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Food for Thought, Car Timelines

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My 2011 Rover has an analog clock center dash and digital readout in driver's speedometer. A lot of the high end Bentleys and Rolls have analog clocks still. Remember when you could siphon gas out easily?
 
How about anolog odometers? Push button radios,where you just glanced at it to tell where the station that you're listening to was on it? Lights that you turned on/off by yourself. Cars you could easily identify,without reading the company name/model? Cars that had actual personality? - Doug
 
AngliaGT said:
... Cars you could easily identify,without reading the company name/model? Cars that had actual personality? - Doug
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Amen to that!
 
I miss real switches and buttons, I glance at them and then move my hand in that direction, when my finger touches the switch I know I have hit paydirt, I can feel on and off, etc. Touchscreen you have to concentrate on pretty hard to use, makes no sense in a car if you ask me, or should be on the passenger side, with main controls left to the driver.

Actually cars are progressing and changing pretty quickly again. The options and features on a high end car from say 1990 or so were still the options and features on a car from the early 2000s, but they had filtered down market a bit (power windows and A/C pretty much standard, anti-lock brakes and such, CD player) Last ten years or so Navigation, Blue Tooth, Touch Screens, Auto Parallel Park, Lane Assist, Rear Back up cameras, stability and traction control, motors that turn off at idle and turn back on when you start up, CVT and DSG Trannies with 7-9 speeds, High discharge headlights, I realize some of these are more than 10 years old, but they weren't commonplace until recently.
 
Come to think of it - remember when a heater was an option?

And the first thermostatically controlled, fresh air ventilating cabin heater was the Nash WeatherEye, 1939. That was "air conditioning" - when the term didn't mean cooling.

I've run into several young folks who don't know what "a/c" stands for.

wow
 
NutmegCT said:
I've run into several young folks who don't know what "a/c" stands for.

wow
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Why alternating current of course. :friendly_wink:
 
NutmegCT said:
Come to think of it - remember when a heater was an option?

And the first thermostatically controlled, fresh air ventilating cabin heater was the Nash WeatherEye, 1939. That was "air conditioning" - when the term didn't mean cooling.

I've run into several young folks who don't know what "a/c" stands for.

wow
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If you bought a new car in Florida in the 50s or early 60s, you had to make sure you told them you wanted a heater in it or you were in for a cold ride when it got cold. I remember a friend of dads came up from Florida in November, liked to froze to death and dad and he went to Pep Boys, bought a heater and put it in his car. It was a 49 or 50 Chevy. PJ
 
Someone may already have mentioned this but you no longer hear the term "Emergency brake". I actually used the hand brake in my Healey for just such a purpose a few years back when I had a sudden brake failure in traffic. I hardly came to a sudden stop but I was able to avoid colliding with another vehicle.

BTW my "everyday" car is a 2009 Audi A4 Avant and it has an ashtray for the driver/front passenger but none in the back.
 
Basil said:
Speaking of cars of our youth; Things you don't see any more in cars:

1. Column shifters
2. Ash Trays
3. Vent Windows
4. Seats without belts (or lap belts only)
5. Full-sized spare
6. Analog dash clock


Anything else?
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I've got two late model vehicles (from two different manufacturers - Audi, BMW) with engines that have no dipsticks. Checking oil level is a function choice made of the vehicle's control center. Having a very hard time believing this "feature" is progress.
 
I don't know if this has been mentioned, but does anybody remember the emergency brake handle being on the left of the steering wheel on some cars, actually right under the dash?
 
When I was young and learning to drive I recall it being a footpedal with a release under the dash. The Sunbeam I have has the lever on the outside of the drivers seat, so if you're not careful gettin in you could get an unexpected prostate check..
 
stinky60 said:
I don't know if this has been mentioned, but does anybody remember the emergency brake handle being on the left of the steering wheel on some cars, actually right under the dash?
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Yes, a pull handle that ratcheted out, I think you turned it to release it, was pretty common on American cars in the 60s and 70s, as was the third pedal set emergency brake. My first car that I drove on a regular basis was my mom's 75 Plymouth Valiant, slant six, automatic, powder (light) blue, just what every teenage boy wanted. It was actually fairly reliable, as in it started and ran, but no feel to the steering or brakes, and this was the bad time in the world of emission controls, when manufacturers were struggling. On a cold day the car would die if you goosed it even when fully warmed up, numerous trips to the dealer did little to rectify the situation. They were reasonably well built though, you still see a few beaters bombing around.
 
Model T Ford had the hand brake on the left also, but when all the way back it was the hand brake, moved to the center position it was in a floating position, moved all the way forward it put the transmission in high gear. Right pedal on the floor was the brake, middle pedal was reverse and the left pedal was first gear. We used to drive my uncles old T truck on the farm when we were kids. It had 4 buzz coils for ignition and if the engine was warm you just turned the key on and it would start by it's self! LOL! Who said we have progressed so far from those days, Henry had it together! :highly_amused:
 
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