[DesertRhino]

“But don’t expect dashboards full of knobs and switches to suddenly reappear. Screens are cheaper.”

Bullcrap. I doubt this is true. And how much cheaper? The explosion in the price of cars was because of the air conditioner button and a normal radio? Ok, sure.... whatever.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

My Ultimate Bonneville '66 dashboard. My muscle memory knew exactly where every control was and I could find and operate them with precision in complete darkness.

[whitney69]

“The explosion in the price of cars was because of the air conditioner button and a normal radio?”

Maybe not. Power windows, door locks, power seats, you know, creature comforts, dominated the change. There were a number of little ego trippings that were placed into cars. I think the first one for aesthetic value was white sidewalls. They were a factory option for ford in 1934. And even before that electric car starters were introduced in 1911 and first appeared on production cars in 1912 so the people didn’t have to go out and crank the engine. But all of it was selling the beasts for convenience and the ego of showing it off by the buyer.

wy69

[GingisK]

A lot cheaper. Far fewer wires, and easy installation.

[anton]

What is cheaper is model changes.