After another posting, “Are there any safety features you like/dislike and would recommend keeping on/turning off?” got so many complaints about safety features, some of which were optional over the years, I’m surprised that no one mentioned some of the optional equipment that has long since become standard equipment, whether you want it or not…
Ah, for the old days when items such as a Radio, Air Conditioning, Power Steering, Power Brakes, Whitewalls, etc… were all optional.
My first car, a 1954 Dodge Meadowbrook came loaded and as I’ve mentioned previously, but I am still amazed that Directional were not considered standard (although, when I took my written test in 1966, we were expected to know the three “arm signals” for Left/Right Turn and Stop…). The exam did have one question on this for Right Turn…
I remember Ads even used to list heaters as features back then… My '54’s heater and the defroster were also optional. The heater core was separate from the defroster core and I guess you could have one without the other…
One final note, my friends were envious of the stock radio that came in my '54, it had 7-buttons for all your favorite AM Stations…