as the company (along with the rest of the Germany car industry) has seen balance sheets soaked in red ink as the simultaneous challenges of US tariffs, rising costs, shifting markets and electrification conspire against what have for decades been profitable business models.  Porsche has flagged what the Americans used to call an “agonizing reappraisal” of how things are done and it’s clear the days of wide model ranges straddling market segments can’t in the present (and anticipated) environment be sustained, the new strategy being fewer cars with higher margins, built in a factory by smaller labor force likely further to shrink as robotics and AI (artificial intelligence) agents are refined to achieve “more for less”.  The project is serious; whereas not long ago a million dollar car represented the ultimate expression of such things, the new Sonderwunsch range of bespoke creations start at US$2 million with the most expensive an accountant-pleasing US$15 million and if (as is expected) the things quickly sell out, there’s no reason to suspect prices won’t go higher; indeed, economic theory dictates exactly that.

Factory publicity shot of Porsche Sonderwunsch Flachbau (Slant Nose) RS, a 935-inspired 911 (991.2) GT2 RS commissioned by a customer on the basis of a “one of one” build.  Neither the invoiced cost nor the identity of the customer were disclosed and while consumption will continue, after Luigi Mangione’s (b 1998) practical critique of the excesses of capitalism, there may for a while be a trend to be a little less conspicuous.

The decades of success enjoyed by Sonderwunsch (and similar ventures by other European manufacturers) indicate the concept in not new; the origins lie in the 1960s when, for a variety of reasons, most independent coach-building houses closed and a once-flourishing industry almost vanished.  That meant the supply of “custom-built” cars tightened but residual demand still existed so such things came to be taken “in-house”, something possible because of economies of scale not available to independent operators.  Sonderwunsch however enjoys its own economies of scale in that while their most expensive creations are aimed at the billionaires, they’ll continue to cater to millionaires who will have to be content with “rarities” produced in small runs rather than having something truly bespoke and the “moving upmarket” flavour seems to be spreading to Porsche’s whole output, a new top-of-the-range 911 expected soon to be announced and while the details are vague, what can be assumed is a higher than average chunk of the increased price will be absorbed in the profit margin.  Around the world, the phrase “cost of living crisis” has become part of the political narrative but because “the rich are different”, they have a “cost of spending crisis” in that what’s needed are amusing ways to display wealth to each-other (mansions, yachts, trips into low-earth orbit etc).  Many in this group understand a decent car can't now be bought for less than US$2 million and for them, Sonderwunsch's sales staff will be there to help.

Button

Button (pronounced buht-n)

(1) A small disk, knob, or the like for sewing or otherwise attaching to an article, as of clothing, serving as a fastening when passed through a buttonhole or loop.

(2) Anything resembling a button, especially in being small and round, as any of various candies, ornaments, tags, identification badges, reflectors, markers, etc.

(3) A badge or emblem bearing a name, slogan, identifying figure, etc., for wear on the lapel, dress, etc.

(4) Any small knob or disk pressed to activate an electric circuit, release a spring, or otherwise operate or open a machine, small door, toy, etc.

(5) In botany, a bud or other protuberant part of a plant.

(6) In mycology, a young or undeveloped mushroom or any protuberant part of a fungus.

(7) In zoological anatomy, any of various small parts or structures resembling a button, as the rattle at the tip of the tail in a very young rattlesnake.

(8) In boxing slang, the point of the chin.

(9) In architecture, a fastener for a door, window, etc., having two arms and rotating on a pivot that is attached to the frame (also called turn button).

(10) In metallurgy, when assaying, the small globule or lump of metal at the bottom of a crucible after fusion.

(11) In fencing, the protective, blunting knob fixed to the point of a foil.

(12) In horology, alternative name for the crown, by which watch is wound.

(13) In the graphical user interface of computers and related devices, a small, button-shaped or clearly defined area that the user can click on or touch to choose an option.

(14) Slang term for the peyote cactus.

(15) A small gathering of people about two-thirds of the drinks are spiked with LSD.  Those who drink the un-spiked are the buttons responsible for babysitting the trippers (1960s west coast US use, now extinct).

(16) A series of nuts & bolts holding together a three-piece wheel.  Such wheels are very expensive because of the forging process and the ability to stagger offsets to create large lips.

(17) In boiler-making, the piece of a weld that pulls out during the destructive testing of spot welds

(18) In rowing, a projection around the loom of an oar that prevents it slipping through the rowlock.

(19) South African slang for methaqualone tablet.

(20) A unit of length equal to one twelfth of an inch (British, archaic).

(21) Among luthiers, in the violin-family instrument, the near semi-circular shape extending from the top of the back plate of the instrument, meeting the heel of the neck.

(22) In the plural (as buttons), a popular nickname for young ladies, whose ability to keep shirt buttons buttoned is in inverse proportion to the quantity of strong drink taken.

1275-1325: From the Middle English boto(u)n (knob or ball attached to another body (especially as used to hold together different parts of a garment by being passed through a slit or loop)), from the Anglo-French, from the Old & Middle French boton (button (originally, a bud)), from bouter & boter (to thrust, butt, strike, push) from the Proto-Germanic buttan, from the primitive Indo-European root bhau- (to strike); the button thus, etymologically, is something that pushes up, or thrusts out.  Records exist of the surname Botouner (button-maker) as early as the mid-thirteenth century (and the Modern French noun bouton (button) actually dates from the twelfth century).  It was cognate with the Spanish boton and the Italian bottone.  The pugilistic slang (point of the chin) was first noted in 1921.  First use of button as something pushed to create an effect by opening or closing an electrical circuit is attested from 1840s and the use in metallurgy and welding is based by analogy on descriptions of mushrooms.  The verb button emerged in the late fourteenth century in the sense of "to furnish with buttons" which by the early 1600s had extended (when speaking of garments) to "to fasten with buttons".  The button-down shirt collar was first advertised in 1916.  In fields in which there are structures or entities which in part or in whole are “buttonlike” in appearance, there are many uses of “button” as a descriptor (button mushroom, button seal, button willow, button quail etc), botany, zoology anatomy, architecture, cooking and engineering all using the word thus.  There are also a number of idiomatic forms including “cute as a button” (very cute), “on the button” (correct) and “buttoned down (or up)” (conservative to the point of being repressed.Button is a noun & verb, buttoning is a noun & verb, buttoned is a verb & adjective, buttonize is a verb, and buttonlike & buttonable are adjectives; the noun plural is buttons.

John Button (1987) (1933-2008; senator for Victoria (ALP (Australian Labor Party) 1974-1993), oil on canvas by Andrew Sibley (1933–2015), National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, Australia.

