Just for fun...

Vent Windows

Great for when you just need a bit of extra airflow.

Under-the-steering-column A/C vent (pictured in a panel ripped from a G-body)
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Bench seats...

OK, so I like having lateral support, but with bench seats, they usually don't put a space robbing console in the middle, and put the auto-shifter up on the column, where it doesn't invade on your knee space.


Note the wide open knee room in this GMC truck - this truck, by the way, is only about 1 inch wider than the Fit.

(I had a GMC Sonoma for a while - good fuel economy for a truck -19/25, very comfortable to drive - I really wish it hadn't be a mechanical disaster... I might still have it)

Ribbon speedometers:

Hey, I just think they look cool.

Turn signals visually separated from headlights:


When your headlights are on, the bright light source can make it difficult to see turn signals. Visually separating them makes them easier to distinguish, especially now that so many cars have DRLs.

 

Body vents to the interior cable or metal linkage activated from inside.....Trunk mounted A/C units that would drop then interior temperatures lower than the trusty Frigidaire in the kitchen.and had front and rear vents..... Separate heaters with controls for the right and left sides of the car... Gasoline heating used in Studebakers (optional) and 73 VW Things (standard)... Air adjustable suspensions used on 59-60 Caddies .... Grease fittings I counted over 30 on the front end of a 55 El Dorado and there were more in the back.... Reverberators on the radios back in the early 60s.... Fabric sunroofs.... Suicide doors... Frantz Oil Filters.. Dealor installed option, used a roll of toilet paper as the filtering media and you can still buy them...Continental Kits... popular on cars with trunk mounted A/C and standard on 57 T-Birds with the new 332CI engine to compensate for the frontal weight increase... Passenger side mounted swamp coolers.....Manual starter drive instead of a solenoid you pushed a pedal to the right of the throttle all GM trucks before 55... Overdrive manual and electrically engaged usually on the top 2 gears...Hood Ornaments... And the one that I hated the most was dealer installed Clear Plastic Seat Covers. one more that I hated almost as much.... Vacuum powered Windshield Wipers.. The were wonderful unless your foot was on the accelerator and as you pushed on it the wipers would slow to a stop, terrible in a downpour at night.

 

Speed alarms on cars w/o cruize...or even ones with it!

 

And the ashtrays with little grooves that go with them.

 

I forgot that one.... My father had a 61 Buick Le Sabre with that feature which reminds me of the Dyna Flow transmission that didn't shift gears and depended on a hydraulic torque converter alone... The Buicks at that time sounded more like cabin cruisers out on a lake as they gained speed much like a CVTs of today sounds but with the wonderful sound of the large mildly tuned V-8 engines exhaust burble..... I have another one---- Front seats on sport coupes that would swing to point you out the door to make entry and exit easier and eliminate the chance of squirrel shots from young ladies in short skirts.... Ford had swing away steering wheels in the late 60s early 70s T-Birds.... Mercury had some models with a flat rear window that could be rolled down...Chrysler offered a hydraulic drive transmission which was a torque converter ahead of a vacuum assisted 3 speed column shifted transmission and it also had a clutch pedal that was only used when shifting and not needed when taking off from a stop..

 

Gosh Hayden, the lighters in cars I grew up with had huge ornate knobs on the cigarette lighters and the elements were huge... The owners manuals of the 50s in some cases referred to them as cigar lighters..... The dashboards with protruding knobs and chrome all over the place still had an art deco theme through the 50s and padded dashes didn't happen until the Studebaker Lark popped up in 59.

 

Yeah, I think the standard size was agreed upon way-back to accommodate a cigar tip. When everyone smoked, I'm sure this was something that was jazzed up quite a bit.

I don't smoke in my car, but if I keep it a long time, i might start to. The miata had a lighter still in it ('04 model) and I did smoke in that car. Top down, turbo howling and cig clenched in teeth, while diving for the apex. lol

 

Oh, and DUH



edit: TC - I see you mentioned this.

 

A compact pickup with V6 and manual transmission, transfer case with low range and a lever to actuate it, and solid axles for cheap lifts and articulation.
I also miss rear wheel drive compact cars.

 

I miss the days of being able to go through a 2 page list of options and being able to pick and choose what you want or have disdain for and having the dealership call and say. " It's Here"... A buddy of mine bought a 64 GTO that had been ordered with the 3 deuce, 4 speed 411:1 posi-trac rearend, acid dipped hood, doors, trunk lid, front fenders, heater and AM radio.... It didn't even have power brakes and was a bitch to drive at low speeds, getting sideways when wound tight in 1st gear and speed shifted to 2nd... It also had 2 tone paint, silver with a black top.... The horror of being stopped at a light on a hill in heavy traffic with a 16 year old driving a car like that and not knowing how to drive a stick shift car is hard to imagine.. After 3 times at trying to take off and almost backing into the car behind us he floored it and dumped the clutch...We were in the left turn lane and I knew I was going to die but somehow we survived. It wasn't long before his parents took it away from him.

 

hummm... i dont miss any of those old skool features. :D hahahaha

 

I miss being able to open cowl or fender mounted vents on days when the temperature isn't too cool or too hot, the idea of having left and right side heaters and controls and also the very quick to cool A/C units that would blow frosty cold air that you didn't just feel but was visible to the eye.... The vents would be beneficial in lowering fuel consumption and lower the amount of hydrocarbon output from not using the A/C.

 

A proper horn ring

 

This raises an interesting point - My 92 Accord had the horn as buttons on the wheel spokes, so you could hit it with your thumbs while keeping you hands at 9 and 3. This is a Civic, but the design was similar:



As late as 2001, the CR-V had the same design:



Now? Not only does the steering wheel have a small land-mine loaded in the center, but they put the button you push to alert other cars to a potentially dangerous situation RIGHT ON TOP OF IT!!!