What are things that has faded away on modern cars and trucks..

[TarheelRick]

Will be installing this into my '80 Pinto as soon as I start work on the interior.  Boxes say made in China.  I've had these pieces for 14 years; I originally bought them to put into an '83 S-10 but never did.

[Deathgoblin]

On 6/3/2023 at 1:32 AM, redscampi said:

Hub caps. Everything now has multiple styles of wheels from the dealer. Mass produced individualism.

I had a 2009 Malibu, and it came from the factory with "wheels" that were plastic hubcaps over black steel wheels the same shape.  They were 5 spoke black steel wheels with hubcaps that made them look like alloys.  You even had to take them off by the "lug nuts".    I kept bending the wheels, so I switched to real alloys later.

[Deathgoblin]

On 6/5/2023 at 11:25 AM, Lunajammer said:

 

12 different auto makers, same year. With the exception of the Charger, good luck being a cop looking for a suspect vehicle. But I digress. 

 

In order: 1) Mazda 6, 2) Chevy Malibu, 3) Volvo (S60?), 4) Genesis, 5) VW Jetta, 6) Kia Optima, 7) Toyota Corolla, 8 Hundai Sonata, 9) Subaru Legacy, 10) Nissan Altima, 11) Ford Fusion, 12) Dodge Charger    I think I'm pretty close.

[JollySipper]

On 6/11/2023 at 3:55 PM, TarheelRick said:

I've had these pieces for 14 years;

Pioneer makes really good stuff! Every car head unit I bought in my late teens/early 20s was Pioneer........

The little Mazda GLC that I drove for a while had a Clarion radio in it! It was a good unit from what I remember........

[Raoul Ross]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but floor mounted (foot operated) high beam switches are now on the turn signal stalk.

Edited June 13, 2023 by Raoul Ross

[atomicholiday]

On 6/11/2023 at 3:55 PM, TarheelRick said:

Will be installing this into my '80 Pinto as soon as I start work on the interior.  Boxes say made in China.  I've had these pieces for 14 years; I originally bought them to put into an '83 S-10 but never did.

I spent MANY hours with my head stuffed under a dashboard, or climbing into a trunk installing stereos back in the 80’s and 90’s.  Love that stuff!

Although I was more into Kenwood and Alpine back then.

Who remembers Kraco??

[peteski]

47 minutes ago, atomicholiday said:

I spent MANY hours with my head stuffed under a dashboard, or climbing into a trunk installing stereos back in the 80’s and 90’s.  Love that stuff!

Although I was more into Kenwood and Alpine back then.

Who remembers Kraco??

I remember Kraco, but at that time in my '76 Camaro I had a Vector Research radio/cassette player and a 40W Sparkomatic booster/equalizer with Pioneer speakers in the doors and the package deck.  I think the front ones were 2-way 6" speakers, and the rear ones were 3-way 6X9s.

I didn't live in a good neighborhood, so the radio was mounted in a Bensi box (remember those?).  It made the radio removable, so I  could take it with me.  This was before removable faceplates became a thing.  I also made a removable cover for the equalizer, so it wasn't visible.

I think we are getting off the original subject here.

[Lunajammer]

12 hours ago, Deathgoblin said:

In order: 1) Mazda 6, 2) Chevy Malibu, 3) Volvo (S60?), 4) Genesis, 5) VW Jetta, 6) Kia Optima, 7) Toyota Corolla, 8 Hundai Sonata, 9) Subaru Legacy, 10) Nissan Altima, 11) Ford Fusion, 12) Dodge Charger    I think I'm pretty close.

I'd say that's pretty freakin' good. Unfortunately, not perfect. 4 is incorrect. 8 and 10 are half right.

[Dpate]

On 6/13/2023 at 8:27 AM, atomicholiday said:

I spent MANY hours with my head stuffed under a dashboard, or climbing into a trunk installing stereos back in the 80’s and 90’s.  Love that stuff!

Although I was more into Kenwood and Alpine back then.

Who remembers Kraco??

