What automotive 'trends' do you remember clearly?

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Originally Posted By: Smokescreen
Originally Posted By: 01rangerxl


This beast's 302 V8 put out 14 less HP than my 3.0L V6 Ranger does.



Interestingly enough the 1975 Mustang II in V8 5.0L with the cruise-o-matic glory put out a whopping 1 more HP, was more than 3 seconds slower 0-60 all while delivering much much worse fuel economy than my 1.8L Corolla.
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My pop would NOT SHUT UP about how his fairmont with the 200 c.i. 6 had 85 hp and the base fairmont with the PINTO MOTOR had 82 hp, the LOSERS!

He special ordered this heap with a stick shift, replete with crummy plastic shift forks. The extra 3 horse powers blew through those forks. His mechanic dutifully replaced them with metal forks, one at a time, until they were all done.

He never test drove the combo, as none were on the dealer lot. We drove by a few years later; the dealer was tango uniform and it was just a grassy knoll.
 
I remember the English/European sports car craze of the 50's & 60's, prior to the muscle cars of the 60's & 70's.
 
Led bezels around headlights even on cheapo cars. Wait I must have had a time warp that is now. Audi looks cheap now even though they seemed to be the first at doing it.
 
Originally Posted By: rjundi
Led bezels around headlights even on cheapo cars. Wait I must have had a time warp that is now. Audi looks cheap now even though they seemed to be the first at doing it.


Yeah that stuff look ridiculous!! Looks like a long string of Christmas lights or something. Sad thing is back in the late 80's people were buying light kits like that at Chief Auto Parts and they were only on ghettomobiles,now it's OEM??
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Remember when cars had manual transmissions with the shifter on the column? Pepperidge Farm remembers.


LMAO!!!
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Remember when cars had manual transmissions with the shifter on the column? Pepperidge Farm remembers.


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took my driving test in one. A '65 Chevy van. I had to lean way forward to shift to second or reverse. My stepfather was only about 5'7" and physically had to lift himself off the seat for those gears.

In the Guard, one of our "sedan-6 passenger" vehicles (cheap bare bones sedan with bench seats) was an AMC Hornet with column shift. I don't remember it having seatbelts in the middle positions but it was called a 6 passenger. You had to be real friendly with your buddies if you were going to ride 6 in that thing. Some NCO figured out that I could actually drive a column shift vehicle and I was tasked with its care and operation when we were in garrison. It wasn't too bad in the winter but it was glossy dark olive green in color and no A/C. (our other sedans were Fairmonts with that glossy ugly yellow green paint, automatic, and no "OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT USE ONLY" label on the side.
 
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Remember when cars had manual transmissions with the shifter on the column? Pepperidge Farm remembers.


thumbsup2.gif
took my driving test in one. A '65 Chevy van. I had to lean way forward to shift to second or reverse. My stepfather was only about 5'7" and physically had to lift himself off the seat for those gears.

In the Guard, one of our "sedan-6 passenger" vehicles (cheap bare bones sedan with bench seats) was an AMC Hornet with column shift. I don't remember it having seatbelts in the middle positions but it was called a 6 passenger. You had to be real friendly with your buddies if you were going to ride 6 in that thing. Some NCO figured out that I could actually drive a column shift vehicle and I was tasked with its care and operation when we were in garrison. It wasn't too bad in the winter but it was glossy dark olive green in color and no A/C. (our other sedans were Fairmonts with that glossy ugly yellow green paint, automatic, and no "OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT USE ONLY" label on the side.



I learned to drive as a 14 year old in a 62 Bel Air with a straight six and three on the tree.
 
Originally Posted By: vlpronj
How about analog style graphic equalizers mounted below the dash; the more sliders, the better? (My '78 LTD)
Compact spares (or the lack of a spare altogether)
Fender skirts (once completely flustered a tire shop with my Dad's '68 Electra 225)
Filling your gas tank behind the (hinged) license plate (my wife's '76 Skylark 350)

Mom's 1985 Nissan Maxima had several graphic equalizers, and there were VU meters that blinked in response to the sound.

I think the RWD Maxima, 280ZX Turbo, and early 300ZX had the same thing.

I'm pretty sure that at some point, auto makers replaced most of those adjustable items with some kind of microchip that changes settings automatically. That, or they just decided to be cheap, and used fixed settings.

The last time I saw a fuel filler behind the license plate was on a 1990s Buick Roadmaster.
 
window tint strip that said stuff such as "you can't touch this"
also exchanging your gear shift knob for a novelty one
specialty horns such as "dukes of hazard"
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Remember when cars had manual transmissions with the shifter on the column? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Three on the tree. I thought I really had something when I ordered a 66 Dart with four on the floor and front disc brakes. Looked like it had been assembled in Hamtramck by monkeys. Wiring for backup lights was missing from bundle. Back up switch for back up lights was cross-threaded into transmission case. Chrysler Corp had to replace engine for second owner after camshaft broke. And there is more, much more to this tome on a Mopar pos.
 
Being born in the 40's..I don't have the time to type it all. I think the biggest trend was the demise of Detroit producing big pieces of junk..move over here come the japanese. Detroit thought they could put out garbage forever.
 
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