New uses continue to emerge as technology evolves:  The phrase button-pusher to describe someone "deliberately annoying or provocative" was first recorded in the 1970s and hot-button issue appeared in political science journals as early as 1954, apparently a derivation of the brief use in the press of big red-button and hot-button to (somewhat erroneously) describe the mechanics of launching a nuclear attack.  Hot button issues can be useful for political parties to exploit but what the button triggers can shift with generational change: As late as the 1990s the Republican Party in the US used "gay marriage" as a hot button issue to mobilize their base but within 25 years the electoral universe had shifted and the issue no longer had the same traction; there had been generational change.  In the 1980s, the now mostly extinct button-pusher had been co-opted as a somewhat condescending description of photographers both by journalists and snobby art critics, the former suggesting some lack of affinity with words, the latter, an absence of artistic skill. 

How it came to be done: 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS 56 inch (1.42 m) single-panel screen.  There are no physical buttons on the dashboard, something which provoked a reaction and, for certain critical features, there's been a welcome "button revival".

In cars, as in aircraft, the shifting of controls for core and ancillary systems from individual buttons and switches to combined or multi-function controllers began to accelerate during the 1960s, a reaction to the increasing number of electrically activated functions being installed to the point where, if left individualised, in some of the more electronic vehicles, space for all the buttons would have been marginal and ergonomics worse even than it was.  Some very clever designs of multi-function controllers did appear but in the twenty-first century, by the time LED flat-screen technology had become elsewhere ubiquitous, it became possible to integrate entire system control environments into a single screen which, able to display either one or a combination of several sub-systems at a time, meant space became effectively unlimited, arrays of virtual buttons and switches available in layers.  That didn't mean thing became easier or more convenient to use but production costs were lower.  Of late, in response to consumer pressure, some manufacturers have admitted the approach went to far and what might be appropriate for someone sitting at their desk using a desktop PC (and the only way things can be done on a phone), might not be a good idea when driving a car at speed, in traffic.  Thus, for core critical functions (ie those drivers most often perform) such as adjusting settings on entertainment and HVAC (heating, ventilation & air conditioning) systems, buttons are making a welcome comeback.

For those who can remember the ways things used to be done: 1965 Jaguar Mark X 4.2 with burl walnut & red leather.  Jaguar's cockpits in the 1960s were among the most atmospheric of the era although, even at the time, the less than ideal ergonomics attracted criticism.  We've gained much from digital technology but something has been lost with the decline of the sensual, tactile, analogue world of buttons, knobs & switches.

There were buttons and there were switches.  Jaguar used toggle switches until US safety regulations in 1967 compelled a change to rocker switches with softer edges and less forward projection, similar concerns resulting in the top section of the dashboard gaining a padded vinyl covering.  Indeed, at the time, there was in the UK and Europe a suspicion US regulators might ban the use of decorative timber in car interiors and the models Mercedes-Benz released in 1971 & 1972 had none but the austerity didn't last, the veneers soon restored.  The functionality of the rocker switches was exactly the same as that of the toggles and they were certainly less prone to damage but for some the tactile experience was lacking, the ASMR less satisfying.  ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) describes the physical & psychological pleasure derived from specific stimuli (usually a sound).  A highly segmented market, among the aficionadi there are niches as varied as those who relish the clicking of an IBM Seletric typewriter or Model M keyboard, the mechanical precision of the fore-end slide of pump-action shotgun being operated, the flicking of toggle switches or the sight & sound of South Korean girls on TikTok eating noodles.

Portrait of Lord Byron (circa 1820), oil on canvas by Théodore Géricault (1791–1824), Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France.

The fetishistic attraction to watching or listening to women eat is presumed to be almost exclusively a male preserve though not all share the fondness and others have been far from indifferent.  In his short life, the Romantic poet Lord Byron (1788–1824) divided opinion (social & literary) like few at the time but critics and detractors all agreed one thing he couldn’t stand was women eating in his presence.  The aversion was well-documented, the literary critic Leigh Hunt (1784–1859) in Lord Byron and some of his Contemporaries (1828) recalling the poet mentioning he especially disliked the sight because “they always had the wings of the chicken.”  That presumably was related to wings being “finger food” rather than handled with a knife and fork.  Byron also developed tactics to avoid being affronted by the sight, the poet Samuel Rogers (1763–1855) in Recollections of the Table-Talk of Samuel Rogers (1856) recounting Byron had declined his invitation to join him and the French novelist Madame de Staël (Anne Louise Germaine de Staël-Holstein (1766–1817): “…at my house, au dinner.  Subsequently, if ever I invited him without mentioning what other company would attend, he always replied with a note asking ‘if I had invited any women’.”  When they did meet (presumably not over a meal), Madame de Staël proved a disappointment, Byron writing to a friend: "She thinks like a man, but alas! she feels like a woman."  Now almost forgotten, Rogers was once one of England’s most highly regarded poets but such are the shadows cast still by his colleagues among the Romantics (notably John Keats (1795–1821), Byron, William Wordsworth (1770–1850) & Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834)) that he now merits only the odd appearance in anthologies.  Rogers was a victim of a thing now rarely suffered by poets: The curse of plenty.  Rich from his career as a banker, he devoted much time to collecting art, his life never sufficiently tortured to produce poetry likely to endure.  The most revealing passage about Byron’s distaste for masticating women came in a letter of 13 May, 1824 from the painter English painter Benjamin Robert (“B.R.”) Haydon to the poet Mary Mitford (1787–1855): “Luncheon was brought in-veal cutlets etc.  Lady Byron began to eat.  Byron turned round in disgust and said: ‘Gormandizing beast!’ and taking the tray, threw the whole luncheon into the hall.”  It was what might now be called a "turbulent marriage".

