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11 Features You No Longer See in Cars
Mental Floss ^ | February 11, 2014 | Kara Kovalchik

Posted on 02/14/2014 11:09:59 AM PST by EveningStar

It's hard to picture what today's teenagers will wax nostalgic about 30 years from now when they reminisce about their first car. (It still required gasoline, perhaps?) Who knows how automobiles will change in the future; what we do know is how different they are today from 30 or more years ago. If you fondly remember being surrounded by two or three tons of solid Detroit steel with a whip antenna on the front from which you could tie a raccoon tail or adorn with an orange Union 76 ball, and enough leg room that you didn't suffer from phlebitis on long road trips, then you might also miss a few of these.

1. Bench Seats


(Excerpt) Read more at mentalfloss.com ...


TOPICS: History; Society; Travel
KEYWORDS: automobiles; cars; oldage
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To: GreenAccord

I PUT a full sized spare in my 04 Sentra (when it was time for new tires I bought 5), the board wobbles a little but I like knowing if I get a flat I’m not on some time or speed limit.


41 posted on 02/14/2014 11:34:42 AM PST by discostu (I don't meme well.)
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To: 1_Rain_Drop

Yeah, the ones where the kids in the back seat would go “flip, flip, flip, flip” for the entire 7 hour car trip!


42 posted on 02/14/2014 11:35:35 AM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
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To: forgotten man

Mini vans don’t have gas pedals.


43 posted on 02/14/2014 11:36:37 AM PST by mountn man (The Pleasure You Get From Life Is Equal To The Attitude You Put Into It)
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To: EveningStar; Revolting cat!
In-dash record players.


44 posted on 02/14/2014 11:36:40 AM PST by a fool in paradise ("Health care is too important to be left to the government.")
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To: BitWielder1

The hand crank was not an unmixed blessing.

The engine has to be tuned correctly for this method to work. In the very old automobiles, there was a manual spark adjustment, a hand-controlled throttle, and an external choke access. If the spark was too far advanced, for example, the cylinder would fire before top dead center, causing a nasty kick-back on the crank, and if the person was trying to start the engine by “spinning” the crank, with both hands on the end of the crank, it was a guaranteed broken shoulder or wrist. The ends of the bones of the forearm would break just above the wrist, the “Model T wrist”. The proper technique was to wrap the fingers only over the end of the crank, squatting on the left side braced against the front fender, and PULLING the crank over the top. That way, if the engine does fire prematurely, the crank is snatched out of the curled fingers, and doesn’t take the rest of you with it.

But the system would work at below-freezing temperatures.

Easier was parking at the top of a slope, nudging the vehicle forward, with the clutch depressed, then popping the clutch quickly to turn the engine over, then disengaging it just as quickly to make sure the motor is running smoothly, then you can simply drive away.

But apparently you can’t do that any more.


45 posted on 02/14/2014 11:36:45 AM PST by alloysteel (Obamacare - Death and Taxes now available online. One-stop shopping at its best!)
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To: 1_Rain_Drop

Windshield washers operated by pushing the rubber ball on the floor.


46 posted on 02/14/2014 11:36:48 AM PST by shelterguy (at theiur fundraining letters tell me.)
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To: EveningStar
12. Smart/Intelligence drivers on an snow/ice covered road...(summer) wet roads.

47 posted on 02/14/2014 11:36:57 AM PST by skinkinthegrass (The end move in politics is always to pick up a gun..0'Caligula / 0'Reid / 0'Pelosi)
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To: EveningStar

Don’t see chrome bumpers or chrome period.


48 posted on 02/14/2014 11:37:06 AM PST by Proud2BeRight
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To: EveningStar

Floor mounted headlight dimmer button.

“Opera lights” on the outside (had a Buick with those)


49 posted on 02/14/2014 11:37:14 AM PST by TurboZamboni (Marx smelled bad and lived with his parents .)
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To: EveningStar

Manual shift transmission. It used to be “standard” equipment. Now it’s presented as optional, and will soon completely disappear.


50 posted on 02/14/2014 11:38:14 AM PST by PowderMonkey (WILL WORK FOR AMMO)
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To: Obama_Is_A_Feminist

I avoid driving my car under water.


51 posted on 02/14/2014 11:39:07 AM PST by mountn man (The Pleasure You Get From Life Is Equal To The Attitude You Put Into It)
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To: EveningStar

How about a group of cars that I miss: Station Wagons.


52 posted on 02/14/2014 11:39:44 AM PST by ExCTCitizen (2014: The Year of DEAD RINOS)
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To: EveningStar

Gauges that tell you battery charge (in combustible engine vehicles), oil level, oil pressure, etc. Everything now is an idiot light that says “BAD!” without details.


53 posted on 02/14/2014 11:40:08 AM PST by a fool in paradise ("Health care is too important to be left to the government.")
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To: EveningStar

Running boards.


54 posted on 02/14/2014 11:40:33 AM PST by a fool in paradise ("Health care is too important to be left to the government.")
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To: fredhead

Cars one can actually work on and fix.


I discovered that if your problem is anything that touches the computer, fixing modern cars is usually easier, especially if it is a chrysler. My personal examples:

1. Late 80’s dodge omni sits in my garage for several months. Simply will not start. I discover the way the car flashes the check engine light to tell you what ails it. In this case it is a $17 electrical part on the fender wall about two inches square. I replace it, car starts right up.
2. Later 80’s Reliant. Strands my daughter at her job. Will not start. Code says map sensor is defective. Pick one up at junk yard for free. Install and car starts right up.
3. 2001 Chrysler 300m with 110,000 miles and original spark plugs. Starts missing bad. Code says number 5 coil is dead. Buy new coil for $48. Install, no more miss.

I love working on modern cars.


55 posted on 02/14/2014 11:40:35 AM PST by cuban leaf
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To: EveningStar

carburetor


56 posted on 02/14/2014 11:41:14 AM PST by CodeJockey (Christian, Freeper, Tea Party Member, Bitter Clinger, Creepy White Cracker)
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To: forgotten man

You in Florida, too?


57 posted on 02/14/2014 11:41:15 AM PST by ExCTCitizen (2014: The Year of DEAD RINOS)
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To: left that other site
I had an '85 FXSB Low Rider that had a kick starter. It still had the old-style frame and 4-speed transmission, but it was an Evo motor. It came in handy one time when my starter relay went out, and it took a week to get one in.

My bike was pretty much the same as this one (same color):

This was the only year you could get this configuration. The 1984 was a Shovelhead, and the 1986 was an FXR.

58 posted on 02/14/2014 11:41:31 AM PST by Disambiguator
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To: EveningStar

Steel bumpers.


59 posted on 02/14/2014 11:41:34 AM PST by a fool in paradise ("Health care is too important to be left to the government.")
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To: meatloaf

Our scion will automatically lock itself if you unlock it but don’t bother to open the doors. The algorhythm is defective though. One time it locked the keys in the car all by itself. They were sitting on the passenger seat.

I’m now afraid to shut the doors if the keys are in the car in any way, shape or form.


60 posted on 02/14/2014 11:41:55 AM PST by cuban leaf
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