[Freedom4US]

Well they didn’t, at least not without regular maintenance. Everyone in winter cold weather always carried jumper cables. Getting cars and trucks with generator charging systems, points ignition, and carburetors was decidedly a dicey affair on subzero mornings unless the engine was kept in a high state of tune. Better heeled motorists usually got a Tune-Up twice a year. Everyone else messed around, “golden screwdrivers”, and often made them run worse. Whenever I worked on vintage iron much of what I did was simply repairing stuff or adjusting back to factory specs, that people’&$@cked up.

Modern cars often have no soul, but they have become very reliable and rarely need any attention. (God help you if they do, however)

[Clay Moore]

Agreed! I had a few 6 volt vehicles and getting them to start in relatively mild temperatures was a bit nerve racking. I can’t imagine trying to keep one going up north in the winter.

[Pollard]

I grew up in New England and always made it to work unless snow was so bad that no one went to work, blizzard etc. Biggest thing was having a good battery because they're weak when it's cold. I do prefer fuel injection now of course and engines so tight that they last for 2-300,000 miles. Overdrive transmissions with torque converter lockup gives great improvement on fuel mileage and helps make the engine last longer by keeping the rpm down at high speeds.

Still;

The buzz about AvtoVAZ's Lada Granta Classic -- priced to sell at 678,300 rubles ($12,500) -- is about what it doesn't have: No airbags. No antilock brakes. No electronic stability system. No pretensioners to make the seat belts work properly. No GPS. An engine that complies with emissions standards from 26 years ago.

We sure could use a $12,500 new car here in the US. Maybe make it an even $15k and improve a few things like the seat belts.

Decent looking little cars. At 36mpg, I wouldn't mind having one about now.

[steve86]

And, in the summer, every decent hill had two or three overheated cars on it. And when it was REALLY hot, even on a flat road.