Poets are of course good with words and, pleasingly for the Freudians, Byron’s use of “gormandizing” (to eat food in a gluttonous manner; to gorge; to make a pig of oneself) is thought triggered by memories of his mother, apparently the source of both his own “hang-ups” with food & weight and his conceptions of the essence of feminine delicacy, things that would manifest throughout his life.  The poet Thomas Medwin (1788–1869) in Conversations of Lord Byron (1824) wrote how Byron had said: “I have peculiar ideas. I do not like to see women eat” adding darkly that Lady Byron had not respected this preference.  Analysts (amateur & professional) have pondered this and the conclusion seems to be the view was both aesthetic and sexual, an idealised conception of women as a source of pleasure to be admired as almost ethereal, delicate and imagined without the intrusion of ordinary natural functions such as eating.  One reviewer of Medwin’s work, commenting of Byron’s “excessive refinement” supposed he thought them so perfect it offended him to think they “live on mutton”.  Byron might now be diagnosed with anorexia nervosa and almost certainly he’d be thought to suffer from an eating disorder (though maybe not body dysmorphia, his interests preventative rather than corrective), his extremely restrictive dietary regimes (vinegar-soaked potatoes, hard biscuits and water the most notorious) alternated with occasional binges of spectacular indulgence.  Feminists note also he may have been as troubled by what came out of their mouths as what went in; he no more enjoyed seeing them eat than he did listening much to what they had to say.  While infamously he enjoyed women on his terms, those socially or intellectually active (including his own wife, the vivacious Annabella Milbanke (1792–1860) he found challenged those sensibilities; women he thought objects of aesthetic contemplation rather than autonomous beings with thoughts and appetites.  Ironically though, Byron seems to have been a generous host; while he may have eaten sparingly, few guests complained his table was austere.

Portrait of Mrs Catherine Gordon Byron (Lord Byron's mother, undated), oil on canvas by Thomas Stewardson (1781–1859).  Portraitists are known to "flatter" their subjects.

What delights the Freudians is the origin of Byron’s curious relationship with women eating in his presence may be in the tempestuous relationship he had with his mother (the Scottish heiress Catherine Gordon (1765–1811)).  His mother was, in a phrase of the time “short and stout” and while surely partly a thing of genetics, habits must have contributed to her girth; in one letter to her he expressed his disgust: “I want to know why you eat so much. All the time eating, eating, eating...”  From this background it is theorized his anorexia nervosa and bulimia sprang.  Terrified of “becoming his mother” and deeply insecure about his club foot, he spent his short life obsessed with appearance and projected these insecurities and concerns onto any woman in his presence.  He did though concede some nutrition was essential and in a letter to Lady Caroline Lamb (1785-1828 and a former lover; it may have been her who summed him up as “mad, bad and dangerous to know”) complained of his new wife’s healthy appetite for chicken wings and custards, stating: “A woman should never be seen eating or drinking, unless it be lobster salad and champagne, the only truly feminine and becoming viands.”  Were he alive today, it may be assumed Lord Byron would not be stalking TikTok’s ASMR content looking for South Korean girls noisily slurping noodles. 

The accounting departments of car manufacturers liked the change to touch-screens because it was cheaper to produce and install the things rather than an array of individual buttons, switches, instruments and lights, behind each of which ran at least one and sometimes several wires or lines, requiring schematics that could be baffling even to experts who needed sometimes to track (literally) miles of cabling.   While now using sometimes even more wiring, the new systems are capable although their long-term reliability remains uncertain and in many cases, a button or switch is both easier to use and falls more conveniently to hand; that makes sense because with buttons one's sense of touch (finger-tips most sensitive) effortlessly can distinguish whereas all of a touchscreen feel the same.  It would be possible to make a a touchscreen "feedback" different vibrations or sounds depending on which icon is touched but that may create more problems than it solves and is anyway a complicated solution to a simple problem.   It's better just to provide some switches.  

1991 Mercedes-Benz 600 SE (W140).

Built on the SWB (short-wheelbase) platform, the 600 SE was offered only during the W140's first year, the V12 sedans subsequently available only as the LWB (long-wheelbase (V140)) 600 SEL (S 600 after 1993 when the corporate naming system changed).  The duplication on the glovebox of the trunk (boot) lid badging was also a single-year fitting and even if a buyer opted for the "badge delete option" the characters on the glovebox remained.  The badge delete option had existed for a long time but enjoyed a spike in popularity beginning during the 1970s when it became obvious the more expensive models were more likely to attract the eye of terrorists, kidnappers and such.  While outfits like the Baader–Meinhof Gang (technically the RAF (Red Army Faction)) had some fondness for stealing smart cars (the BMW 2002 ti_i and Porsche 911S apparently their favorites), they didn't approve of those driving (or being driven in) conspicuously expensive vehicles.  On the 450 SEL 6.9 (V116, 1975-1980), the factory's delete option code was 261 and in the FRG (Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Federal Republic of Germany; the old West Germany) 1949-1990) it was ticked by those who like to go fast on the Autobahn but not attract the attention of kidnappers or assassins.  One advantage the 6.9 did confer was, if pursued by kidnappers, one could outrun the BMWs and all but the fastest Porsches.

The noun buttonology genuinely does exist.  It was a calque of the Swedish knappologi and used to refer to the fashion for pedantic and often pointless systematization.  The construct followed the Swedish model (knapp (button) +‎ -ologi, coined by Swedish author August Strindberg (1849–1912) and appearing in the short story De lycksaliges ö (The Isle of the Blessed) which although written in 1884, wasn’t published until 1891 when it appeared in the compilation Svenska öden och äventyr (Swedish Destinies and Adventures).  Buttonology is used most often as a generic term to decry the exaggerated, obsessive or pointlessly pedantic systematization, especially of trivial subjects but literally it can describe the study or categorization of buttons (in the sense of clothing fasteners).  In a light-hearted vein, in the training of software engineers and designers, it’s the component of the course focusing on user interfaces (where there can be many buttons).  In US military slang, buttonology is used of user interfaces generally.

Button porn: Centre console in 1991 Mercedes-Benz 600 SEL (V140).

Although a sight to delight button-nerds, "peak button" unfortunately coincided with the "biodegradable wiring incident" (1991-1995) in which the soy-based insulation for the cables deteriorated some decades before the supplier's projected end-of-life, the issue exacerbated by the taste of soy which would attract rodents and other creatures happy to chew on the stuff for a quick snack.  The basic shape of the gear selector knob dates from one introduced in 1971, the design a product of analysing data from the Swedish government's mandatory post mortems (autopsies) of road-accident fatalities (under Swedish law, such corpses were for 48 hours the property of the state).  What the pathologists' findings revealed was lives could be saved if engineers could devise as a shift lever handle too large to penetrate the eye socket.  While there's an element of the macabre in such research and it wasn't something the factory choose widely to publicize, the design was a classic example of what's called "passive safety".

1997 Mercedes-Benz S 600 overhead console.

Those in the front seats of a W140 who wanted “more buttons” could look up and see the overhead console that contained the buttons controlling the various interior lights and the sunroof (option code 414).  Those in the back seat had buttons for the windows and seat adjustment (code 223) but for cars fitted with the rear air-conditioning (code 582) there were three thumbwheel controls that specialists in the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation & A/C (Air Conditioning)) business listed as KRTs (knurled rotary thumbwheel).  The thumbwheel was a masterpiece of functionality, the knurled edges making it easier to rotate with a thumb or forefinger than a conventional knob and, being mostly recessed into its housing, it was not at all prone to damage or excessive wear.

