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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: discostu

Here’s a feature that today’s cars dont have:

Windows.

The cars I grew up with had ‘em. Lots of large easy to see out of windows.

Todays cars? Most come standard with back up cameras and lane change warnings. Why?

BECAUSE YOU CANT SEE OUT OF THE DANG THINGS.

(I’m on a rant here. Bear with me.)

Todays cars (Yeah, Chrysler 300, I’m taling about you) have tiny little gun slits for windowss. Others have HUGE C and D pillars that make it impossible for you to see outside the car unless you totally rely on mirrors.

The Ford Escape was a great looking SUV. Large square windows that made it easy to drive and to park. Then Ford screwed it up and now Escapes are slopers with poor visibility. And (HA HA!) their saels are down.

/rant off.


61 posted on 02/14/2014 11:42:23 AM PST by Responsibility2nd (NO LIBS. This Means Liberals and (L)libertarians! Same Thing. NO LIBS!!)
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To: shelterguy

My 63 rambler had vacuum powerd wipers. In seattle this REALLY sucked.

It also was a three on the tree and had a big plunger lever attached to the bottom of the dash. Over 35mph you would pull it out about8 inches and it gave you overdrive. Below that speed if you let your foot off the gas the car would coast as if in neutral, IIRC.


62 posted on 02/14/2014 11:44:44 AM PST by cuban leaf
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To: EveningStar

Station wagons with rear facing back seats, hell we don’t even have station wagons anymore.


63 posted on 02/14/2014 11:44:58 AM PST by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: discostu

What did you use for the rim?


64 posted on 02/14/2014 11:45:36 AM PST by GreenAccord (Bacon Akbar)
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To: GreenAccord

My 2001 Chrysler 300 had a full size spare on an alloy wheel that matched the others.


65 posted on 02/14/2014 11:45:42 AM PST by cuban leaf
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To: EveningStar
Bumpers that could bump into things. Now if you hit at 1 mph you have a thousand dollars of body damage.

Things you don't miss now that they are gone: the Landau roof

66 posted on 02/14/2014 11:45:53 AM PST by KarlInOhio (Recycled Olympic tagline Shut up, Bob Costas. Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!)
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To: EveningStar

Man, I’d completely forgotten about vent windows! I always thought those things were cool as a kid.

One not mentioned, but something that’s not all that common in these days of front-wheel drive cars: having to be the kid who got to sit on the “hump” in the middle of the back seat. That’s one thing I don’t miss!


67 posted on 02/14/2014 11:46:03 AM PST by DemforBush (A Repo Man is *always* intense.)
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To: EveningStar

Manual choke, but don’t forget the sucker in choke once it warms up, burns a little more gas :)


68 posted on 02/14/2014 11:46:15 AM PST by The Cajun (Sarah Palin, Mark Levin, Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, Louie Gohmert......Nuff said.)
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To: EveningStar

I would like ROOM for a full size spare - I’ll buy one myself if they don’t provide it as an option.


69 posted on 02/14/2014 11:46:42 AM PST by Little Ray (How did I end up in this hand-basket, and why is it getting so hot?)
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To: Mastador1

Growing up, my parent had a Ford Country Squire with that. I loved it. Trying to get one.


70 posted on 02/14/2014 11:48:26 AM PST by ExCTCitizen (2014: The Year of DEAD RINOS)
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To: EveningStar

The trunk of my brother’s ‘73 Ford Galaxy could contain two steel garbage cans, full of ice standing upright, when preparing for a college party.


71 posted on 02/14/2014 11:48:31 AM PST by Last Dakotan
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To: EveningStar
Either return the dimmer to the floor, or at least standardize the operation of the new ones. on the wife's car you push for one and pull for the other (I can't remember which). On my car, you pull for either, it obviously uses some kind of ratchet system.

When driving her car, I often blind oncoming drivers while trying to dim the headlights.

72 posted on 02/14/2014 11:49:44 AM PST by snowtigger
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To: forgotten man
Are cars still equipped with turn signals? I think I have the only car in my city with functioning turn signals.

Oh they still have them, but when I use mine it seems to only signal other drivers to speed up and block me.

73 posted on 02/14/2014 11:49:49 AM PST by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: EveningStar

My 2013 Kia has audible turn signals. Not sure what that item is about.


74 posted on 02/14/2014 11:50:02 AM PST by SoothingDave
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To: Responsibility2nd

At new car auto shows, I’ve tried sitting in the back seat of some of those cars, my head touches the rear window. Can’t be safe for riding, let alone getting in an accident.


75 posted on 02/14/2014 11:51:27 AM PST by a fool in paradise ("Health care is too important to be left to the government.")
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To: PowderMonkey
Manual shift transmission. It used to be “standard” equipment. Now it’s presented as optional, and will soon completely disappear.

Not as long as there are sports cars and econoboxes.

76 posted on 02/14/2014 11:52:10 AM PST by SoothingDave
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To: EveningStar

I only like bench seats and do not have them now.It wasn’t until after I bought my present car that I realized how much I missed them.

No bench seats,no new car.

.


77 posted on 02/14/2014 11:52:48 AM PST by Mears
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To: cuban leaf

Were your car’s headlight lenses fogged over on that one? It’s not unique to that model, but those 300’s (300M, right?) seem to have about 100% compliance with fogged over lenses.


78 posted on 02/14/2014 11:53:23 AM PST by GreenAccord (Bacon Akbar)
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To: ImJustAnotherOkie
Without the bench seats how are the gay guys going to get 8 in the front seat?

I don't know nuthin' about no gay guys, but I have fond memories of my 1966 Rambler Classic station wagon with front bench seat that folded all the way back to meet the rear bench seat. ;)

79 posted on 02/14/2014 11:53:33 AM PST by Mastador1 (I'll take a bad dog over a good politician any day!)
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To: EveningStar

1: Cigarette lighter.
2: Radio antenna.


80 posted on 02/14/2014 11:54:12 AM PST by McGruff (Every night has it's dawn.)
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