Remember these "features" on vehicles?

[ebinmaine 67,672]

I figured some o folks would find this interesting...

 

 

https://www.hotcars.com/10-most-ridiculous-classic-car-features-everyone-forgot-about/

[JCM 9,192]

Worked for a Plumber in the mid seventies that had a new 1975  Chevrolet Monte Carlo that had the front swivel bucket seats. Nice car and I love Chevrolet's, but those seats were useless.    

[rjg854 11,387]

I still kinda miss the wing window, for bringing air into a vehicle.

[SylvanLakeWH 25,604]

That mini bar would look way cool on one of my Black Hoods... 

 

 

HHHMMM....

Edited October 6, 2021 by SylvanLakeWH

[ebinmaine 67,672]

3 minutes ago, rjg854 said:

I still kinda miss the wing window, for bringing air into a vehicle.

The Freightliners I drive for work still have them. 

 

Unfortunately they're also VERY good at catching hornets.  

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

I've never seen any of those features, but there are plenty of features not in use anymore that I wish still were. Thats one of the reasons I like driving my old 74 GMC so well...hand crank windows, wing windows, floor mounted dimmer switch...the list could go on. One thing I think I miss more than anything is having the wiper switch on the dash, I despise those stupid multi function switches, the only thing that should be up on that side of the column is the turn signals. 

[squonk 41,162]

34 minutes ago, JCM said:

Worked for a Plumber in the mid seventies that had a new 1975  Chevrolet Monte Carlo that had the front swivel bucket seats. Nice car and I love Chevrolet's, but those seats were useless.    

That depends on how big you were (are) 

 

I miss the auto headlight dimmer ray guns on the dash and the vacuum wipers that quit when you mashed the gas pedal!

[ebinmaine 67,672]

21 minutes ago, ClassicTractorProfessor said:

I've never seen any of those features, but there are plenty of features not in use anymore that I wish still were. Thats one of the reasons I like driving my old 74 GMC so well...hand crank windows, wing windows, floor mounted dimmer switch...the list could go on. One thing I think I miss more than anything is having the wiper switch on the dash, I despise those stupid multi function switches, the only thing that should be up on that side of the column is the turn signals. 

 

All on my '86 F250 as well..

 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,326]

Okay I got one for you . My first car in 1964 (you guys were even a gleam in your daddy's eyes) was a 1953 Desoto . A very ugly pile of iron. It had a 3 on the tree. A clutch that was only needed for 1st and reverse. Put in 1st using the clutch and shift into 2nd and 3rd without using the clutch. We would quad date in that monster. $ people in the front and 4 in the rear seat . Every body had plenty of room.

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,326]

dang thing won't let me save my edit.

[adsm08 2,084]

43 minutes ago, ClassicTractorProfessor said:

I've never seen any of those features, but there are plenty of features not in use anymore that I wish still were. Thats one of the reasons I like driving my old 74 GMC so well...hand crank windows, wing windows, floor mounted dimmer switch

 

I put all that in my Ranger when I rebuilt it. Except the windows, I kept my power windows.

[squonk 41,162]

Power trunk release on my friend's father's Grand Marquis. Put 2 guys in the trunk and cruise to the rival town. Drive around and when ever we saw anyone I would hit that trunk button and the guys in the trunk would pop out and say something stupid! 

[8ntruck 7,021]

I still chuckle about my kids reaction to the dash mounted ignition switch in my '72 Chevy pickup the first time they rode in it.  They were about 12 and 14 at that time.  It was the first time they had seen a car with an ignition on the dash instead of in the steering column.  

 

Vinyl roofs are said to have come about to cover up some wrinkles in the roof panels of 2nd generation (1966? 1967?) GM A body 2 door hardtops.  These were the ones that had 'sail panels' that extended slightly past the rear window into each rear fender.  The wrinkles were a forming problem that had not been solved before production started.

