Features You Won't Find in Cars Anymore

Let’s be honest. We always want the best of everything. And when we have it, we never appreciate it. For instance; have you ever taken a moment from your ultra busy lives and reminisced about your first car? Probably not. Believe it or not, the automobile industry is constantly evolving. What was trending 40 years ago might not turn heads today. But don’t you feel nostalgic when you think about the car your father or grandfather drove?

Yeah, right? Old cars bring back flood of memories ranging from first car ride to first accident. Sweet or bad, owning a car gives you so much more than you ever imagine. But today, when you drive in your BMWs or Mini Coopers, you think you have the best car. You have done well for yourself, no doubt, but take a stroll down the memory lane and recollect those features or gadgets that you don’t find in new cars anymore. I promise you it will be fun!

Tailfins: Brainchild of Harley Earl, the design chief of General Motors, tailfins marked their debuted in a 1948 Cadillac. This addition was heavily inspired by the WWII Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane. Towards the late 1950s, most people wanted to leave the memories of the war behind and look forward to something more space-inspired. Quite interestingly, tailfins gave the cars a more futuristic appeal by growing in size.

Huge spare tires: The tires fit in today’s vehicles are designed in such a way that they can be driven on for a limited distance under a restricted speed limited. Fortunately, this was not the case with full-size spare tires which didn’t need to be repaired immediately, if punctured. You could simply replace it, put it in the trunk and just forget about it!

Bench seats: Chevy Impala will become the last model to be manufactured in the States to feature a bench seat in the front from this year. Bench seats take us to a time when three passengers could sit very comfortably in the front. During this era, wearing seat belts was not mandatory! Taking advantage of the seat design, many flirtatious male drivers would easily slide their right arm around their lady passenger’s shoulder. This was a very common sight in black and white American movies.

Spacious trunks: These trunks were so spacious that one could easily store a week’s grocery shopping, the spare tire and even an old TV set you wanted to get repaired. However, the cars being rolled out on the roads today hardly have any trunk space which is sad, especially for families. Today, you will be lucky to get at least 20 cubic feet of space if you plan to buy a minivan. According to an issue of a cars magazine, Popular Mechanics, the 1961 models of the Buick Special (25.5 cubic feet), DeSoto (32.8 cubic feet), Chrysler Newport (33 cubic feet), and Ford Galaxie (30.5 cubic feet) had huge trunks. Wow!

Ashtrays: There used to be a fixed areas for ashtrays. The dashboard, back of the front seat and armrests on the opposite sides at the rear seats made perfect places for smokers. Even if you weren’t a fan of smoking, the designated ashtrays would come handy in keeping coins. The ashtrays at the back seats were perfect for dumping toffee wrappers and chewing gums.

Horn rings: Believe it or not, horn rings were actually considered a safety feature in the car. Before it was introduced as a convenience feature, the driver had to completely remove his one hand from the steering wheel to press the button located at the centre to honk. The horn ring enabled the driver to keep his or her hands on the wheel with just using a thumb or finger to stretch and beep the horn. After airbags were introduced in the cars, the button was replaced nearing the spokes of the steering wheel.

Floor dimming switch: In the previous models, there used to be dimmer switch on the left-hand side of the brake pedal. However, these days, the switch for the high beams among all the levers and buttons is hard to find, especially among older drivers.

Control knobs: You could have also informally called them “safety” knobs. Can you imagine pushing, pulling, or swirling knobs to change the air conditioning temperature or crank up the radio’s volume? Sounds fun, right? Quite interestingly, they also served another purpose - the drivers didn’t have to look down, left or right of the car to play around with the knobs. They could keep their eyes on the road and evade accidents; something which is tricky thanks to touch screen and button system.

Wing windows: Also called the vent window, this feature was very popular during that time when air conditions were yet to make an entry in the automobile industry. These windows would allow air to circulate freely without any dirt or dust sticking at your face. It would serve its purpose of keeping you cool, not dirty. Once air conditioning got introduced in the cars, the amazing wing windows took a backseat, only to disappear from the automobile industry never to be seen again.

Suicide doors: As funny as they sound, the rear-hinged doors were extremely dangerous despite being extremely popular in the pre-seat belt period. If a door wasn’t shut properly, the wind would fling it open and throw the passenger out of the car if the car was moving. The only good thing about these “suicide” doors was that there was no pillar separating the back and rear seats. Even when the side doors were opened, there would lot of space to get inside the car.

Detectable turn signals: Hearable turn signals were introduced to stop the drivers from driving miles and miles with their turn signals flashing. Earlier, the noise made by the turn signals was more loud but towards the 1990s, the sound of a click was introduced for the just the driver and the passengers to know that they were taking a right turn!

If you enjoyed reading about these long-lost features, then you should probably pick one from the used cars section. It will be one hell of a ride!

Author Bio:

Daisy Knight is the Marketing Head for Magus Cars, and has a passion for cars and writing. Here, at this profile, she blends both of her interests. When she is not reading about cars or writing about them, she can be found clicking selfies or looking out for some spicy food. You can find her @Twitter

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