I remember when cars had...

[earlyre]

I remember when cars had Landau roofs, continental kits, and fake wirerim hubcaps and i'm glad all those things are long gone.

Hey....my first car (87 Olds 98) had 2 of those things...and a chrome "luggage rack" on the decklid.

The thing I really miss from that car are - the fiberoptic bulb indicators ( 3 little "lights" on each fender for the front end, and 2 little red dots in the center of the headliner at the rear.)

 

[TCL]

The Mercury sedans with the rear window that retracted. They had an overhang over the rear ( old version of spoiler) window so rain didn't enter while driving.

 

[hemitom]

Foot switch on the floor to change radio station.

 

[JeffKeryk]

 

[FordMan59]

No tilt steering, no cruise control and no power locks, windows or seats.

No rear window defrost.

Rear view mirrors that didn't have a night reflective setting.

Cars had engines that were toast at 40K miles. (Chevy Vega)

Dipsticks so the owner could check their own transmission fluid.

Rear wheel drive.

Draft tubes that vented crankcase vapors directly into the atmosphere.

Front drum brakes.

Belt driven cooling fans and 3 or 4 V belts instead of one serpentine belt.

V8's with under 150HP.

When 25MPG was great mileage in an economy car.

When luxury cars got 7-8 MPG.

When cars weighed 2-3 tons.

 

[ecotourist]

My friend’s Olds Omega didn’t come with seatbelts. I guess seatbelts were an option at one time?

My '63 Chevy II didn't have seatbelts. But the seatbelts from the '65 Comet bolted right in.

The Chevy II didn't have a radio or a padded dash either.

 

[addyguy]

Manual transmission where you had to push down on the shifter to go into reverse.
Always thought that was a really dumb feature.

 

[gmh101358]

When 36 months was a long time to finance your car.....

 

[gmh101358]

When the engines used 30wt oil in inline 6 motors

 

[JC1]

Circle shaped air filters
Ashtrays in the door handles
Hoods that you could open from the grill openings
No air bags
Front drum brakes
Asbestos brake components
Choke levers

 

[Shel_B]

Seat belts were not even an option till some time in the 1960s, I think. My 65 Mustang had the threaded holes to install, but were optional.

There was a woman I knew in Spring Glen, NY who drove a red '64 Impala convertible that had seat belts. No supposition, no guessing: I rode alongside her and buckled up.

https://www.bestattorney.com/auto-defects/defective-seatbelts/history-of-seat-belts.html

 

[Leo99]

My dad's Rambler had these vents down about shin high above the floor on both sides of the car. Was not a good idea because water got in when it rained and he kept a sponge in the car to soak up the water.

 

[PandaBear]

Three speed with overdrive. The kind that over a certain speed you lifted up on the gas and it dropped it in. It could be used on second gear also, giving five speeds. Even back then people didn’t know how to use overdrive correctly.
No radio at all, just a metal plate where one would go. A/C, of course not. Some luxury cars had A/C from the back with two plastic tubes coming up behind the rear seat. I guess the A/C unit was in the trunk.

I still don't understand it as an auto transmission feature. Why don't we just use the "automatic" to do it instead of a manual overdrive button? I can understand the logic behind manual however.

 

[PimTac]

Circle shaped air filters

Oil bath air filters. I got to clean them during the oil change.

 

[billpace1956]

Here one, real analog gauges, specifically the big old console Vacuum gauge that said POWER and Economy and was all color scaled.

I STILL have one of those cars!! 1988 Mercedes e300. Inline 6 3.0 liter. Good stuff.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

J.C. Whitney's competitor, Sun Tune Up Machine

 

[billpace1956]

Not getting a tach on the dash even when you had a manual.

I still drive one of those! 1983 Mercedes 240d. Good stuff.

 

[hank2]

Road draft tube to vent crankcase. Automotive generator and starter rebuild shops in every town.

 

[ecotourist]

The foot push button for high/low beam headlights.

Before my time a foot pedal in that same area operated the starter.

 

[Job]

I still don't understand it as an auto transmission feature. Why don't we just use the "automatic" to do it instead of a manual overdrive button? I can understand the logic behind manual however.

It’s a manual three or four speed transmission with a regular clutch. They put the overdrive unit on the end of the manual trans in a special housing. There was a knob to pull out under the dash or other means to disengage overdrive, so it then behaved just like a standard trans. There are certain rules to follow in using the thing to avoid damaging it. It usually converted on American cars the 1:1 final drive output to 0.7.
So if the axle was 4:1 it made it the same as a 2.8:1,giving a substantial reduction in rpm.