1986 Rolls-Royce Camargue Limited Edition.  The controls for the “bi-level ACC System” was simple, intuitive and ergonomically impressive but lacked the visual impact of the array of buttons installed by the Germans.

Especially in the US, automotive A/C made great advances in the post-war years and by the 1960s had been brought to a high level of effectiveness, the icy blast able a short notice to be summoned from the vents of Cadillacs in the era quite awesome and doubtless welcome during long, hot summers, south of the Mason-Dixon Line.  By mid-decade, things had been further refined with the release of ACC (automatic climate control), a “set and forget” approach which emulated the thermostatically controlled systems familiar in buildings.  That was however a “single-zone” implementation (ie the one temperature for the whole cabin) and, as is well documented, men and women tend to like different levels, the latter preferring things a few degrees warmer.  It was Rolls-Royce that was first with a “bi-level” system (a marvellously complex apparatus developed over almost a decade and reputedly costing as much to manufacture as a small family car) that first appeared in the Camargue (1975–1986), the most memorable shtick for which was it being “the world’s most expensive car”.  That might have seemed a strange marketing approach in the mid-1970s but the rather portly coupé (a “two-door saloon” according to Rolls-Royce) had been developed when the economy was rather more buoyant.  Still, the A/C was state-of-the-art although its two “zones” were “upper” and “lower” rather than “driver” and “passenger” a design reflecting the traditional approach of car heaters.

1992 Mercedes-Benz 600 SEL rear-seat ACC controls.

It was the Germans and Americans who did most for matrimonial harmony, BMW in the mid 1980s the first to introduce a system with a zonal split between left and right and over the next decade in both Europe and the US, such systems had appeared on upper-range models before “trickling down” the price list.  The distinction enjoyed by Mercedes-Benz W140 was being the first car commercially available with a four-zone ACC, separate temperature settings available for passengers left & right, front & rear.  KRTs were one of the cost-cutting industry’s victims in moving to controls to touch-screens but customers found them less convenient while regulators objected because, lacking tactility, they demanded attention being diverted from the road; while the screens remain, knobs, buttons and KRTs are making a welcome comeback.

A tanned young lady in a bikini with a piece of belly button jewellery (sold also as "navel jewellery").

The 140-series sedans (1991-1998) and companion coupé (C140, 1992-1999) were peak-button and it won't happen again, touch-screens now much cheaper to install and although buttons are making something of a comeback, they'll not again be seen on such a grand scale.  The 140-series cars were end-of-era stuff in many ways and the last of the old-style exercises in pure engineering with which Mercedes-Benz re-built its reputation in the post-war years; what followed would increasingly show the influence of accountants and the dreaded "sales department".  Most charismatic of the 140s were the early, 402 bhp (300 kw) 600s tuned for top end power; the 6.0 litre (365 cubic inch) V12 (M120; 1991-2001 (although it would appear in cars by other manufacturers until 2012)) would later be toned-down a little with a greater emphasis on mid-range torque and thoughts of the 8.0 litre V16 and W18 prototypes entering production were shelved as the economic climate of the early 1990s proved less buoyant than had been expected.  Subsequent concerns about climate changed doomed any hope of resurrection but as something of a consolation, AMG for a while offered larger versions of the V12 (as big as 7.3 litres (445 cubic inch)).  Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997) died in her hotel's hire-car (S 280 with a 2.8 litre straight-six (171 cubic inch)) version of the 140.

Coincidently, it was in the "peak button" era that Mercedes-Benz revised the convention of model nomenclature, inverting the alpha-numeric placement which had evolved since the 1920s.  Until the 1980s, old nnn.xxx convention (mostly) made sense once the logic behind the sequence had been explained but even then there had long been inconsistencies with the letters doing "double duty" and the numerals not always aligning with displacement (as well as one off aberrations like "219") but by the 1990s the proliferation of ranges and models had made the old system more or less unmanageable.  Every series of cars was changed but most affected were the various C140s and they were especially unusual in being the last of the “SECs” and the first of the “CLs” with a mid-life spent as an “S”, the confusing alpha-numeric trajectory of the C140 600 being:

1992 600 SEC (Not sold in North America)

1993 600 SEC (Global)

1994-1995 S 600 (Global)

1996-1997 S 600 (North America) & CL 600 (RoW (rest of the world))

1998 CL 600 (Global)

1999 CL 600 (North America only)

1993 Cadillac Allanté in standard form (left) and with “wood grain kit” fitted (right).

Cadillac in the peak-button era did its bit and for most owners the look either was “enough” or “too much” but although the Allanté was then a very different sort of Cadillac targeting a demographic younger than the marque’s usual buyer profile, third party suppliers (which for generations had been selling all sorts of Cadillac accessories of dubious taste such as Rolls-Royce style grills & badges in anodized gold or “neo-classical” external spare tyre housings) saw possibilities and offered “wood grain kits”, pieces of plastic appliqué that could be added atop accommodating interior surfaces.  Never fitted by the factory, the “plastic wood” must have had a certain appeal because Allantés so adorned are not uncommon and at least four different companies at times produced the kits (offered in Dark Cherry, Medium Cherry, Burlwood, Oak and Teak).  Some Cadillac dealers did carry the kits as “dealer-fitted accessories” and to gain a sale, the staff would sometimes bundle the supply and fitting with the purchase price.  If sold subsequently, there the usual “fitting fee” but being self-adhesive, it wasn't a difficult or time-consuming task.  The impressive Delco-GM/Bose Symphony Sound System (a US$905 option in any other Cadillac) was fitted to the Allanté for its first six seasons (a 100 watt unit used 1987-1990, upgraded to 200 for 1991-1992) while the models built in 1993 received the cheaper Delco-GM/Bose Premium Symphony Sound System; for audiophiles, the difference was obvious.  Despite that and other examples of cost-cutting “de-contenting” such as the loss of the genuine Recaro seats, the 1993 Allantés are preferred by some because of the use of the 4.6 litre (281 cubic inch) Northstar V8 which was (mostly) a good design except for a design flaw that made head gaskets prone to failure.  The fix was simple but time-consuming (and thus expensive) and there was also the quirk of the starter-motor being located under the induction; that demanded removing the fuel-injection apparatus were a replacement needed.  

