""I grew up in the 50s and 60s."
My ol' man could reach back over the seat of our '41 Plymouth and unerringly smack whichever one of us three boys was acting up without ever taking his eyes off the road. To this day I've never figured out how he did that. He's been dead for some 40 years, now. I hope one day to ask him.
I know exactly what you are saying. I could see my Dad's eyes in the rearview mirror. They never left you. That is all it took 99.8% of the time. That .2% of the time you wanted to see if you could get away with it left you at 100% next time. My Dad has been gone 31 years now. I miss him every stinking day.
Bet you respect him too ... .
He loved you then and still loves you now. Consider yourself lucky that you had him as your dad.
That made me laugh. My Dad would "thump" us with unerring accuracy while driving. It was kind of like a chameleon's tongue. His arm grew about 12-14 inches when he did it.