mtn said:
Last night, I was thinking about the future. There is every chance the kids who are 10-16 right now will be the last generation that will drive a manual transmission. I'm almost 29, and in my HS parking lot there were about 4 manual transmissions. It isn't coming back either. It won't be long before there aren't any new cars sold with one.
And my mind wandered, and I realized that I have never driven a column shift manual. Probably never will, although I'm now searching for something to scratch that itch because... Well, why not? What is life without whimsy?
But it made me wonder, what else is out there that is dying away? First thought was non-ABS. Carbs have been gone for a long time, I'm not even sure I've driven a car that was carburetted. Any others?
My dad's work truck was a 3 on the tree manual...It would take me forver to find the right gear when maneuvering and using reverse, lol...
my new to me '12 Versa has adjustable vents on top of the dash it seems. I have absolutely no berkeleying idea why that is. I might figure it out but I'll tell you this I've never stalled a stick shift as many times as I have with this thing. Never. 
I embarass me because of that.
pinchvalve said:
Oh, and vent windows went away in my lifetime, as did the fuel filler behind the license plate. 
Heck, ACTUAL chrome might go away. Too heavy, better to use chrome-look plastics.
My family’s 67 electra 225 convertible has power vent windows.
Knurled. said:
Cooter said:
I bet there isn't anyone here who misses vacuum wipers.
I've never experienced them, and the mere idea horrifies me. I've seen how well vacuum operated headlight doors/actuators "work", wouldn't want to need them to see with.
I hear that some vehicles had vacuum operated shfter controls on manual transmissions. Sounds like a whole lotta nope. The vacuum operated diff locks on old Audis sucked enough.
My rodeo had some sort of vacuum bullE36 M3 for the transfer case. Nothing like finding out its it's browhen you're I the middle of a blizzard.
My dad had an old chevy panel truck with vaccum wipers. He described them as great when you werent moving....and barely working when you were driving. That sounds terrible
Actually, vacuum wipers were a step up from the 1928 Model A that was my first wrench turning and driving experience. The small wiper was hand operated by a small lever at the of the windshield. Old timers said they used to place lit candles at the base of the windshield to attempt defrosting.
As my driving experiences expanded over the years, I have encountered ALL of the aforementioned devices/technologies. Driving used to be a 100 % physical/mental exercise requiring both hands and both feet. Think double clutching a non synchronized low transmission using the 3 or 4 on the tree shift linkage while negotiating a 90 degree turn. Add to this engines that did not always idle well or would die if you did not keep your foot on the accelerator when slowing or at a stop.
Bench seats without seat belts and covered in vinyl offered very little support when cornering at speed. Speaking of seat belts, the early versions did not retract (laying in a tangled mess) and the first shoulder belts in some cars were stored in a clip at the edge of the head liner. No wonder people hated them.
Recently driving a 69 Chevrolet 2 dr hardtop Impala have refreshed my memories. The technology I miss the most is outside rear view mirrors. The rear blind spots in multi lane traffic have me twisting and turning constantly.
In reply to outasite :
My first car was a Ford with the two piece clip-together seat belts. I liked them becayse you could tension the shoulder belt manually.
I left the belts clipped together. I saw no need to unclip them and stow the shoulder belt in the headliner, even if I was trying to get to the rear seat.
But it made me wonder, what else is out there that is dying away? First thought was non-ABS. Carbs have been gone for a long time, I'm not even sure I've driven a car that was carburetted. Any others?
Not quite yet, internal combustion engines...
outasite said:
Recently driving a 69 Chevrolet 2 dr hardtop Impala have refreshed my memories. The technology I miss the most is outside rear view mirrors. The rear blind spots in multi lane traffic have me twisting and turning constantly.
There was a time when the outside rear view mirrors were optional as well. My '61 Bonneville doesn't have them, but with nice slim roof pillars it does have great visibility to the rear.
I learned to drive in stick shift vehicles but had too call my dad when I purchased my 76 f100 because It was column shifted 3 speed. Most of the dinosaur stuff is stuff I enjoy. I'm shopping for a truck with a carb and manual windows and locks, my car has a carb and vent windows, manual windows and locks and I love it. I prefer old dinosaur stuff in every way imaginable and I'm 31.
wspohn
Dork
1/12/19 12:02 p.m.
Vacuum wipers - was driving a car with them once in a torrential downpour on the highway. They were doing fine until I came to a slight rise and had to apply more accelerator - and the wipers all but stopped. Hard to believe but they were OEM on some cars from the 1920s to the early 1970s!
stuart in mn said:
outasite said:
Recently driving a 69 Chevrolet 2 dr hardtop Impala have refreshed my memories. The technology I miss the most is outside rear view mirrors. The rear blind spots in multi lane traffic have me twisting and turning constantly.