Man I’ve been running deck wise a Pioneer 80PRS for a very long time.  Best single din you can get for around $300 insane tuning capabilities for what it’s worth, and super clean max volume 61 with no clipping. I’ve seen decks that would clip mid way before getting to max volume. I can almost go full tilt with my set up, but clips at 61 so 60 is the max with everything else hooked up. Only con I have for the deck is it doesn’t play .flac files via USB only .wav files. Other than that it’s a single din I always recommend to anyone wanting a top notch single din - unless you got $1200 for its big brother lol. 

Edited June 18, 2023 by Dpate

[OneTrickPony]

Manual roll up windows. Non power door locks. Carburetors. Floor mounted dimmer switches. Chrome antennas. Rubber floor mats. Manual steering and drum brakes. 

[Rob Hall]

40 minutes ago, OneTrickPony said:

Manual roll up windows. Non power door locks. Carburetors. Floor mounted dimmer switches. Chrome antennas. Rubber floor mats. Manual steering and drum brakes. 

I had a rental 2022-ish Ford E350 cube van over the weekend, had manual windows, manual mirrors, manual locks (no central locking), no fob...crazy to see that level of base on a late model.  The check engine light came on, so I returned it to Penske and swapped it for a GMC Vandura cube van which was 'luxury' by comparison--power windows, power mirrors, power locks (but no central locking or fob).   The Transits high roofs I had the previous few weekends had fobs and central locking, power windows, power mirrors, etc. 

Edited June 21, 2023 by Rob Hall

[TonyK]

On 6/5/2023 at 7:11 AM, iamsuperdan said:

I didn't see it mentioned yet, but I mourn the loss of the in-car CD player. I still buy CDs, I still play them at home.

Subaru's still have them. Just bought the wife a 2023 Forester and it has one. My 4 year old Crosstrek does too. And I play CD's at home.

And they both have a Harmen Kardon radio that sounds great!

Edited June 21, 2023 by TonyK
Addition

[Lunajammer]

14 hours ago, OneTrickPony said:

Manual roll up windows. Non power door locks. Carburetors. Floor mounted dimmer switches. Chrome antennas. Rubber floor mats. Manual steering and drum brakes. 

...Add chrome roof rack and AM-only radio and you're describing our old '73 Pinto family truckster.

[iamsuperdan]

14 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

I had a rental 2022-ish Ford E350 cube van over the weekend, had manual windows, manual mirrors, manual locks (no central locking), no fob...crazy to see that level of base on a late model.  The check engine light came on, so I returned it to Penske and swapped it for a GMC Vandura cube van which was 'luxury' by comparison--power windows, power mirrors, power locks (but no central locking or fob).   The Transits high roofs I had the previous few weekends had fobs and central locking, power windows, power mirrors, etc. 

We don't see it often, but I have one client that orders the absolute cheapest E450 cutaways he can. Like you described. Manual mirrors, locks, windows, no keyfob, vinyl seats, etc. 

Most of my clients ordering E-series will at least add the power accessories package.

[Rob Hall]

45 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

We don't see it often, but I have one client that orders the absolute cheapest E450 cutaways he can. Like you described. Manual mirrors, locks, windows, no keyfob, vinyl seats, etc. 

Most of my clients ordering E-series will at least add the power accessories package.

It was interesting going from a Transit high roof to a very base E350 cube van to a GMC Vandura cube van in a space of a week... the seating position differences between the 3 was quite interesting...none seemed to have seat height adjustment, but the E350 had the lowest seat...the steering column was adjustable but felt like I was sitting too low compared to the other vans.    Though lower is easier to get in and and out.  

Edited June 21, 2023 by Rob Hall

[Ace-Garageguy]

17 minutes ago, Lunajammer said:

...Add chrome roof rack and AM-only radio and you're describing our old '73 Pinto family truckster.

Man, I'd love to have that little guy now.

[iamsuperdan]

34 minutes ago, Rob Hall said:

It was interesting going from a Transit high roof to an very base E350 cube van to a GMC Vandura cube van in a space of a week... the seating position differences between the 3 was quite interesting...none seemed to have seat height adjustment, but the E350 had the lowest seat...the steering column was adjustable but felt like I was sitting too low compared to the other vans.    

