What do you miss most about an old car...

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Rick -

I've had her for 10 years - I am the third owner. It's an all original car with just over 53,000 miles...it was owned by a school teacher for 35 years who drove very little.
 
plastic Jesus on the dash board......

little skunk air freshner hanging from the mirror.....or the fuzzy dice!

those lower side vetns cooled more than your seat!.....I also liked the little air vent under the steering column for a great cooling effect down under
 
And thanks Kevin...

For reminding me...PUSHBUTTON TORQUEFLITE...No transmission today is as smooth ,or shifts as well as these did, and the pushbutton shift was the finest thing ever, and you cAN PARK that Dodge...because you can SEE where you are!!
 
Style

The thing I miss most is style. This is how I think cars are differentiated today; in other words, there is NO differentiation. Cars pretty much look alike, which is why it is so difficult to get excited about any of them. (This is an image I created a few years ago.)

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Govt. mandates: CAFE, Crash/Rollover Standards

Oh, yeh! What killed the Pillar-less HARDTOP--4 door, then 2 door! --Now that's what I long for & MISS! (Though the areas between door glass areas can LEAK! (And don't forget T-TOPS (also a long-absent accessory) do, too!)

True, an era of them plus Cell Phones may have spelled disaster for some drivers (we couldn't be as well-behaved when car phones had wires & dials--or were we?!)...

-- Dave
 
I hate those cast aluminum wheels with the stupid tire pressure monitor batteries in the valve stems. The battery goes low and they want $180.00 to change the batteries. That's getting close to the price of one of the lovely new low profile tires. I told them just to leave it alone. The damn thing can just flash at me. I don't care at that price.

That's really not what I miss about old cars, but I'm leaving it anyway.
 
Kevin, what a BEAUTIFUL Dodge!!! I love it!!! My grandfather had a 64 Polara sedan, and my parents had a 64 Savoy sedan... I loved the way the dashes lit up at night, with the soft green glow of the pushbuttons. Yours looks to be in beautiful shape, it must be a great drive, I hope you get it out more this summer!
 
I think today's kids are cheated,  anyone remember how the glove box lid opened down and and had little indentations to hold drinks on 60's Chevrolets.  Your mom would take you to A&W.  You could not make a mess everybody had those plastic seatcovers that would "brand" that 5 point star on your legs if you had on shorts, of course the floor mats were rubber.  Scrub them with a broom and hose them off.  You also got to take home some A&W root beer in that cardboard  wax  container shaped like a traffic cone.  Norgeway, we must of been tougher kids, how many of us banged our head on all those knobs,  I think the multi switches on the steering column, were to get rid of the dangerous knobs.  Some of us were raised in new cars with no seat belts and we lived. Of course as kids we were not strapped in seats appropriate for space travel.  Seriously though the metal beefy knobs on the dash were dangerous in an accident. alr
 
The Good Old Days ?

These were recently sent to me by a friend.

NO Heated Seats, NO Heaters!

Before I complain the next time I get into that COLD car, I’ll try to remember what it was like for my grandparents and their contemporaries.

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alr2903 . . .

Did your mother have the pre-seatbelt "mom-o-matic" reflex action where during a sharp stop her right arm would pop out to catch any unbelted kid in the passenger's seat and keep him from hitting that dashboard full of sharp knobs? Mine did, still remember it. Would have been totally useless in a real wreck but guess it made her feel good!

 

Love the reminder of the patterned plastic seat covers that burned your legs in the summer; to keep the heat off any car with those should really have rear venetian blinds as well (like our neighbor's '66 Delta 88 four door hardtop)!
 
Interior Color Choice

Another vote for something I SORELY miss from "the old days" - choices of interior colors. Not only are most cars today made with black interiors, but on top of that, if there IS a choice of another interior color, it is usually available only if you choose certain exterior colors (for example - Acura has a tan interior but only if you choose a white exterior). I know - it's all about "cost effectiveness" and "bottom lines" but I am one of those that REFUSES to purchase a car - even a car I really like - if I don't have some choice in what the interior color will be. My 2003 Passat was ordered by me from the factory. Even then, there were LOTS of exterior color choices and most all of them could be had with any of the 3 interior color choices (black, gray or tan).
There are now many cars that come with NO interior color choice - just black.
THEN, there are some cars out now (Chevy Impala) offering some "interesting" colors inside but only on the seats and the door panels while everything else is - BLACK. Looks awful to me! For as much as cars cost these days, how much would it really add to the sticker price to offer more interior color choices?
Picture below is my family's 1977 Ford Granada Ghia in Dark Jade Green metallic with two tone green interior.
(Interior shot in next post)

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