the list from the video:
Last car with carburetor: 1994 Isuzu Pickup
Last car with front bench seats: 2013 Chevy Impala
Last car with hand crank starter: 1998 Lata Niva
Last car with a cassette player: 2010 Lexus SC 430
Last car with pop up headlights: 2004 Chevy Corvette & 2004 Lotus Espirit
Last car with vinyl roof: 1996 Cadillac Fleetwood
Last car with vent windows: 1996 Ford F150 & 1996 Ford Bronco
Last car with drum brakes up front: 1995 Jeep DJ-5M
Last car to feature fender skirts: 2006 Honda Insight
Last car with chrome bumpers: 1991 Ford Crown Vic
I was thinking the last hand crank would be British, the MG-A and TR3 had them, last made in '62. And the TR4 had the opening for a crank, last made in '65.
When I was stationed in Italy, 1978-1981, I had 1974 Renault 12 TL, it was a European model, and I knew it did not meet US Specs for an import. The Scissor Jack handle was shaped like a “Speed Wrench” and the tip had a pin going straight through the tip. The Front bumper, just above the front license plate, had an opening for this tip, inserting the jack handle allowed the tip to engage the ratchet lugs on the Harmonic Balancer. When I picked up new personnel at the airport, I often would make sure they knew they “were not in Kansas anymore…” and when we got to my Renault, I would start it up with the crank… just for laughs…
I think it was a good idea to eliminate the carburetor, front bench seats, cassette player, pop up headlights, vinyl roof, drum brakes up front, & fender skirts … but I’m still fond of chrome bumpers & a hand crank starter option.
The 1991 Chrysler New Yorker, Fifth Avenue and Imperial also had chrome bumpers. That was probably the last year steel bumpers were allowed on passenger cars as pedestrian protection measures were required later.
When I bought my '71 Charger, the first thing that I did as soon as I got home from the dealership was to unplug the motor that powered the headlight “doors” (I did it while the lights were turned on). Rather than having to repair that mechanism somewhere down the road, I opted to have my headlights exposed all the time. Before I sold it, I re-connected the motor because–inexplicably–most people seemed to like that silly feature.
That car also had the so-called “hidden windshield wipers”, which supposedly made them less-prone to freezing-up in the winter. (It didn’t, and it was actually difficult to free-up the wipers when it snowed overnight) Thankfully, after a few years, the US car companies forgot about this feature which never had any valid reason for existing… other than that it made the car look a bit sleeker.
I had an SE model, in that exact color, with the “canopy” vinyl roof. At the time, I thought that it was a very nice-looking car, but I just didn’t like the hidden headlight concept. So, even if keeping the headlight doors open made it look like the cheaper base model, I preferred not using that silly hidden headlight feature.
The electric starter was developed because the president of Cadillac’s friend died from an injury trying to start a Cadillac. Henry Leland, that president, did not think anyone should risk their life to hand crank a car to start it.
A long-ago neighbor had a Porsche 924 with pop up headlights. A ways away, I doubt I’d had ever met him except for all the times he needed me to figure out why his headlights didn’t work . I was happy to help, but the problem is once he discovered I could (at least temporarily) fix the headlights it was “Katy, bar the door”! Next he had me up on his roof figuring out why his tv antenna wasn’t picking up the stations he wanted … lol …
There’s definitely some danger involved, but for a smaller engines like for a Corolla/Civic, I’d like to have that as a backup in the event the starter motor fails and strands me. Being stranded is also somewhat dangerous.
No need to worry about this being reintroduced, it would be difficult to find anyone else who’d want that option.
