Bygone car features

[Bernard]

Interesting watch. Explains the reason behind several car features that have disappeared since the 'old days'. I always wondered about some of these and why we don't see them any more.

Link to video

[CHAS]

The first vehicle I drove was an old farm truck.
There was a fan on the dash. It was pointed at the driver or maybe his date in the summer, the windshield in the winter.

[Daniel]

My '64 Bettle had a Baklite knob on the floor between the seats. You turned it to open for warm air from the engine compartment to heat the car in winter.

A feature gone but not forgotten.

Speaking of cars, I hope the illuminated hood ornament is optional. It's a bit much...

Link to video

[Daniel]

@CHAS said in Bygone car features:

The first vehicle I drove was an old farm truck.
There was a fan on the dash. It was pointed at the driver or maybe his date in the summer, the windshield in the winter.

@chas Reminds me. I had an early '70's Toyota Corolla for a few months before it was mercifully stolen from a mall parking lot.

It didn't have air conditioning. I didn't care back then. Youth. Anyway, it didn't have vent windows, either! What a stupid car.

[Daniel]

While I'm at it, I can't get excited about Mercedes because they don't design or build them like back in the day...

Link to video

[Daniel]

Link to video

If only. Look at the color of the leather.

[Qaanaaq-Qaalaaq]

I think concealed headlamps were dropped by auto makers because of car-pedestrian accidents. If the headlamps are in the raised position and if the front of the car should hit someone, more severe injuries would result than fixed position headlamps that don’t project above the car’s sheet metal surface.

My car has hidden headlamps and I rather like having them. By retracting the headlamps when not being used, the headlamps stay cleaner and that means better illumination at night.

I think the small triangular driver and passenger side vent windows were dropped by auto makers to lower costs. The vent windows were small and could swivel to allow you to direct an air stream at yourself and not have to use the car’s HVAC to do it. The triangular vent windows helped on hot days when the car’s been sitting in the heat and before the AC has the chance to cool off the car’s interior.

[Daniel]

Porsche 928, FTW. Did you know they came this close to replacing the 911 with the 928? Keeping the 911 was one of the best decisions in automotive history.

I remember some Hondas and the Mazda RX-7 had retracting headlights, and some Toyotas too.

I never thought about it much. I never owned a car with them.

I've had a few cars with vent windows and no AC. They worked fine for me. I had one car with no vent windows and no AC. That was a '72 Corrola. What were they thinking?

[Qaanaaq-Qaalaaq]

No, I didn’t know that Porsche came close to replacing the 911 with the 928. Both cars are awesome.

Lots of cars had concealed headlamps but not anymore. You can get a list of them by googling “cars that have hidden headlamps”.

Porsche wants to immortalize the 911. Future generations of it will probably have the same overall classic shape that it does now. The 928, no longer in production, was a different car altogether. The 928 had a conventional front engine rear drive drivetrain whereas the 911 has a rear engine rear drive drivetrain. The 928’s round headlamps are different from other cars hideaway headlamps. They don’t retract and hide. Instead, they tilt back onto the hood when not in use and point straight up. When the headlamps are turned on, a small electric motor pushes the headlamps so that they face the front of the car.