Posted on 04/30/2023 2:15:43 PM PDT by DUMBGRUNT
You don’t see a lot of good news about road safety in the United States. Unlike in most peer countries, American roadway deaths surged during the pandemic and have barely receded since. Pedestrian and cyclist fatalities recently hit their highest levels in 40 years, but U.S. transportation officials continue to ignore key contributing factors. In a February interview with Fast Company, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said that “further research” is needed before addressing the obvious risks that oversized SUVs and trucks pose to those not inside of them.
Happily, there is one area where we are making at least marginal progress: A growing number of automakers are backpedaling away from the huge, complex touch screens that have infested dashboard design over the past 15 years. Buttons and knobs are coming back.
... Tesla, which has for years positioned its vehicles as “tablets on wheels.” As a result, touch screens were seen as representing tech-infused modernity. But cost has been a factor, too. “These screens are presented as this avant garde, minimalist design,”
(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...
Model A with a crate V8 engine.
You know what I miss on car controls?
The button near the left foot for toggling between high/low headlight beams.
I have often thought about pursuing some aftermarket solution.
When I bought my Chrysler Pacifica van, I searched out and purchased a full-sized OEM rim and a tire the same size as installed on the vehicle at the factory. I am enough 20th Century to want to cling to this vestige of the past, as it much simplifies the reliability of the spare tire once mounted and in fact does not take up all that much room. With the seats folded down (they stow in the floor), there is a enormous amount of space to simply lay the spare, plus a scissors jack I purchased separately, and tire wrench all at hand for Plan B. Plan A is to call AAA.
When all the seats are up, there is room for the spare and tools in the rear-seat stowage space within the rear hatch. I did consider an exterior mount for the spare, but that would take considerable modification, like a swing-out mount on the frame of the rear hatch. Just inconvenient even if it could be done, always in the way of opening and closing the rear hatch.
Argh. You beat me with the headlight dimmers. Dammit!
The men in my family were/are gearheads.
I’ve seen/driven/ridden in an amazing number of really fine automobiles over the years.
But none of the ones I really liked were made after 1980.
And my absolute favorite was a ‘36 Model A.
Probably just as well we don’t have a garage to put anything in.
Not sure Jake would be able to find any contemporary car he’d be happy with: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yil9wlfa0yo
Speaking of Humble....You ‘old timers’ remember Humble gasoline?
Which became Enco and Esso, and then Exxon-then Exxon-Mobile, etc.
I learned to drive on a 1931 4 door Model A. 200 cubic inch 4 cylinder engine. Low compression ratio so it would run on the crappiest gasoline. To cool off on the summer the windshield tilted out from the bottom. Cool car.
stick shift
The manual transmission. One of the best defenses for carjacking. The younger people have no idea how to operate it. My old VW bug is safe from being stolen.
I once rode in a car powered by a Wankel engine.
One serious disadvantage of a stick shift, and its greatest weakness - the clutch, which is subject to an uncommon amount of wear and tear. Dodge almost had this solved back in the 1940’s, with the Fluid Drive in addition to the foot clutch.
Then everybody went all automatic.
I have a Mustang with 175K miles on the original clutch.
Yep, my favorite car controls were our ‘66 Bonneville. Pull the mechanical light switch out to turn on headlights. Turn the switch to turn on the overhead light. Tap the floor switch for brights. Five punch keys on the radio. A radio volume and tuning knob. A slider for air temperature. Another slider for air on the face or floor. A knob for fan speed. That was it. That was the entirety of controls on a luxe car.
Oh, there were two pull knobs by your knees to open huge air doors by your feet to blown in enormous amounts of air on the freeway.
Simple, hardly any memorization required, and could be operated by feel in dead of night.
I’ve been driving my wife’s GLK Mercedes SUV for nine years and still cannot remember where everything is or what it does. Changing the fan speed is almost impossible - the buttons are the size of pinheads, located very low where you cannot see them, it’s nearly impossible to put your finger on them while driving, and they printed faint, tiny icons on black buttons set way down in the darkest part of the dashboard.
Today’s controls designers are absolutely idiots. There was a huge push for “human factors” to be implemented in nuclear power plants after Three Mile Island because the controls were confusing. The auto makers need to hire a lot of “human factors” people to really understand how people react to all the BS larded onto today’s cars.
Friend bought a Mercedes 350 SUV with a glass dash. In three years I doubt she’s driven 5000 miles. It needs a masters in computer science just to turn the wipers on, so she continues to drive her 23 year old Ford Explorer.
Manual transmission.
I would love turn signals put back in cars. It seems about half of the cars on the road don’t have them.
“ Bring back vent windows and foot actuated headlight dimmers. Buick nailheads.”
*************
Hah a 1965 Electra with a 425 nailhead. Bought it from my neighbor for $500. This was about 1980 or thereabouts. It was the best road trip car I’ve ever owned. Wife and I lived in Midland, Tx at the time. We were always taking weekend trips to the border for shopping, clubbing and such. Anyway, I would set that ole road hog on 80 and let it eat the miles. Btw, had cruise control which was set kinda like setting an alarm clock. Good times 😊….
So ... no hope for the humble rumble seat?
Front bench seats! I am SO glad I drove a ‘66 Dodge Dart when I was courting my future wife. Much friendlier.
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