 

The Hurst three stick lightening shifter was a styling gimmick inspired by the Lenco multi lever shifters drag cars used to make the Hurst Olds more 'racey'.

[Pullstart 62,917]

Ice makers!  Awesome!

[8ntruck 7,021]

19 minutes ago, pullstart said:

Ice makers!  Awesome!

What recent car had the cooled glove box?  Dogde Caliber? 

[roadapples 6,983]

I had swivel seats in a chevy van many moons ago. No ice maker but a small fridge, bed, mirrors on the ceiling 

[wh500special 2,188]

1 hour ago, 8ntruck said:

What recent car had the cooled glove box?  Dogde Caliber? 

A smattering of luxury cars have rear seat fridges.  
 

In the mainstream…

VW was into air conditioned glove boxes recently.  Several cars.  
My Honda van has a separate “cool box” compartment that uses the AC to get pretty cool, but probably not cool enough to be called a fridge. 
The Ford Flex offered a rear seat cold fridge using the AC.  

steve

[wh500special 2,188]

2 hours ago, ebinmaine said:

 

All on my '86 F250 as well..

 

 Check that f250 for tilt steering.   Push the turn signal lever forward toward the dash…if it has tilt wheel that’s the release. Ford didn’t bother to label this on so-equipped vehicles. 
 

kind of weird.  But not as weird as the turn signal stalk horn button.  Push the lever in to activate.  
 

steve

[Horse Newbie 7,075]

34 minutes ago, roadapples said:

mirrors on the ceiling 

[8ntruck 7,021]

How about GM's steering wheel rim horn button?  Squeeze the wheel to honk the horn.

[ClassicTractorProfessor 5,314]

3 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

I still chuckle about my kids reaction to the dash mounted ignition switch in my '72 Chevy pickup the first time they rode in it. 

Seeing the reactions from kids with some of the old stuff is always humorous to me. A few years ago I had a 66 F350 with the 352 and 4 speed that I used in my landscaping business for hauling brush off from large tree jobs. One day I was in town on a job when a good friend of mine called, he was supposed to pick up his 12 year old granddaughter from school that afternoon, but he had car trouble and wasn't going to make it in time, and wondered if I could swing by the school and pick her up. Sure, no problem, so on my way to the dump I picked her up. Of course the first thing she commented on was why there were no seatbelts in the truck, then as we took off down the road I noticed she was watching me very carefully, finally after a mile or two she spoke up and asked me what that long stick was coming out of the floor and why I kept messing with it and moving it all the time. Kind of caught me off guard, I know manual transmissions are not as common as they once were, but out here in farm country most kids have at least seen one. But this girl and her mother had just moved out here from a big city, and she honestly had no clue what it was, she had never seen one before.

[8ntruck 7,021]

I once saw a picture of a stick shift console with the caption "Millenial theft deterrent device".

[ri702bill 8,350]

Ah, yes a trip down Memory Lane..... I for one don't miss having to deal with manual non-self adjusting four wheel drum brakes. Always an adventure after going thru a good sized puddle and then trying to stop.

Part of the 5 thousand mile maintainance - regap the points, set the drag on the 4 brakes.

[squonk 41,162]

4 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

How about GM's steering wheel rim horn button?  Squeeze the wheel to honk the horn.

Yup. 68 Olds 98 my Father owned had that. Before that, it was the windows in the 66 Vista Cruiser roof.

[lynnmor 7,309]

About 15 years ago a Russian guy about 18 years old was brought directly from the airport to our campsite.  It was my privilege to drive him around Lancaster County so he could see his first glimpse of America.  He couldn't speak a word of English, but his aunt was along to interpret.  I noticed that he looked confused about how my new Tahoe operates, so he asked his aunt why I wasn't changing gears, he never saw an automatic transmission before.

 

He and I both learned a lot about different cultures that weekend, especially when he went to the pool with basically a sock for swimwear and the chubby girls were in awe.