Why not thermal. But that's not what we wanted at the beginning of artsci's project. In 2013 when all this started the S didn't have parking sensors. The front camera was a way to literally see how close we were coming to walls and parking bumpers. And even when parking sensors were added, they were too high on the nosecone, so they didn't help but about half the time. Specifically, didn't help with those parking bumpers. Many of us proceeded on our S's even with parking sensors, because the front cam complemented the parking sensors.
Most of us pointed the camera down and used it for right in front of the car. It was never very useful looking down the road in front of us. Why you ask? Because it was a rear camera mounted on the front. Why did that matter, you ask? Glad you asked, because the image of the rear camera mounted on the front was reversed on the screen. The left was on the right, the right on the left. Weird to drive down the road and see oncoming cars facing us, as they passed us (of course on our left/driver side) appear on the right hand side of the screen. Really weird, Took some getting used to.
Many of us in those early days saved the front, the nosecone and the lower splitter on the S by being able to see what we were about to hit, and stop. That's what we miss about it. I am pretty sure that too is what
@HankLloydRight llyodRight missed too.