Things I miss:
Big block V8 engines
Conventional automatic transmissions ( torque converter backed by 3 or 4 speed planetary gearbox)
Accessory belt driven fan, also driving the water pump
Key operated engine starting with the ignition switch on the dashboard
Column mounted transmission range selector
126" wheelbases for passenger cars.
The Chrysler reduction gear starter and its sound
Oldsmobile
4 door hardtops
Opera lamps
Velour upholstery
Transmission dipsticks
Mechanical fuel pumps mounted on the engine block.
Sealed beam headlamps
Things I don’t miss:
Carburetors
Drum brakes
Points and condenser ignition
Leaded gas
Heat riser valves
Road draft tubes
Agree? Disagree? What did I miss?
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Well, mechanical fuel pumps are making a comeback anyway.
I miss Oldsmobiles too. My first car was a 77 Cutlass and I have owned several from the 60’s. I think my 64 was the best looking.
Studebaker coupes 1953-1961, I included the Hawks, all essentially the same car.
I do like 4 door hard tops, my dad always like 6 cylinder 4 door sedans, but I finally got him into a 66 Catalina hardtop, I loved that car. I only had one 4 door in my life and that was a 72 Electra 225 hardtop.
Studebakers, Hudsons, Nashes, Desotos and Plymouths, 6 passenger sedans and 9 passanger wagons, Chrysler minivans with chair hight seats for all the seating positions. The fold into the floor seats are handy for hauling things but are very uncomfortable for adults. Every thing I like, they quit making,Just a sign of old age I guess. I have never understood why they make front drive cars without flat floors and bench seats available. Does anyone need bucket seats and console shifters to drive on public highways? Why does a center console and shifter have to take up a seating position or stop a pretty girl from sitting next to you?
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Reason - 3 point seat belts and air bags are not practical . for the front seat third passenger .
Bench front seat , no way I would ever want one.
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Plus it’s easier to achieve those side impact safety ratings with a well-bolstered bucket than it is with a no-bolstered bench.
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As long as someone is wearing a lap & shoulder belt, wouldn’t that do even better than a well bolstered bucket?
Vent window’s single switch’s for light’s wiper’s dimmer switch instead of all being on the same multifunctional switch manual transmission and rear wheel drive. That is why I will keep my two older truck’s as long as I can.
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Having had a straight inline 6 cylinder in my Izuzu Ascender I wish more makers would use those again . Rumor has it that FCA is working on a turbo straight 6 .
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I thought about rear drive, but then I remembered the times I got stuck in snow. That doesn’t happen much with fwd.
Plus most of the thing’s old_mopar_guy has on his list’
I agree, car interiors were plusher, fabrics were much better quality, seats were way more comfortable back in the 1980s (and maybe before, never rode in anything older than 1981 model year). Column-mounted shifters and front bench seats are great, but I don’t recall anything offering this configuration after the mid-1990s. I remember the Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim offered this configuration, together with all the other great features I like. I should have bought one when I had the chance; now they’re super-rare.
I have driven very few car’s with front wheel drive and do not care for them plus I have very little snow to deal with. I actually got stuck in the mud with a front wheel drive one of the first time’s I drove one trying to do a turn around on a dirt road by thinking backward’s and keeping the rear wheel’s on the hard surface.
One other thing I would miss from what I see on most car’s nowaday’s is not having to stand on your head to wash the inside of the windshield.
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Good point. Some time ago, @marnet started a great thread about that.
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They make 9 passenger VW buses in Europe with three point seat belts and 3 air bags in the front seat.
I only miss vent windows and straight 6 engines. Straight 6s are making a bit of a comeback and that is a good thing.
Not unless it’s a 5 point racing harness.
The shoulder belt is really only good for holding your upper body against the seat in a front-end collision. It doesn’t do much for you in a side-impact - that’s where the seat bolsters come in. They help support your upper body and keep it from flailing.
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When Chrysler first introduced that starter, they referred to it as the “silent starter”.
While it sounded different from all of the other car companies’ starters, it was anything BUT silent.
I miss six passenger convertibles.
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