Car Accessories That Used to be Options But Are Now Standard

[hydralique]

Non-Power Disc Brakes . . .

Plenty of cars were built with non-power disc brakes. From ‘57-‘61 the Citroen ID19 sedan had non-power front disc brakes as standard equipment. The brake calipers themselves were the same as  the more posh DS19 introduced in the fall of ‘55, but the DS always had power brakes. For ‘62 the ID was upgraded to power brakes as well, albeit with a somewhat different system. Presumably this was because some felt the non-power ID system took too much effort but it was also likely driven by the desire to get brakes that automatically proportion themselves front to rear according to the load in the car. These power systems are true power brakes, not power assist in that they have no master cylinder or vacuum booster but are operated by an engine driven high pressure hydraulic circuit so the pedal only opens the proportioning valve. The D series cars were always fitted with radial tires right from the beginning of production.

To my knowledge GM’s first disc brakes on an American car come on the ‘65 Corvette. They are on all four wheels - the ‘Vette never had a split front disc/rear drum system - and power assist was an option not all cars had. I’ve put plenty of miles on a ‘66 without power assist and liked the brakes; the car stopped well with good feel and moderate effort. Another car I’ve driven extensively with four wheel discs and no power assist is the Fiat X1/9. None of these ever had power brakes, even the last cars built in ‘88. Like the Corvette, it’s a very good system that IMO would not be improved by a vacuum booster.

There were other cars built with non-power disc brakes but I’m familiar with all of these.

 

[wayupnorth]

Yes scoots, My owners manual has grown to an inch thick of stuff I dont know or care about or doesnt even pretain to my vehicle. I just what to open it and know what to do. I ended up taking my truck to the dealership because there was nothing in the owners manual as to set the climate control with remote start to heat when it was brutally cold here. Tech said turn temp up and fan on high BEFORE you get out. Then shut the truck off. It works.

 

[supersuds]

Hi Jim,

I'm not meaning to sound cranky, just sharing what I know as an amateur fan of auto history. I know it can come off wrong on the internet. Go figure!

But to your points: The Cadillac self-starter came out in 1912, and the first AC units were optionally available on 1940 Packards. They didn't break into wide availability until about 1953.

Many variations of automatic transmissions were tried over the years, but the Hydra-Matic on 1940 Oldsmobiles ($57 option) is the first one that was really successful.

 

[whirlaway]

Disc Brakes!

You could get four wheel disc brakes on the 51 thru 54 Imperial.Air on Packards actually came out in 1938 and Oldsmobile Hydramatic in 39,Pw on Packards in 41.Chrysler had PW brakes in 1935.Chrysler came out with PS in 51.Air conditioning on the big Packard cost as much as the Cheapest Packard.

 

[petek]

One thing that's sadly missing today is a choice of interior colors for many makes and models.. Would you like it with gray or black is about it.

 

[hydralique]

Early Autmotive Disc Brakes . . .

Chrysler’s use of the term “disc brake” for the Ausco-Lambert brake system is confusing because it implies that this was a modern type disc brake that uses a stationary caliper to squeeze a rotating disc. It is nothing of the sort, instead the Ausco-Lambert has two stationary discs that are enclosed in a rotating drum assembly. In operation the two discs are expanded outward to push against the inner sides of the drum. It could just as easily be called a drum brake but it isn’t like a conventional drum brake either so it’s best to call it an Ausco-Lambert brake after the company that designed and manufactured it. Chrysler was the only car company to buy them but a similar brake was used on some Farmall tractors.

Reportedly the Ausco-Lambert worked better than most drums and Chrysler is to be commended for trying to improve their brakes. However, the system had problems with corrosion in locales that used salt and was also prone to grabbiness due to the Ausco-Lambert being self-energizing like drum brakes. Given that the discs are enclosed in a cast-iron drum I’d suspect that they don’t cool as well as true disc brakes either. Chrysler built a limited number of cars with the Ausco-Lambert system from ‘50-‘54 after which they gave up on it and didn’t offer a modern style disc brake until well into the ‘60s. To my knowledge nobody else has tried to revive the Ausco-Lambert so it remains an interesting dead-end in brake design.

In ‘50 Crosley offered a Goodyear developed disc brake on the Hotshot mini-sports car that was arguably the first mass-produced modern type disc brake in that it used a stationary caliper to squeeze a rotating disc. It proved less than reliable in service and was never offered in Crosley sedans. Since Crosley exited the auto business in ‘52 there was no chance of development.

In England Dunlop worked out a successful and reliable disc brake that was tested on racing Jaguars in ‘53. It worked phenomenally well and allowed the C-Type Jags to out brake virtually all the competition at LeMans. Citroen engineers took notice and developed their own disc brake that differed significantly from the Dunlop design but still employed the concept of a stationary caliper and rotating disc open to the airflow. In ‘55 Austin-Healey offered the Dunlop system in their limited production 100S. 55 of these aluminum bodied cars were built primarily for wealthy customers who wished to go racing while the regular mass-produced 100 sports car continued to have drum brakes for another couple of years. In the fall of ‘55 Citroen put the DS19 into mass production with their disc brakes as standard equipment, followed by the cheaper ID19 a year later. This brake design was used in several hundred thousand cars produced through ‘66 and proved powerful and reliable. For ‘57 Triumph offered the Dunlop discs and then Jaguar the next year, after which many British cars used them.

 

[davey7]

My uncle had a Crosley when they came to the states - my dad said you had to push it uphill and the engine could be carried inside to work on.

 

[william637]

Corinthian Leather Interior

I can just hear Ricardo Montalban saying that in the commercial now. The way he said it - kind of lusty - is so completely cheesy that you never forget the commercial once you have seen it.

As far as automatic transmissions - that was the bane of my existence when I was shopping for my current car. Very few cars offer a manual transmission at all in America any more. The ones that do are base models that don't have any other options, except, at least, for the muscle cars. Thank God for the Camaro, Challenger, Mustang, and Corvette. I was able to get my Camaro fully optioned with a stick (although now they have weird options with the manual like hill-assist starting and automatic gating of the gears).

Martin certainly heard me complain enough about both of those when we were at the last wash-in.

 

[toploader55]

Corinthian Leather

Here ya go

 

[yogitunes]

actually I stand corrected.....by this time they called it 'MarkCross' leather.....

in 1985 I ordered the Daytona Turbo.....a lady ran a red light and wiped it out for me......lucked out to only accept a replacement, and got the fully packaged 1985 1/2 Laser XT.....one of the best built and running vehicles built in a long time....especially for the 80's....sorry I ever traded it in....then got the Lebaron Turbo....wasn't quite the same!.....

 

[hydralique]

Willam637 . . .

Congrats on getting a Camaro with a manual! It’s been over a decade since I bought a new car but even then getting a manual transmission was not easy. In my case it was a Volkswagen Golf TDI diesel, and I wanted the manual trans with TOL trim, sunroof, upgraded sound system etc. The first thing most VW salesmen tried to do was talk me into an automatic Jetta with a gas engine because that’s what they order for stock. I got told all sorts of idiotic things like there would be no resale on a manual diesel or I’d hate driving it in LA traffic. Many just stared blankly when I told them I didn’t care about the resale and I’ve never owned an automatic so I know all about driving in traffic with a clutch.

I finally found what I wanted and still own it today. That salesman was honest enough to admit the dealerships always try to order too many automatics because management figures it’s easier to sell a slushbox to someone who prefers a manual than the opposite. A friend of mine who bought a new BMW about the same time had the same problem, he had to special order his car even though BMW listed the manual as the default gearbox for the 3 series that year.