Good friend has money, no kids. Always owned sedans. Wifey says he may get a suv. He is is bummed. She finally drove a few and is changing her mind. I have suv and and am looking for sedan. Gadgets? Options? Why not ask what type of car you would prefer?
I miss the old flathead engines and the simplicity of servicing them. There was no problem getting to the spark plugs.
Having the valves in the block is where the good lord intended them to be. Look at the human body. Your valves are in the torso-; your heart. Suppose our valves were in our heads. We would either have push rods going up our spines, or have timing belts to our heads. Image having to have surgery on a periodic basis to replace the timing belt or our valves would crash into our brains causing brain damage.
I think back to the Hudson Hornets of the early 1950s. These Hudsons won many stock.car races with their 308 cubic inch flathead 6 engines.
I liked working on the flathead 6 engines in my 1947 Pontiac and my 1948 Dodge. Even push lawnmowers now have overhead valves. I am hoping my 28 year old mower with its flathead engine makes it through another season.
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Regular auto transmissions I think are soon to be missed. Iāve spent a lot of time researching new cars. Itās getting more difficult to find vehicles with tried and true technology. Everything is changing for the sole purpose of fuel efficiency and EPA agendas. Dual clutch and CVTs are rampant and I donāt believe either is as durable or dependable as the good old automatic. I donāt have anything against turbo chargers, but Iām older and the less extra stuff to wear out the better. When I test drove various vehicles many or most of them had all them fancy features like self distancing cruise control, lane keep assist, auto braking, and a few other technical features. These things are awesome and really cool, but after driving them for even just a few minutes I knew most of them were not for me. I couldnāt tell whether my wheels were out of alignment or the car was assisting me. The only fancy gobbledygook I would want on my new vehicle would be seat memory and self distancing cruise control. Oh, I kinda like the rear camera gizmos too. I donāt like the start stop feature, but have fun trying to find something without it. I am finally settling on the Buick Envision Preferred. 2.5 non turbo 6 speed automatic. I looked at Hyundai Sante Fe, but wasnāt convinced the Theta ll problems are gone yet. The Rav 4 was impressive, but dual clutch tranny turned me off. It even acted up during the test drive. And all them features were driving me crazy. The GMC Terrain was tempting but the start stop feature couldnāt be disabled. The start stop feature did not perform well on the Sante Fe either. All this because Iām bored stuck at home, and in my opinion, I think after the next few years I believe thereās going to be a lot of things that we will miss.
I miss engine mounted mechanical fuel pumps as well as vent windows and transmission dip sticks. The so-called 6 passenger sedan was never made for 6 adults; the front center passenger was always a kid in our family.
The nicest car I ever had was a 1980 Oldsmobile Delta 88 with the Rocket 350 engine. Very smooth and quiet and a great car to drive across the country without feeling beat up at the end of the day.
Mine had the optional F41 handling package with stiffer springs and shock and āoversizeā tires and quicker steering ratioā¦This was similar to the Police Package but without the heavy duty cooling system and oversize alternator.
Years ago we went to a local auto show and my wife fell in love with a late 80ās Isuzu Trooper solely because it had vent windows. I also miss Oldsmobiles. And Pontiacs and Ramblers. I miss column mounted shifters and separate switches for turn signals, wipers, headlights, etc., and sealed beam headlights. And full size spare tires. I miss cars that had room under the hood like a big old Chevy with a straight six instead of having everything crammed together.
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This refers to a hard top that can be taken off so it is like a convertible?
No, what some used to call pillarless or post less sedans. Terms of yesteryear. 2&4 door hardtop No post, 2 door coupe had a post but from some manufacturers there was also a two door sedan that had longer wheelbase than the coups. To make it more confusing pre-war (WWII) coupes were short with a single bench seat.
So in my own examples the Catalina and the Electra four doors, both could be had as either as hardtop or sedans.
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No, itās a 4 door sedan without āBā pillars
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Exactly why does everybody miss sealed beams?
Modern lighting provides better illumination, in my opinion
Some of those sealed beams are tricky to replace, depending on the vehicle design
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Because of fogged lenses or reflectors on modern designs.
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Not to mention we have seen $200 cost for light replacement, Honda comes to mind.
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I remember my Dad converting the headlights on his 1939 Chevrolet to sealed beam headlights. Sealed beam headlights were adopted in 1940. He put in the dealer beam units just after WWII. On the 1939 Chevrolet, there were two bulbs behind each lensāone for headlights and one for parking lights. After Dad put in the sealed beam units, the car no longer had parking lights, but he didnāt think parking lights served a useful function anyway. There were separate parking lights available that could be installed. Kits were available to convert to sealed beam headlights from Sears, Montgomery Ward, Western Auto and other places into the 1950s. Heck, those kits might even be marketable today to convert modern cars to sealed beam units.
My 1947 Pontiac didnāt have factory installed turn signals. I bought a kit from Montgomery Ward to modernize my car.
Wonder how many people understand hand signals, probably thinking someone is just dropping a cigarette butt out the window. 
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I remember my Dad rolling down the window to give a hand signal. These were crank operated windows and it could be zero degrees outdoors.Turning signals were a great improvement for signaling turns. I think.they became mandatory in all vehicles built starting with the 1956 models
One other great accessory for those who wanted a toasty warm car was the Stewart Warner Southwind gasoline heater. The heater was an option in many cars into the mid 1950s. Many motorists chose to purchase an aftermarket heater and the Southwind heater was a popular choice.
I remember when hand signalās used to be part of the driver license test.
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When I took my road test, in 1963, they were āoptionalā, but the regulations werenāt clear to me.
So, I asked the DMV examiner if I should use hand signals. He said that I should use my own judgment.
I could use either hand signals, or rely on the directional signals on my fatherās Plymouth.
I decided to use a ābelt and suspendersā approach by using both hand signals and directional signals. The examiner ādingedā me for failing to use a hand signal for stopping. I saidā¦ āBut the car has functioning brake lightsā, and his answer wasā¦ āYes, but because you started to use hand signals, you have to use them consistently, even if you have directional signals and brake lightsā.
I thought that he was being an arbitrary ādickā, but because he didnāt ding me on anything else, I passed my road test.
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I miss the room we used to have under the hood to work on thingās one time I had a 66 dodge one ton truck with a blowed slant 6 engine two of us changed the engine out in abought 4 hourās and did not have to remove the hood as it stood straight up when open. Aslo as otherās have said sealed beam headlights that could be changed in less than five minuteās.
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I donāt remember what state but I was dinged for shifting gearās when making a turn. I also remember a blonde joke where the blonde stuck her left hand straight out for a left turn waved it up and down a couple of timeās the put it at a 45degree angle for a right turn a cop pulled her over and asked what she was doing her response was I was going to make a left turn but changed my mind and erased it to make a right turn.
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Remember on CDL test, dinged, tester said you did not move your head enough looking right and left looking for cross traffic at an intersection. Still passed.
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