That ancient one in the Saab is indeed fairly useless under anything but the most sedate driving.
The one in mine actually works, not that I use it often.
Cupholders lead to automatic transmissions.
Yes, they do. Hence why my Alfa has zero cupholders. None. Italians have an espresso, drive, then stop at another cafe for another espresso. Repeat 10 times for a typical Italian day. NO liquids are to be consumed in the car. And...what's behind me, is not important.
I was going to say, French cars are the same way. If a cupholder shape is moulded into the centre console, it is really intended just for storing coins or keys, as it's far to shallow to hold anything more than 8cm tall.
My Peugeot 308 doesn't even have a cupholder. You can flip a hidden small round tray out in the bottom of the storage cubby behind the shifter, but no one ever has a beverage while driving, unless it's a bottle of water- which is stored in the door bin.
I can't think of the last time I had an open beverage in the car. Most people finish their cup of coffee at home or at the restaurant before hitting the road anyway, I don't see the fuss and the point of wasted dash space.........