Features on cars that you no longer see but you miss

[Nik da Greek]

[Vaud]

AH33 said:

Part of their efforts to "de-normalise" smoking, no doubt.

More about fleet companies not wanting them and poor resale value on smokers cars, at a guess. Plus it knocks a few £ off the default build cost = profit!

[AH33]

GroundEffect said:

And for good reason.

Oh and you can buy them on almost all cars - 'smokers pack'.

Turns out you can. http://www.vauxhall-accessories.com/vauxhall-smoke...

No equivalent for the DS3 though. Might be better to set it on fire and light your fags from that.

[Puddenchucker]

A spare wheel.

[anonymous-user]

Nik da Greek said:

Not really a regular feature across the motor industry though...

[E65Ross]

olliete said:

hand wind windows! If they're good enough for an F40...

Are you for real?

[EnglishTony]

Indicators in the headlights. How are you supposed to be able to see those?

Badges that are a reasonable size. Are you paying me to advertise your product? Thought not. Yes you can debadge the car but it still leaves the brand nailed on the thing.

Plus another for skinny A pillars.

[Vaud]

EnglishTony said:

Badges that are a reasonable size. Are you paying me to advertise your product? Thought not. Yes you can debadge the car but it still leaves the brand nailed on the thing.

In some cases they become functional parts - e.g. VW boot release.

[Nik da Greek]

GravelMachineGun said:

Not really a regular feature across the motor industry though...

No. That's what made it so special

It would have been if GM hadn't bottled their rotary Corvette during the fuel crisis. And AMC had made the Pacer a rotary like they intended (it'd still have been st, but at least it'd have been funky st. And Citroen hadn't nearly gone bust honouring Birotor GX warranties. And NSU had developed it properly before licensing it to everyone as a fully developed concept. And all those snowmobile/aviation/boat engine manufacturers made cars instead of leisure craft. And the rules lawyers not changed the Group C regs with a weather eye to making rotaries illegal so they couldn't make the Old Guard look stupid at Le Mans again. And Mazda not fked up the Renesis by making it a hopelessly compromised emissions sop built out of pigiron and bacofoil to the lowest possible price point by F*rd. And....


...actually, maybe it was quite widespread after all

[Morningside]

djneils98 said:

Engines. all my recent cars have had big lumps of plastic where the engine should be.
Used to like it when cars had engines.

why hide them up?

[Vaud]

Morningside said:

why hide them up?

Reduce the risk of numpties doing silly things to them. Restrict access to fewest number of wires, cables and fluid caps...

[aeropilot]

mutsy88 said:

another voter for thin a-pillars.

also lower window lines and bonnets - i know its in the name of safety but visibility in some new cars is shocking

^This.

It's ironic (absurd actually) that legislation in the name of safety is actually making cars less safe as the driver's visibility is getting ever more restricted, so making them less safe.....

[Shaw Tarse]

Indicator switch on the right side.

[anonymous-user]

Those controls proper cars used to have to get cooler air out of the face level vents than the feet. Meant you could have warm air on your feet and cool on your face, very civilized.

[GroundEffect]

Morningside said:

djneils98 said:

Engines. all my recent cars have had big lumps of plastic where the engine should be.
Used to like it when cars had engines.

why hide them up?

A lot of the shielding is for NVH - they're padded covers.

[Abbott]

Personally I would not want to see a return to poor stiffness in the occupant cell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3Xiw-xP3HA

[Whitean3]

light weight and simplicity- being able to manage simple maintenance tasks without having to go to a main dealer to change a light bulb for example!

[tomsugden]

Indicators.

[The Don of Croy]

Twin headlamps.

Pinstripes.

Green sun shading.

Luxury velour seats.

[AH33]

Whitean3 said:

light weight and simplicity- being able to manage simple maintenance tasks without having to go to a main dealer to change a light bulb for example!

Yep, you'd think it would be a 2 min job to change the headlight on.... oh, i dont know, a Vauxhall Corsa? Or at least you wouldn't need tools, surely?

Nope!