Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

4 Bizarre Car Accessories that Used to Be Cool
http://blog.allstate.com/awesome-or-atrocious-4-bizarre-car-accessories-that-used-to-be-cool/ ^

Posted on 08/16/2012 2:44:55 PM PDT by djone

"Most of us don’t spend much time listening to vinyl anymore, but just like that DJ spinning records in a trendy nightclub, there was a time when you could cue up some 45s in your Chrysler. In 1956, you could get an optional record player in Chrysler, DeSoto, Dodge and Plymouth vehicles......Years ago, automakers used to hide gas caps in stealthy locations. Cars like the ’56 Chevy Bel Air had the gas cap hidden behind a taillight, which would swivel out of the way, while numerous cars from the 60’s and 70’s had their fuel fillers located behind the license plate.

'56 Chevy

(Excerpt) Read more at blog.allstate.com ...


TOPICS: History; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: sourcetitlenoturl
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-148 last
To: Oztrich Boy

Traffic?

I’m not sure what you mean.

I’ve never seen a station like the one you pictured anywhere in the U.S. It appears the pumps only service traffic on one side.

All the ones in the U.S. are completely off the road with traffic being serviced on both sides of the pump, and traffic entering the station from both directions. The convention, up until recently, was that you pulled to the right of the pump island you approached, just as you stay to the right on the road here. This puts both the driver (most U.S. stations are self-service except for 2 states that mandate otherwise) or the attendant between the vehicle and the pump.

The problem occurs when a vehicle does follow convention and pulls to the RH side of the pump island, but then has the fill door on the RH side. This would expose the attendant or consumer to business traffic (assuming the hose was long enough to reach over the vehicle, which it usually isn’t for safety reasons and to prevent the hose from scraping on the ground). The solution to this is what causes the real problem. In order to fill these vehicles, they must defy convention and pull to the the LH side of the pumps as they approach the pump island. But of course, that’s the RH side for traffic coming from the opposite direction, and virtually every service station here accepts incoming traffic from both directions.

If business is light, it’s not generally a big problem. When business is heavy and people are queued in line waiting to fill their tank, these vehicles are going the wrong way so they make a mess of the logistics. These vehicles then have to back away from the pump, which is unfortunately difficult for many to do without being in the cramped confines of a busy gas station, surrounded by flammable liquid dispensers, other vehicles, and people walking about. The pump islands are generally not far enough apart to allow them to pull around the incoming traffic waiting for service - backing away is the only option when things are busy.

This was never a problem until around the 1990s or so. Virtually all cars sold in the U.S. had their fill door on the LH side, or in back. I first started seeing RH side doors on imported vehicles, and then, for some strange reason the domestics have started to do it too, but only on some models (most notably not on pickup trucks and SUVs, at least not that I’ve noticed)


141 posted on 08/17/2012 11:19:46 AM PDT by chrisser (Starve the Monkeys!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 134 | View Replies]

To: Always Independent

I had lots of experience pushing mine LOL. It could have been just a lemon or you got the one they actually built correctly LOL. I never had the spare to drop down on me. I know my dad never bought another foreign made vehicle after that.


142 posted on 08/17/2012 1:36:30 PM PDT by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 136 | View Replies]

To: Cowman
I was working for a tow company years ago when I heard the story about a guy with a 55 Chrysler 300 that had a dead battery. when the tow truck showed up he suggested push starting the car. The driver said OK but you'll have to get up to about 25 or 30 before that works. He gets into the car and looks in the mirror to see the tow truck backing off a half mile so that he would be up to 30mph when he started to "push" the car

LOL Really though you could jump them off with a 12 volt system. I did it several times on our old wagon. That old 55 very seldom let us down as far as actually quiting and breakdowns. It could be a pill to start especially when it was real cold but that was the nature of a 6 volt systems of the day. Oh yea one notorious fault of old Plymouths was the gas gage. IIRC if it read half a tank it was empty.

I still have the steering wheel center cap off our old 55 Belvedere. It has a ship in the center of it.

143 posted on 08/17/2012 1:45:08 PM PDT by cva66snipe (Two Choices left for U.S. One Nation Under GOD or One Nation Under Judgment? Which one say ye?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 140 | View Replies]

To: rockrr

Wow, that is sweet.
I have a 57 bel Air and a 67 Camaro convertible. But I need a pre ‘54 Chevy pick up. That’s next.


144 posted on 08/20/2012 7:15:14 AM PDT by DaxtonBrown (http://www.futurnamics.com/reid.php)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 106 | View Replies]

To: DaxtonBrown
I had a '55 Chev wagon as a kid - think clapped out "surfin safari" more than hotrod. That was the only 50's vehicle that I've owned.

My favorite chevy truck from the fifties is the '54 AD. I always thought that the grill on the '47 thru '53's looked slapped on whereas the grill on the '54 molds to the fenders and hood.

The '54 is on the right.

Fortunately there are still a few of these old truck around waiting to breathe new life.

145 posted on 08/20/2012 8:15:53 AM PDT by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 144 | View Replies]

To: rockrr

I set that pic as my wallpaper.

I’m now set on getting a 47-54, been checking Craigslist. Have to go to cornbelt for deals, even a no engine junker they want $4k out here.


146 posted on 08/22/2012 9:45:45 AM PDT by DaxtonBrown (http://www.futurnamics.com/reid.php)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 145 | View Replies]

To: DaxtonBrown

I see what you mean.

Here’s a sampling of what is in my backyard (western Washington):

1948 gmc dually 270 - $1900 (auburn covington)
http://seattle.craigslist.org/skc/cto/3184659516.html

1950 truck - $750 (granite falls)
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/3208967522.html

1950 1 1/2 TON CHEVY DUMP TRUCK - $2500 (Yelm, WA)
http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/cto/3216381579.html

1950 Chevy Trucks 3 and 5 window - $1 (Snohomish)
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/3198933825.html
(not really $1 - $2k for two trucks!)

1951 Gmc truck - $2000 (mt vernon)
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/3211424869.html

1953 GMC - $1600
http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/cto/3218657236.html

As you can see - someone needs to save them before the rust gets them! Good luck ;-)


147 posted on 08/22/2012 10:29:08 AM PDT by rockrr (Everything is different now...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 146 | View Replies]

To: rockrr

Hey, thanks for those listings. I’m in Vegas, not much here and LA is all fancy rebuilds at $10k plus. I thought I’d have to go to Nebraska, but Wa might not be so bad.
Probably ready to buy by the spring, still have a few hundred hours of work left to do on the Camaro and Bel Air to get them to B grade when I can start looking again. I need a pickup.


148 posted on 08/22/2012 3:05:19 PM PDT by DaxtonBrown (http://www.futurnamics.com/reid.php)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 147 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 81-100101-120121-140141-148 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson