I miss vent windows and sun visors. One gave air movement without buffeting and the other cancelled the need for sun shades except at dawn or sunset. I guess one was sacrificed for interior noise and the other for aerodynamics to squeeze out a fraction more mpg's. How about Tucker's center light that turned with the steering wheel so you didn't turn into the dark on a corner. One of the neatest recent gizmos was at the Iowa State Fair a couple years ago. A Ford had no starter at all, you turned the key and the engine was instantly running. We about wore that sucker out. One cylinder is up on compression so the computer gave it a squirt from that injector and a spark from that plug and, bingo, engine running. I can see where a leaky valve or rings could do that idea in but it sure was neat. Also nice wide BENCH seats, hood ornaments (not Packards naked lady of course).....feel free to add to the list.
Agree with all. How about moving the headlight dimmer switch back to the floorboard where it should be ? I had a 24 Model T Roadster that would start like that until you got tired of doing it. It would start like that for a couple of days but would lose compression after that.
I miss crank-out windshields. They were so cool, in more ways than one. And what ever happened to styling changes each year from sheet metal, to grilles, to hubcaps, to taillights. Back in the day, all you had to do was look at any of those and you could tell what year it was. But most of all, I miss big ass honkin' chrome bumpers!! Painted plastic on both ends of vehicle JUST AIN'T RIGHT!
Good Stuff I'd think Vent Wings (properly called " No Drafts " BTW) are the singlemost important thing we've lost as they provided good ventilation in summer and near *perfect* defrosting in the winter.... Rolls Royce had no starters in the early days , I know how a 'T' Model F*!d starts this way as the spark is created by buzz boxes but........ Freewheeling , I miss that , we have Over Drive once again but I miss the clutchless upshifts afforded by freewheeling . I also miss the prisims on the dashboard to help see the dangling traffic lights when you had a nice big Fulton Sun Shade,,, I sure as heck don't miss " Push & Pray " mechanical brakes ! Some European cars used cables and they'd freeze in the winter as you were on a long highspeed run in subzero weather, not much fun when the toll booth finally hove into view and you were roaring along @ 65 MPH
Good Ideas I miss the floor vents like I have on the '58. Those were great - negating the need for air conditioning on most days. As for freeewheeling - that is NOT a good idea here in Colorado. I talked to my dad about that and he just laughed. His brother ran off a bridge using freewheeling. He was not hurt except his pride.
Chrome! I do miss all the chrome! Being rather tall, I miss all the leg room. I miss the kind of trunks that allowed you to sneak 4 of your buddies into a drive-in movie theater. I miss popping the hood and seeing.... JUST THE ENGINE!!! I remember climbing into the engine bay to clean some hard to reach places on my brother's 1960. (Of course I was a skinny kid then, but still~) Finally, I miss the fact you could do most of the work yourself with just a few basic tools.
Free wheeling is like what happens on a bicycle. While you are applying power (pedaling) your feet are moving. While your not applying power your feet don't move. Old time overdrive units had a "dog clutch" that effectively disconnected input (the engine) from the output (tranny output shaft) when the output shaft was turning faster than the engine wanted to turn (like when you took your foot off of the gas pedal). Most famous example was the three cylinder 2 cycle engined SAAB cars of the early 60's.
Freewheeling Also fitted to the cute little Citroen 2CV's (and derivatives , AMI, Bijou , Mehari etc.) that had boxer two cylinder engines and a centrifugal clutch ... The main problem with Freewheeling is : you crest a rise in the road and before you remember to lock it out , the venhicle is picking up speed coasting downhill and you have NO engine braking , only the brakes that are usually out of adjustment & soon overheat & fail Many people died because of this (and inattention when driving) so it was dropped . I forget the year Chevrolet dropped it ('36 ?) but they had a lever to lock it out . Manual Overdrive trannies tend to have it . Curb whiskers ! . The illuminated hood ornament of Chief Pontiac on my old '54 Super Chief Pontiac Coupe , I miss that greatly . Interior fans that twirled gaily and didn't really do squat , they've fun to look at ata least , is why I bought one for my pickup . 45 RPM record players mounted to the underside of the dashboard , those were neat . HUGE ' Sombrero ' typ hub caps that completely covered the wheel so all you saw was a BIG wide white wall tire and a shiny disc... no painted rim you could see . " Starterators " (HINT : Buicks) " Hill Holders " (HINT : Studebaker) Geeze , I thought sure this thread would be 200 pages long by now .
Vacuum assisted gear shifting was pretty neat. Properly set up with no tears in the boot and you could shift from 1st to 2nd using your pinky finger. My '48 coupe had it and man was it cool.
Stainless Steel I miss the Stainless Steel bumpers and trim. In MS you now have to have a medical reason to have a spinner knob. Remember the barely clad ladies in the spinner knob. It was a thrill back in 50s.