1991 Cadillac Allanté: Although the lines were neither adventurous or innovative, it was an accomplished design.

The Cadillac Allanté (1987-1993) was an ambitious project, a two-door, two-seater roadster produced in an expensive, travel & labor-intensive process which required trans-Atlantic transport (in modified Boeing 747 freighters) for the bodies from Pininfarina’s Italian factory to Cadillac’s assembly line in Detroit where final assembly was undertaken.  The US industry had in the 1950s & 1960s dabbled with this approach and even then it made little financial sense but it was a time when indulgences could be tolerated as a part of “image building”.  The economics of the late 1980s were very different but Cadillac early in the decade had, with a mix of jealousy and lust, been pondering the numbers achieved by the Mercedes-Benz R107 SL roadster (1971-1989), then quite ancient in automotive terms yet still habitually selling in numbers which belied its high price and vintage design.  Sharing mechanical components with higher-volume models and with the tooling for the structure long since amortized, Cadillac knew the thing was absurdly profitable despite being visually almost unchanged since its debut.

1988 Cadillac Allanté: One tangible advantage was the Allanté's removable hard-top was of aluminum and thus a relatively svelte 58 Lbs (26 kg) compared with the R107's steel unit which weighed in at a hefty 96 (44).  Roof-mounted hoists were popular with R107 owners.

Thus the Allanté, the company’s first two-seat roadster since the 1930s and one with the exclusivity of being built by an Italian coach-builder famous for having designed some of the most admired Ferraris.  Mechanically, the Allanté was unchallenging in that it was built on a shortened version of an existing platform which meant the use of FWD (front wheel drive) and the 4.1 litre (250 cubic inch) HT-4100 V8, both factors which meant there was no need to build new assembly lines or make expensive changes to existing facilities.  While the notion of an expensive “FWD roadster” may now seem strange, dynamically it made less difference than might be imagined because the Mercedes-Benz R107 was no sports car and for the Allanté’s intended market, the advantage of more interior space was thought more important than behaviour on a skid-pan.  The HT engine however proved more troublesome although that was a product of design flaws, not its placement in the Allanté.

Buttons come in many shapes, shades and sizes although most still are circular.  A button with four "sew holes" is called a "four-eye button".

The critical response was unexpectedly favorable.  In a comparison test published in the in February 1989 edition of C&D (Car and Driver magazine, not noted for being lavish in its praise of the US industry’s output), the writers declared it a better car than the Mercedes-Benz 560 SL (which may seem a slight achievement given the R107 was then some 18 years old and on a platform which had been designed in the late 1960s) and didn’t much dwell on either the Cadillac being some 15% cheaper nor it delivering slightly better fuel economy; their judgement was all about the driving experience likely to be typical of buyers (many of whom probably wouldn't notice the difference between FWD and RWD) although perhaps the sight of the “Pininfarina” script on the flanks lent some rose-tinting to their spectacles.  The testers noted the US-Italian hybrid was better suited to the urban conditions where most people would be operating most of the time, finding the Allanté more nimble and decidedly more modern although what was left unstated was it was remarkable the trans-continental effort managed to be only slightly better in some aspects than what was a design two decades old and in its final months.

Last days of the baroque: 1989 Mercedes-Benz 560 SL in Light Ivory over Brasil Dark Brown leather.

The RoW (rest of the world) R107s & C107s didn't suffer the disfiguring modifications (headlights for the whole model life, bumper bars after 1973) fitted to the NA (North America) market cars to ensure compliance with various US regulations.  In the US, there's now a minor industry importing the RoW headlights and bumper bars to restore cars to the appearance the designers intended.  Although the R107 lacked the delicate elegance of its predecessor (the W113 “Pagoda”; 230/250/280 SL, 1963-1971) the design has aged well and despite the large volume made, retain a following, the most sought being the rare 350 SLs with a four-speed manual transmission, the 500 SLs (the most powerful) and the 560 SLs (the most refined).  As a quirk of use, although the R107 also has a removable hardtop which uses the pagoda motif, it's only the W113 which is referred to thus.

In one area though, the 560 SL proved its mettle, the 5.5 litre (338 cubic inch) V8 out-running the Cadillac by 10 mph (16 km/h) in top speed and effortlessly out-accelerating it in any range about 25 mph (40 km/h), the advantage increasing as speeds rose.  Despite all the effort and expense, in some seven years, fewer than 21,500 Allantés were built while Mercedes-Benz shipped 237,287 R107s plus 62,888 LWB coupés (C107, 1971-1981) on the same platform, an average annual build rate over 18 years of some 17,000, two-thirds of which were exported to North America where, in places like Los Angeles, they were for decades the preferred (one suspects almost obligatory) transport for types such as interior decorators, successful hairdressers, the wives of cosmetic surgeons and bare-shouldered Hollywood starlets.  Had Lindsay Lohan in 1989 been of age, she'd have been at the wheel of a 560 SL.  Cadillac has had its failures (infamously the Cimarron) but it's believed never to have booked more of a loss on a single model than was the accountants' final reckoning of the (by then virtual) red-ink in which the Allanté's numbers were written.  By comparison, the write-down suffered with the cancellation of the division's remarkable Blackwing V8 (2018-2020) was relatively modest.  

1933 Cadillac 355C Coupe Convertible.  In 1933, Cadillacs had buttons but not many because there was then not so much stuff to activate although a valve-radio was on the options list.  As a nice touch (and a hint Cadillac understood their target market), a “golf bag compartment” was fitted behind the passenger’s door.  The external trunk and folding luggage rack were optional extras.

Introduced for 1931 as a lower cost range because the effects of the Great Depression drastically had reduced demand for Cadillac’s V12 & V16 lines, the V8-powered 355s (1931-1935) were, until the Allanté in 1987, the last Cadillac to be offered as a two-seat convertible although La Salle (its lower-cost stable mate) would offer the style as late as 1940, the year the brand was retired after a seven year stay of execution.  Cadillac called the coachwork a “Convertible Coupe” because “roadster” was associated with smaller, lighter machines; had it been built in England this would be dubbed a DHC (drop head coupé) while continental manufacturers would have preferred “cabriolet”.  In the elaborate Mercedes-Benz naming system it would be a “Cabriolet A” which designated “a two, door, two seat cabriolet with no rear quarter glass panes”.  The existence of supplemental passenger accommodation in the rumble seat does not affect the use of “Cabriolet A” because (1) Daimler-Benz never created a designation to describe the configuration (although “Cabriolet E” seems not to have been allocated if the factory is in the mood for retrospection) and (2) “Cabriolet A” anyway included certain models with provision for a third occupant in the rear of the passenger compartment. 

