Last cars with certain features- updated to add text

[VDCdriver]

@George_San_Jose1

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

That’s good… in theory… but let’s not forget that many/most crank-start engines in The Good Old Days had a compression ratio of 4.5/1, or thereabouts. Even an older Corolla like yours probably has a compression ratio of at least 10/1, thus making hand-cranking not very easy.

[George_San_Jose1]

@VDCdriver

Corolla like yours probably has a compression ratio of at least 10/1

That’s correct. I wonder how difficult it would be to hand crank? I’m able to turn the crankshaft with a 12 inch ratchet on the pulley bolt without great difficulty.

[LoudThunder]

@Mustangman

The electric starter was developed because the president of Cadillac’s friend died from an injury trying to start a Cadillac.

Who remembers that starters were first installed on the Cadillac Model Thirty in 1912 and that they also worked as generators once the engine was running. In case you missed the “Modern” side of this, that concept is now being revived in hybrid vehicles. If I remember right, the original starter/generator was connected to the engine by gears, not belts…

The disadvantage of that design was that it was a dual-purpose device and a compromise had to be made for it to operate both as a motor and as a generator. To work both ways, it was not that powerful a motor to start the larger engines and the demands on the electrical system increased (can anyone say “Headlights…”).

And “speaking” of starters, not all of the early starters were electric in nature… In the early, early years there were “Air Starters” I think on some British cars, and there were even a short period of “Clock-Works” Starters, also a British idea, that worked by the operator “winding” the starter motor like a “Wind-Up Toy” and then the spring motor turned the engine over… If the engine did not start, you had to wind up the starter again…

I’m glad they never came up the early concept of a gun powder charge to start car engines like they did for some early Aircraft engines… Remember the Movie, “the Flight of the Phoenix…”

Jimmy Stewart starts the Phoenix

[RandomTroll]

Start with a rope.

[LoudThunder]

@RandomTroll

Start with a rope.

I had a '63 VW and I did start my bug with a rope wrapped around the generator pulley, but it was never designed to that, just a happy coincidence. There may be other vehicles that can also be started with a rope, but again, I do not believe any were designed with this in mind like the old small single/two cylinder engines for outboard motors, lawn mowers, etc…

[RandomTroll]

Jack up the rear, wrap the rope around a wheel.

[LoudThunder]

@RandomTroll

Jack up the rear, wrap the rope around a wheel.

Ok, using your extreme example of using a rope to start a car, and that is assuming that the transmission (a manual…) enabled the turning wheels motion to be transmitted to the engine… Yeah, I know some old Automatic Transmissions, if the car got moving fast enough, could crank the engine over…But again, back to your extreme example, jacking the car up, and cranking the free wheel over using a rope to start the engine and hope the car did not start and take off by itself…

I would suggest wouldn’t it be easier to walk down to the local store and pick up a case of (insert choice of beverage here…) and then invite your neighbors for a cool one and then have them push start you…

Saving that, take the rope, tie it to your front bumper and get one of your friends to pull start you with their car…

Of course, your friend will then ask you why you just did not have him jump start you with his jumper cables… L L . . .

[Mustangman]

@LoudThunder

To work both ways, it was not that powerful a motor to start the larger engines

As a starter motor, the output to the engine was through a gear reduction to allow the small motor to spin large engines. This included an overrunning clutch to allow the engine, once running, to drive the motor 1 to 1 to act as a generator. This was but one piece of genius.

As a starter motor, it was supplied with more current than the windings could accept for long periods. This over-current was only for a short time to allow the engine to be started. This was the same principle Kettering used for a motorized cash register patented by National Cash Register.

[George_San_Jose1]

@LoudThunder

“Clock-Works” Starters, also a British idea, that worked by the operator “winding” the starter motor like a “Wind-Up Toy” and then the spring motor turned the engine over… If the engine die not start, you had to wind up the starter again…

Folks here have mentioned this same principle was used for dashboard clocks in early years. I guess some early-era dashboard clocks were mechanical wind-up designs using a main spring, and some even had a small electric motor that would automatically wind them up when the main spring unwound.

[RandomTroll]

The clocks and watches I had were wind-up for years.

[TheWonderful90s]

@Nevada_545

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.

I wasn’t aware of these requirements in the US, although I know they exist in Europe. Do you happen to have a source?

[Hugemoth_144444]

Was my 1957 Karman Ghia the last car to have a petcock rather than a fuel gauge?

[wolyrobb]

Not sure on the Ghia but from my understanding the VW Beetle switched to a fuel gauge for 1962. Dad bought his Beetle used in 1968 but the year it was made has been lost to the ages.