[H/T MDROADS]
FastCompany.com: Who Needs GPS? The Forgotten Story of Etak's Amazing 1985 Car Navigation System -
With backing from Atari's cofounder, an engineer-navigator brought high-tech driving directions to cars–during the Reagan Administration. (http://www.fastcompany.com/3047828/who-needs-gps-the-forgotten-story-of-etaks-amazing-1985-car-navigation-system)
QuoteThirty years ago, a company called Etak released the first commercially available computerized navigation system for automobiles. Spearheaded by an engineer named Stan Honey and bankrolled by Nolan Bushnell, the cofounder of Atari, the company's Navigator was so far ahead of its time that the phrase "ahead of its time" seems like an understatement.
QuoteTo appreciate just how amazing the concept of car navigation was in 1985, you need to recall that the Global Positioning System–the constellation of satellites operated by the U.S. government–didn't come fully online until a decade later, in 1995. Even then, the feds crippled GPS to be no more accurate than within 100 meters to ensure it wouldn't help bad guys aim guided missiles. In 2000, that restriction was lifted, allowing a new era of consumer GPS navigational gadgets to flourish.
A lower tech solution involving plastic map inserts was available in 1981 from Honda.
http://world.honda.com/history/challenge/1981navigationsystem/index.html
ETAK gets a mention at the end.
Another article that overlaps the Fast Company piece (some of the same photos), but still of interest: https://maphappenings.com/2024/04/11/story-of-etak/
Bonuses: A Thomas map scan old enough to predate I-110 in Los Angeles; the true origin of the "your vehicle is here" symbol
From the pictures I've seen, Etrak drew a map on a green-on-black screen. But I remember an earlier system put out by Chrysler, because it showed the Chrysler logo moving across the screen to show your location. It used 12" laser video discs to display maps acquired from AAA. I saw it demonstrated on a PBS show about new technology, and I had forgotten about it until now. But I can't find any more information on a cursory check. Maybe it was never commercially released.