There was a time when the outside rear view mirrors were optional as well. My '61 Bonneville doesn't have them, but with nice slim roof pillars it does have great visibility to the rear.
My '69 Cougar came from the factory with one outside rear view mirror. I added the passenger side one this spring. It's got all the other old stuff mentioned above except vent windows and I love it. I pulled the Jensen tape deck out and removed the two dash board speakers when I pulled the metal dash and threw them all away. 351 Cleveland winding up between shifting gears on the three speed with the top down are perfect sound track for me. My boys use to ask what people meant when they pulled up along side us while in the car and made the winding motion with their hands. They figured that out whe they got in the Cougar pretty quickly.
Oh, leaf spring suspensions being done are OK with me.
Will
UltraDork
1/12/19 1:28 p.m.
My 62 Thunderbird had vacuum wipers. That wasn't a problem in itself. But both wipers swept inward from the outer edge of the windshield. IE instead of being mostly parallel at all times, they were always either moving away from each other or toward each other. One time in pouring rain the two tips collided, got stuck together, and refused to get unstuck until I pulled over on the freeway shoulder and pulled them apart with pliers. That was fun.
Starting a Restoration on a 60 Thunderbird on Monday, My God You Should see all the parts of a folding Roof.
I love column shift. I’m not sure why people laugh at it...if they even know what it is.
My father, after he lost his small business, decided to fall back on his teaching certificate to fill the gap the last few years before social security. He taught Jr. High history and drove a ‘74 C10 to work every day. This was in the early ‘00’s. One day a young fellow came in and said “Sir, I don’t understand why your truck is an automatic but has three pedals..”
In reply to A 401 CJ :
should have had four pedals, no?
I forget where I read it, but a design engineer was musing that cars used to have the transmission under the middle of the floor, the shifter on the steering column, and complex linkage to connect the two. Now, cars have the shifter on the middle of the floor, but the transmission is roughly at the base of the steering column.
(i have only ever driven two column shift manuals - a '61 Rambler that I moved in a parking lot, and an early 1950s Plymouth(?) that had an exceptionally smooth flathead six, and it felt like the engine was revving too high just driving in top gear at 35mph)
NermalSnert said:
The parcel tray behind the back seat is no longer a place for toddlers to lounge on long trips. Cringe- we actually did this.
I had a Triumph GT6 in college, and hell, we had college age friends who rode back there (sitting across the width of the car). As if a GT6 isn't dangerous enough in a wreck....
Knurled. said:
RevRico said:
I didn't know vacuum wipers were a thing. They sound horrible.
I really miss vent windows. And of course, now that I don't have a miata anyhow someone is finally after marketing them. If only they'd do it for the ranger...
Vent windows may as well have been called theft enhancers. Easy to pop out, reach in, unlock door.
Not everybody was cool like Ford and had power sliding vent windows. They were actually pretty useless, but they existed.
I remember a few years ago helping my great uncle sell his late-60s Deville. It had vent windows on ALL FOUR door, AND they were all power-operated. The driver's door had EIGHT power window switches on it, lol.
ShawnG
PowerDork
1/12/19 6:23 p.m.
Again, stuff is worn out by the time you guys get to swear at it.
Rebuild that 50 year old column shift with new bushings in the shift rods and adjust the forks on the column properly and it will work just fine.
I didn't say "great" I said "fine" More than well enough for average every day driving which is what 99% of drivers want anyway.
Manually adjusted, non-assisted, drum brakes. 8-track tape decks. Two piece flat windshields. Two speed wipers with no intermittent. Fender mounted radio antenna. Day-night rearview mirrors with a flip button to switch between. Quad 5-3/4" headlights.
Old trucks. I spent a lot of time behind the wheel of a '53 Chevy pickup and a '48 Dodge dump truck. They were slow, low-reving, rode like buckboards, and lacked syncros in some gears. Once I almost managed to drop 9000 lbs. of bricks into an intersection when the chattering clutch caused a wheelstand in the Dodge.
But they were fun. Dual-cabs were almost unheard of then, so as the young guy I sometimes ended up the back. They were personifications of a time when more skills were required to drive, when you stuck to the seat in hot weather, but things were somehow much simpler.
When I married Mrs. Gunner she had a 1977 Monte Carlo with a floor shift automatic. issue was the linkage between the flor shifter and the column where it actually moved the prindl was a bit erratic. I figured out that once I shifted into whatever gear I wanted on the floor I had to twist the collar around the column to actually shift the car to the correct setting with my bare hands it became a lot easier to get it into gear, usually drive. Please don't wish old technology on me again. At least domestic technology.