1933 Cadillac 355C Coupe Convertible. 

Somewhat unusually for the industry, Cadillac’s alpha-numerics were from day one locked in (355A (1931), 355B (1932), 355C (1933), 355D (1934) & 355E (1935)) so the “A” was not a retrospective appendage, unlike the Chrysler 300A which (informally) became the description of the 1955 C-300 only after, impressed by the sales of what had been intended as a one-off model to homologate parts for use in competition, the company for 1956 released the 300B.  Retiring the 355 range after 1935 meant Cadillac in 1939 never had to face the problem which afflicted not only Chrysler (when updating the 300H) but also bra manufacturers (what to slot-in between a 32H & 32J?) and the USAF (US Air Force) (when updating the Boeing B-52H).  The issue always was the desire to avoid an “I” being confused with a numeric “1”.  Chrysler and Boeing solved the problem by skipping the letter “I” and going straight to “J” while in the bra business there are very few “I cups”, the usual convention being to offer an “HH” (“double-H” in retail slang) or a “J”.  Although nominally a two-seater, three (snugly) could be accommodated and two more could fit in the rumble seat, the so-called “mother-in-law seat”, an appellation which makes most sense if she’s put there while the soft-top is in the raised position.  Unlike the Allanté, the 355 Coupe Convertibles were bodied in the US by Fisher, a GM (General Motors) coach-building division which was shuttered in 1984.

Reset button on early (clone) PC.

The stability of the PC (personal computer) has improved since August 1981 when the first IBM PC-1 appeared, triggering several waves of transformative changes which profoundly have altered the world; the AI (artificial intelligence) cycle is merely the latest of these “revolutions” and is unlikely to be the last.  One feature common on PCs during their first two decades of existence was the “reset button”, an oft-resorted to device because of the propensity of the things to “freeze” or lock-up, rendering the keyboard (until the late 1980s, mice were rare, expensive and used mostly by a lunatic fringe) useless.  While it might seem a redundant feature given each machine came with an on/off switch or button, the two performed distinct functions related to the limitations of the hardware and operation systems of the era.  The on/off switch performed a “cold start”, cutting and then restoring power to all components, an inherently slow and potentially stress-inducing process.  By contrast, the reset button triggered a “warm reset” which electrically asserted the CPU’s (central processing unit) RESET line (which, as implemented by many manufacturers, also often often reset the system bus) without cutting power; what it did was immediately restart execution at the firmware’s entry point (BIOS (basic input output (I/O) system) on genuine IBM PCs) while leaving the power-flow to the system uninterrupted.  The most obvious practical advantage of using the reset button was a faster restart and a reduction in mechanical wear on hard & and floppy drives by not subjecting them to spin-down & spin-up cycles.

Front panel on early (clone) PC.

The key (to the right, below the on/off power switch) enabled users to "lock" the keyboard, preventing use of the machine.  This mechanical security layer was required because the early operating systems had no accounts requiring a login and no password protection, meaning anyone who turned the thing on had unfettered access (very few programs offered application-level security).  The "Turbo" button was there to permit users to "throttle-back" to CPU to the 4.77 MHz speed used by the 8086 & 8088 CPUs in the original PCs.  That was needed to ensure some older software (especially games) would still run on newer hardware, running at a dazzling 7.16 or 9.54 MHz.  

Because almost all the early operating systems (PC/MS-DOS, CP/M-86 and the various UNIX ports) had no memory protection and only primitive fault recovery, a single misbehaving program could (1) disable the interrupts upon which hardware depended, (2) corrupt the system state and (3) make the keyboard wholly unresponsive.  Not only did all these things happen, they happened with some frequency so the advantages of the reset button offered were a real benefit to users.  The hardware also enjoyed a protection layer because the power switches on early PCs were "hard mechanical mains" switches, often directly switching line voltage which meant rapid power cycling could stress the power supply, cause voltage transients harmful to expansion cards and risk data corruption or loss because robust “parking” mechanisms were rare on the early hard drives.  As operating systems gained protected mode, multitasking, and graceful reboot mechanisms, the need for reset buttons diminished and gradually they disappeared from the standard specification.

Wall of 1000 buttons (actually 1,048) at Shimada Electric Manufacturing Company's OSEBA button theme park.

It’s not known how many theme parks currently operate around the planet but it’s estimated there are at least hundreds and there may be more than a thousand.  What can however be said with certainty is (1) all theme parks will have some buttons and (2) the world has only one “button-themed park”.  Opened in 2024 (presumably with the “press of a button”) OSEBA is operated by the Shimada Electric Manufacturing Company, a company founded in 1933 and specializing in elevator buttons which has for decades maintained an enviable reputation for producing high-quality equipment for elevators, both standard items and customized, decorative fittings.  The theme park’s appeal is essentially twofold: (1) the remarkable variation in appearance of buttons and (2) the tactile joy of pushing buttons.  Shimada was encouraged to enter the theme park business after noting the tours of its factory had for some time massively been over-subscribed with the company having the capacity to satisfy less than 1% of demand for places.  OSEBA is located in the city of Hachiōji and sits next to Shimada’s factory, the advertising noting it is a convenient 15-minute walk from the Keio-Hachioji Train Station.

Inside the OSEBA button theme park.

Thoughtfully designed in the Japanese manner, the theme of the experience is (predictably) “pressing buttons” but as well as being interactive, things are done in a way which builds anticipation because although the standard instruction is: “Push the button, and something will begin”, one can never predict quite what.  Sometimes it’s as simple as various pairs of choices (food, anime characters and such) with cumulative totals appearing, allowing visitors to understand how their preferences align with those of others.  It sounds simple but it’s popular although apparently not as addictive as the “wall of a thousand buttons” (there are actually 1,048 because symmetry is important in Japan) where one “races the clock” to press as many buttons as possible within 30 seconds ; in a country renowned for serious weird hobbies, it’s almost conventional.  More visually intriguing is the immersive “Infinite Elevator Box” which uses dynamic, colorful visuals to create a feeling of movement, even while remaining static.  Apart from the “Play” stuff, OSEBA also has a “Learn” area which focuses on the company’s history and craftsmanship.

Reset button: Sergey Lavrov (left) and crooked Hillary Clinton, Geneva, 2009.  The delicious irony is that one of crooked Hillary's few diplomatic successes came from a mistake in translation.  

