Features on old cars deleted through evolution
Discussion
Hi there,
Been lurking on this Forum for ages and found it a great source of information and news which only us petrol heads would appreciate.
I have driven many varieties of cars over the years and although many modern cars have evolved through design to be faster, safer etc I miss some of the old standard fittings common on older cars. In particular I think the deletion on moderns of the foot operated headlamp dipping button is a practical loss now taken care of on the indicator stalk in most moderns. Imo your hands have enough to do now with all the modern switches for everything and your feet seem slightly under used.
Can anyone remember or own vehicles that have features now deleted from modern vehicles that they miss, or actually are glad to see the back of?
Been lurking on this Forum for ages and found it a great source of information and news which only us petrol heads would appreciate.
I have driven many varieties of cars over the years and although many modern cars have evolved through design to be faster, safer etc I miss some of the old standard fittings common on older cars. In particular I think the deletion on moderns of the foot operated headlamp dipping button is a practical loss now taken care of on the indicator stalk in most moderns. Imo your hands have enough to do now with all the modern switches for everything and your feet seem slightly under used.
Can anyone remember or own vehicles that have features now deleted from modern vehicles that they miss, or actually are glad to see the back of?
Spanna said:
Very good visibility.
This is so true.On both my DS and the fat little old Porsche the a-pillars are so dainty, foreward visibility is brilliant.
Compare that to the Range Rover which has more glass than the other two combined and yet its like driving a tank with a paper bag on your head compared to the other two.
Rear three quarter view from the wife's Mk4 Golf is shocking, too.
Don't want to see any of these on a modern, ever again!
Vacuum operated windscreen wipers. Great going down hill - useless going up.
Quarterlights on front doors. Unknown today, with air con.
Spare wheels?
Column shift and front bench seats.
Hand operated parking brake. (That'll get people going!)
What would I like?
Proper cubby holes and places to put maps etc - eg Mini doors
John
Vacuum operated windscreen wipers. Great going down hill - useless going up.
Quarterlights on front doors. Unknown today, with air con.
Spare wheels?
Column shift and front bench seats.
Hand operated parking brake. (That'll get people going!)
What would I like?
Proper cubby holes and places to put maps etc - eg Mini doors
John
Bench seats!!!! a prelude to the back seat. Although my old Daimler had a psuedo bench seat in that the two front seats were very close together, and as the handbake(pistol grip type) was under the rh side of the dash AND the preselector quadrant also rh side of steering wheel ,there was nothin to get in the way of the GF sliding across whilst ...........Only drawback fixed rear squabs, but what leg room in to back....
Cross ply tyres?
When my father changed our post-war Alvis over to radial plys in the 60's the steering lightened up so much that for the first few trips - not just the first few miles - we all had to learn to rein back the amount of effort we had been putting into turning the steering wheel. Strange, as no-one including my mother had thought the steering particularly heavy before.
And it had a driver operated blind in the rear window to take care of the lower orders following with badly adjusted headlights.
When my father changed our post-war Alvis over to radial plys in the 60's the steering lightened up so much that for the first few trips - not just the first few miles - we all had to learn to rein back the amount of effort we had been putting into turning the steering wheel. Strange, as no-one including my mother had thought the steering particularly heavy before.
And it had a driver operated blind in the rear window to take care of the lower orders following with badly adjusted headlights.
Spanna said:
Very good visibility.
Very true. Moderns might be safe to crash, but you can't see out to avoid the damn crash to start with.john2443 said:
Rear wheel drive 
Yup & if you want to class it as safety I'd call it controllability in poor weather. I've saved things several times in old cars by steering from the rear, in moderns the only option is to drive slower or grab the handbrake (done that once too, avoided the tree & stayed on the black stuff).Oh & a few more -
Brakes heavy enough to feel so you had control. I hate overservoed really light brakes, they are so hard to drive smoothly.
Clutches with feel.
Windscreen washers you had to pump with your left foot. With the water being kept in a rubber bag under the bonnet.
Wing mirrors / bullet-mirrors.
Front seats (black / brown / beige vinyl) with no headrests.
Black vinyl roofs.
Chrome wheel trim-rings / chrome hubcaps.
Static lap-belts.
3-speed automatic gearboxes. 2-speed automatic gearboxes.
Carburettors.
Sliding door-windows.
The need for 5-star petrol.
Servicing every 3000 miles - greasing suspension components, checking points, etc.
Wing mirrors / bullet-mirrors.
Front seats (black / brown / beige vinyl) with no headrests.
Black vinyl roofs.
Chrome wheel trim-rings / chrome hubcaps.
Static lap-belts.
3-speed automatic gearboxes. 2-speed automatic gearboxes.
Carburettors.
Sliding door-windows.
The need for 5-star petrol.
Servicing every 3000 miles - greasing suspension components, checking points, etc.
Hatch backs being sort of square and not trying their damndest to look like coupes.
Car makers that were happy with standard size wheels not 19inches of gash.
squeezy button for screen wash. Had it on the spitfire, although a bit of dirt on the window was never as bad as a jet of water shooting over the roof at you.
Car makers that were happy with standard size wheels not 19inches of gash.
squeezy button for screen wash. Had it on the spitfire, although a bit of dirt on the window was never as bad as a jet of water shooting over the roof at you.
Edited by MrBrightSi on Wednesday 10th October 20:58
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