[Charles Martel]

Which old car had the buttons on the dash? That was odd. My aunt had one when I was a youngster.

Some Chryslers had that setup. Ramblers, too - IIRC.

We're trending back towards that design, now that most automatic transmission shifters are fully electronic.

[jjotto]

Just drove a BMW with that annoying, mickey mouse electronic shifter. It’s just an electric switch and would be far better as push buttons.