Having failed in 2008 to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination to contest that year’s presidential election, crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947) between 2009-2013 to the consolation prize of becoming US secretary of state, the job she decided was a prelude to her becoming POTUS in 2016, a position to which she believed she was entitled.  Things didn’t quite work out as she’d hoped and her tenure at Foggy Bottom was marked by scandal (related, predictably, to her chronic untruthfulness) but one potential “diplomatic incident” was allowed to pass without adverse comment on the basis “she meant well”.  Following a not untypically troubled recent past, Barack Obama (b 1961; POTUS 2009-2017) decided to try to improve Washington’s relations with the Kremlin.  As a gesture in this vein, in 2009, crooked Hillary presented Sergey Lavrov (b 1950; Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs since 2004) with a red button (of the type often used in heavy machinery as an “emergency stop”) on which was printed “Reset” and a Roman alphabet transliteration of the Russian Cyrillic перегрузка (peregruzka).  The idea was, with the arrival in Washington of a new administration, the two states should “re-start” their relationship and try to pretend to forget as much as possible of the past.  Unfortunately, the department got the translation wrong and used the Russian word for “overload”; it should have read перезагрузка (perezagruzka).  Mr Lavrov however was also at the time anxious to improve things and accepted the gift in the spirit in which it was intended, he and crooked Hillary pushing the button simultaneously for several photo opportunities.

Lindsay Lohan’s belly button adorned  with belly button jewellery, Los Angeles, 2009.

The noun buttonology genuinely does exist.  It was a calque of the Swedish knappologi and used to refer to the fashion for pedantic and often pointless systematization.  The construct followed the Swedish model (knapp (button) +‎ -ologi, coined by Swedish author August Strindberg (1849–1912) and appearing in the short story De lycksaliges ö (The Isle of the Blessed) which although written in 1884, wasn’t published until 1891 when it appeared in the compilation Svenska öden och äventyr (Swedish Destinies and Adventures).  Buttonology is used most often as a generic term to decry the exaggerated, obsessive or pointlessly pedantic systematization, especially of trivial subjects but literally it can describe the study or categorization of buttons (in the sense of clothing fasteners).  Obviously, practitioners of buttonology are buttonologists.  In a light-hearted vein, in the training of software engineers and designers, it’s the component of the course focusing on user interfaces (where there can be many buttons).  In US military slang, buttonology is used of user interfaces generally.

Childless cat lady Taylor Swift (b 1989) with Ragdoll Benjamin Button, named after the eponymous character in the movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), Time Magazine cover for “Person of the Year” edition, 25 December, 2023.  Ragdoll cats make good stoles because (attributed to a genetic mutation), they tend to “go limp” when picked up.

An owner of three most contented felines, gleefully, Ms Swift in 2024 embraced the appellation “childless cat lady” after wide publicity of its earlier use as a slur by James David (J.D.) Vance (b 1984; VPOTUS since 2025), something prompted by Mr Vance being named as Donald Trump’s (b 1946; POTUS 2017-2021 and since 2025) running-mate in the 2024 US presidential election.  The now famous phrase had been used in a 2021 interview with then Fox News host Tucker Carlson (b 1969) when he lamented the decline in the state of the nation: “…we are effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they've made and so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.”  Mr Vance may have struck an electoral chord because while Kamala Harris (b 1964; US vice president 2021-2025) presumably gained the childless cat lady vote, the Trump-Vance ticket won the election: 77,302,580 (49.8%) to 75,017,613 (48.3%) in the popular vote and 312 to 226 in the Electoral College on a turnout of 64.1%.

Pressed or pushed, many buttons needed.

The literal (physical) button-hole was noted in tailoring first during the 1560s, the figurative sense "to detain (someone) unwillingly in conversation” dating from 1862, a variation of the earlier button-hold (1834) and button-holder (1806), all based on the image is of holding someone by the coat-button so as to detain them.  The adjectival push-button (characterized by pressing a button used to activate something) emerged in 1945 as a consequence of the increasing public appreciation of the extent to which military weapons systems had become electronically controlled.  The earlier form “push-buttons" was from 1903, a modification of the noun push-button (button pressed with the finger to effect some operation) from 1865, then applied to mechanical devices.  The earlier adjectival form was “press-button” (1892) derived from the noun (1879).  For no apparent reason, it was the earlier “press of a button” which tended in the 1950s & 1960s to be preferred to “push of a button” to express the concern felt at the ease with which the US and USSR could trigger global thermo-nuclear war although “flick of a switch” also achieved much currency.  None were exactly usefully descriptive of a complex chain of events but it’s true that in a launch of nuclear weapons, many buttons and switches still are involved.

Highly qualified content provider Busty Buffy (b 1996) during “button-theory” test session.

Button theory involves trying on “button-up” tops of various sizes and subjecting each to normal human movement, the test “passed” when no buttons “pop open”.   In fashion (and, especially, content provision), the number of a top’s buttons “left undone” is a signifier of various things and the range extends from “all done up” to “all undone”, the latter usually restricted to catwalks and red carpets when stability of fabric sometimes is achieved with the use of adhesive, double-sided tape or the industry's ever-dependable tool of last resort: the safety pin.  While not culturally specific, the meanings signified by the number left undone (usually from top-to-bottom) can differ depending on certain circumstantial variables (time, place, temperature, wearer, presence of paparazzi etc).

No fear of button theory: Button theory suggests buttons can be done-up or undone.  Noted empiricist Lindsay Lohan has for some years been undertaking a longitudinal study to test theory.

The fear of buttons is koumpounophobia, the construct being the Modern Greek κουμπί (koumpí) +‎ -phobia and the word, like many describing phobias is a neologism.  Koumpi was from the Ancient Greek κομβίον (kombíon) translates as button in its two literal senses (a fastener for clothing or a device for instrument or remote mechanical control).  A button in Greek is thus κουμπί (koumpí) (the plural κουμπιά) and the verb is κουμπώνω (koumpóno).  In the Ancient Greek the lexemic unit koump- didn’t exist although it did have κομβίον (kombíon (which exists in Modern Greek as komvíon)) which meant buckle.  It may seem as strange omission because Ancient Greek had κουμπούνω, (koumpouno) which meant “to button” but the root was κύαμος (komos or koumos) meaning “broad bean” and, because there were no buttons in the Greece of Antiquity, they used appropriately sized & shaped beans as clothes fasteners.  The construct of koumpouno (to button) koum(os) + + πονέω (poneo) (to work; to exert), the idea of a bean which is used again and again.  The suffix -phobia (fear of a specific thing; hate, dislike, or repression of a specific thing) was from the New Latin, from the Classical Latin, from the Ancient Greek -φοβία (-phobía) and was used to form nouns meaning fear of a specific thing (the idea of a hatred came later).  In medicine, the absence of the belly button is a rare congenital defect, the medical term for which is omphalocele, usually something ultimately of no physiological significance but because it can cause psychological distress, plastic surgeons can re-construct one, a relatively simple procedure.  The alternative for an omphalocelic is to shun omphalophiliacs and hook up with someone who suffers omphalophobia (fear of the belly button); they should live happily ever after.  The phobia koumpounophobia is unrelated and references only the manufactured objects.

