Things You'd Like to See Revived In Cars
I'm a bit retro, but I belive some worthwhile
design features that older cars had, should be
revived:let's hear what you liked about cars of the
past! I like: SPLIT WINDSHIELDS: better
visibility, wifers wipe better on flat surface,
cheaper to replace one side;WING WINDOWS: I don't
like airconditioning, but with wing windows, you
got good airflow through the car-comething you
don't get today-your car stays hot because the air
doesn't circulate;RUNNING BOARDS: I like the look
of them!; FENDER SKIRTS: even on the front wheels!
design features that older cars had, should be
revived:let's hear what you liked about cars of the
past! I like: SPLIT WINDSHIELDS: better
visibility, wifers wipe better on flat surface,
cheaper to replace one side;WING WINDOWS: I don't
like airconditioning, but with wing windows, you
got good airflow through the car-comething you
don't get today-your car stays hot because the air
doesn't circulate;RUNNING BOARDS: I like the look
of them!; FENDER SKIRTS: even on the front wheels!
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Comments
Oh yeah, wide whitewalls too. Modern car with 50's styling. What more could you aske for?
More seriously, I would like to see anything that identifies a car - there are too many boxes around these days, when I was growing up I didn't need to look at the badge to see what it was, I knew just by looking at it.
I know that I sound like an old fart, but there are very few cars that have character anymore. Persoanlly I am not a fan of white walls and fins, but those cars looked like they were built not stamped out by some computer controlled robot.
For my car, give me the long hood, the long running boards that extend into wheel arches and wire wheels. Combine it with modern reliability and a great engine and I'll write you a check today.
I LIKE the idea of putting personalit and humor back in cars, which is why I like the new bug and especially the Audi TT, but some retro designs, like the PT, are very unattractive to me...Chrysler is trying to do some very interesting things in design, but god, they simply do not know how to put an attractive nose on any of their cars...they are uniformly clunky in the front end, with the possible exception of the 300M. Nonetheless, I applaud the attempt at some unique styling, even if, in my eyes, they have more or less flopped. Funny, the two Chrysler designs I liked, they dropped! (The Pronto Spyder and ...oh, I forget, an entry level two seater, sort of a 6-clinder Viper). They must be getting even with me.
I think the MoPar two-seater was called the Copperhead. What happened to the four-door Charger?
80's, and 90's were hard times for car designs. But now thinks are looking up, we have the Beetle, PT Cruiser ( I saw one on the road for the first time....beautifull, the Prowler, and others. On the way are the T-bird, Nissan's next 240, Chevy's cool truck/roadster,and many others coming.
Yeah, Cumberford is great...remember his wooden car?
Today it is nearly impossible to get a basic automobile. Wouldn't it be nice to get a full size Chevy that didn't look like a rebadged Caddy?
30 or 40 years ago you could get a base model Biscayne with manual everything. Do we really need all the junk that is standard equipment even on economy cars today? Simple cars are more reliable simply because there are less things to break. Do I need 4wd, a huge V-8, a killer stereo, cruise control, leather, etc in my wife's grocery getter? REALITY CHECK!!
I wish they would bring back...or simply BRING..us some nice sounding horns on automobiles. Certainly, with all of today's technology, someone could economically produce some horns that could make interesting sounds.
Horns don't have to be wimpy or sound blaring. I'm sure a pleasnt sound can be developed.
The Contour's stock horn is embarrassing. So are alot of other mid-priced or low priced vehicles. I put a set of late model LHS horns on my car. My car's horn system sounds alot better now.
Haven't picked up a Whitney catalogue in years! Drilling a hole in your existing tail light lens is scary. Me thinks that I won't do it any time soon. Although, I'm pretty handy with a drill because I used to do machine and die work....
If you had a PT Cruiser, then installing some of those things on it would be neat.
Why don't they bring back the foot-operated, floor-mounted headlight dimmer switch? What was wrong with it in the first place?
Dave
Years ago, over here in West Georgia and East Alabama, the floor mounted dimmer switches had to be legislated back into autos and pickup trucks.
Why? For Safety! Many operators were getting their feet tangled in the steering wheel.
And amen to some difference that really identify a car. That's where I give Chrysler credit (yeah, I know about the front ends, Shifty...) - at least they are trying. You know a Chrysler product when you see it on the road. I applaud that!
What I'd like to see is an affordable full-size rear-wheel-drive sedan, built on a truck chassis, with the truck V8s and manual trannies available. Not that I'm in love with pick-ups, but it would be a way to keep costs down.
Hey, how about some rear windows that roll down, like all the way....I miss them dearly on my vehicles....
I always wondered why this design never worked out-was there too much stress on the drive shafts?
gkelly3: I think the original Skylark and Tempest had the trannies in the rear, for weight distribution. GM was trying to make cars that could compete with the Europeans in style and handling (this is when they built the aluminum Buick small-block), and had a lot of neat ideas that didn't work out too well. Maybe it was the linkages, I dunno......
Coupled with a swing-axle, the whole setup was not all that well engineered and caused lots of customer dissatisfaction, as did the small Buick aluminum V-8. Just about all of GMs attempts at technological innovation in the early 1960s were failures or highly problematical, (Corvair, Tempest, Vega, Cogsworth Vega, air suspension, fuel injection, turbocharging) but they had some styling successes (Sting Ray, Riviera) and produced very good V-8 engines.
Saw what's under the hood of a Ford Lighting--a blown 5.4 SOHC--and am repeating my request: an affordable full-size rear-wheel-drive car built on pick-up truck chassis. Rear wheel drive for the masses, just like the old days.
No, Shiftright, I don't think I've ever seen an aluminum-block Tempest. The V8 was a lot more expensive than the 4-barrel four-banger, and only available with automatic--the cruiser option. The 4-barrel 194 was cheap, maybe $100, and you could have a four-speed. I've seen a few of those, and a friend had one in high school. The LeMans was nicely styled and trimmed, with a lot of neat hi-perf options, much like the GTO a few years later. Did have an unusual exhaust note.