Lindsay Lohan in trench coat buttons up.  As fashionistas know, with a trench the belt is tied, only the military buckling up.

So, in the narrow technical sense, an etymologist might insist koumpounophobia is the fear of clothing fasteners rather than buttons of all types but that seems not helpful and it’s regarded as a generalised aversion and one said sometimes associated with kyklophobia (the fear of circles or other round objects) and especially the surprisingly common trypophobia (fear of holes (particularly if clustered or in some way arranged in a pattern)).  Estimates of the prevalence of the condition have been given by some but these are unverified and it’s not clear if those who for whatever reason prefer zips, Velcro or some other fastener are included and with phobias, numbers really should include only those where the aversion has some significant impact on life.  The symptoms suffered can include (1) an inability to tolerate the sight, sound, or texture of buttons, (2) feelings of panic, dread, or terror when seeing or thinking about buttons, (3) an acknowledgment that the fear is either wholly irrational or disproportionate to the potential danger.  Koumpounophobia reactions are usually automatic & uncontrollable and the source may be unknown or experiential (exposure to some disturbing imagery or description of buttons or an actual event involving buttons such as swallowing one when a child).  Like many phobias, the physical reactions can include a rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, trembling, excessive sweating, nausea, dry mouth, inability to speak or think clearly, tightening of stomach muscles, and an overwhelming desire to escape from button-related situations.  All are likely to involve an anxiety attack to some extent and the recommended treatment is the staggered exposure therapy used for many phobias; the patient slowly learning to wear, use and live with buttons; antidepressants, tranquillisers & beta-blockers are now considered medications of last resort.

Buttons are hard to avoid.

What is sometimes treated as koumpounophobia can be a manifestation of a different phobia.  In the literature there are examples of buttons triggering anxiety when touched or viewed but the reaction was actually to texture, color or a resemblance to something (typically a face, mouth or teeth as in many instances of pareidolia).  The button is thus incidental to the reaction in the same way that those with mysophobia (in popular use the germophobic) may react to buttons because of the association with uncleanliness.  One documented aspect of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is that many sufferers immediately wash their hands after touching a button; the increased prevalence of this behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to buttons touched by other (keyboards, elevators etc) is not thought indicative of a phobia but would be if it manifests as life-long behaviour.

Apple Magic Mouse, Multi-Touch Surface in white @ US$99.00 (left), Logitech Signature M650 L, full-size wireless two-button Scroll Mouse with Silent Clicks in blue @ US$37.99 (centre) and Steve Jobs' vision of hell: Canon 5565B001 X Mark I Slim 3-in-1 wireless mouse with keypad calculator @ US$49.95. 

Steve Jobs (1955-2011; co-founder, and sometime chairman & CEO of Apple) was said to have an aversion to buttons, something linked to his fondness for button-free turtleneck clothing but given he spent decades using keyboards without apparent ill-effect, it’s doubtful a clinician would diagnose koumpounophobia and it's more likely he was just convinced of the technological advantages of going button-less.  Without buttons, manufacturing processes would be cheaper, water-proofing devices like iPhones would become (at least theoretically) possible and upgrades would no longer be constrained by static buttons, the user interface wholly virtualized on one flat panel, able to be changed (the industry's term for "change" is "upgrade" although users don't always agree there has been an improvement) purely in software.  It apparently started with the button-less Apple mouse, the industry legend being Mr Jobs saw a prototype (which the designers regarded as nothing more than speculative) and insisted it become Apple’s standard device.

Whether or not it happened that way, the story is illustrative of the way business was done at Apple and it’s notable his veto on offering a stylus with which to interact with apps or the operating system didn’t survive his death.  His response to the idea of a stylus was reportedly “yuk” and he seems to have decided all his users would think the same way and probably he was right, Apple’s users tending usually to do what Apple tells them to do.  Indeed, one of reasons Apple has found the Chinese market so receptive to the iPhone is that the company's approach accords with "the Chinese way": First, their parents tell them what to do, then their teachers tell them what to do, then the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) tells them what to do; Apple found it most agreeable they also did what it told them to do.  However, for those who find the sleek Apple mouse better to behold than use, third-party products with buttons and scroll wheels are available, sometimes for half the cost of the genuine article.  Since the death of Mr Jobs, Apple has relented on the "stylus question".

Shiny on the outside: Finished in Bianco Avus over black leather with Rosso Corsa (racing red) instruments, of the 400 Ferrai Enzos (2002-2004) chassis 133023 (2003) was the only one the factory painted white.  Some Ferraris really suit white, notably the elegant 365 GT4 2+2 and the successor 400 and 412 models (1972-1989).

The dreaded “Ferrari sticky buttons” is a well-known phenomenon, the stickiness coming from the rubberized material preferred by the factory because of the superior feel offered.  However, under just about any climatic conditions, continuous use will induce a deterioration which resembles melting, "mushiness" the final outcome.  The internet is awash with suggestions, the simplest of which involves products like rubbing alcohol (the use of which can cause its own destructiveness) and the consensus seems to be that in many cases only replacement buttons will produce a satisfactory result.  The choice is between obtaining the real Ferrari part-number (if available) with the knowledge the problem will re-occur or use third-part replacements which are made of a more durable material, the disadvantage being the feel won’t be quite the same and there’s a reluctance among some to use non-factory parts, an attitude enforced by the "originality police". 

Sticky on the inside: Ferrari 485 California F1 gearbox buttons, sticky (left) and not (right).

Ferrari does use the suspect material for a reason and it’s applied to interior components such as trim, bezels, buttons & switches, and heating, ventilation & air-conditioning panels.  The coatings are usually referred to as “soft-touch” and designers like them for the soft, velvet-like feel imparted.  Used also on computer mice and electronic remote controls, the low gloss sheen is in cars helpful because being absorptive, glare is reduced and Ferrari uses both a clear and black finish.  It’s an issue not exclusive to Ferraris although owners of those do seem most concerned and while using rubbing alcohol might sound a tempting Q&D (quick & dirty) fix, for those with sticky buttons this is probably a job best left to experts of which there are now a few and they're finding business good.