Seat height adjustment is only available on the Transit, but not many people order it. Overall, the Transit is so much more modern than both the GM vans and the E-series. You can tell the GM and E-series are 30 year old designs that are still hanging on. A tweak here, a tweak there and keep on pumping them out. 

[Rob Hall]

6 minutes ago, iamsuperdan said:

Seat height adjustment is only available on the Transit, but not many people order it. Overall, the Transit is so much more modern than both the GM vans and the E-series. You can tell the GM and E-series are 30 year old designs that are still hanging on. A tweak here, a tweak there and keep on pumping them out. 

Yes..  I like the driving position in the Transit..the huge windshield and deep side windows make outward visibility great.  Can definitely tell the age of the E-series and GM vans..IIRC, I've driven older versions of them from the late 90s-early 00s and the new ones aren't that much different inside beyond the dash design. 

[peteski]

4 hours ago, Lunajammer said:

...Add chrome roof rack and AM-only radio and you're describing our old '73 Pinto family truckster.

Back in the '80s when I drove a '76 Camaro in the Summer, I used to buy $200 beaters as winter cars.  Couple of them were Pinto wagons. Similar vintage to this one. One Pinto was red, and the other was identical to the one pictured.  After the winter I would drive them to the junk yard.

They were automatics. One of them (don't recall which) had a problem with the modulator valve. I accidentally discovered that if I floored the gas pedal while driving (I don't remember the exact sequence) it would suck transmission fluid into the intake manifold creating a thick white smoke screen behind me.  That was lots of fun!

[sfhess]

11 hours ago, TonyK said:

Subaru's still have them. Just bought the wife a 2023 Forester and it has one. My 4 year old Crosstrek does too. And I play CD's at home.

And they both have a Harmen Kardon radio that sounds great!

My 2023 Outback does not have an in-dash CD player (my 2019 OB did), but there is one available as an accessory.  It goes in the center console.

Edited June 22, 2023 by sfhess

[1972coronet]

23 hours ago, Rob Hall said:

It was interesting going from a Transit high roof to a very base E350 cube van to a GMC Vandura cube van in a space of a week... the seating position differences between the 3 was quite interesting...none seemed to have seat height adjustment, but the E350 had the lowest seat...the steering column was adjustable but felt like I was sitting too low compared to the other vans.    Though lower is easier to get in and and out.  

IMO, the Transit Connect had/has the ideal seating position : just comfortable enough to feel secure and sure, yet not too high nor too low an entrance/exit . 

Truly, the last generation Ranger (not that thing that was introduced a few years ago) was ideal. Surely, the seat wasn't as comfortable as the one in the Connect, but it wasn't uncomfortable.

The worst ? Any of the cadre of "door stop" passenger cars : the sit too low to be comfortable for entering/exiting without one's back screaming "STOP doing this to ME !" after stopping for deliveries 4 or 5 times.

[Chuck Most]

Fairly recent but I forgot these existed until today (because I just bought a 2004 Lincoln Town Car)... Heat and fan controls on the steering wheel. No car has these anymore. Now that section of the wheel is taken up by the hands free phone BS. 

Even if you set the climate to auto sometimes you wanna tweak it a degree or two after a while.

[peteski]

1 hour ago, Chuck Most said:

Fairly recent but I forgot these existed until today (because I just bought a 2004 Lincoln Town Car)... Heat and fan controls on the steering wheel. No car has these anymore. Now that section of the wheel is taken up by the hands free phone BS. 

Even if you set the climate to auto sometimes you wanna tweak it a degree or two after a while.

Sure, that was a handy feature 20 years ago, but nowadays you can do  it with voice command.  When I was driving a Tesla not to long ago, I told the car that my feet were cold. It told me that it was directing warm air to the foot-wells.   Bam! Done! Look mom, no hands (or fingers) needed.

But I do miss physical buttons for many controls that became controlled on touch screens.

[Chuck Most]

19 minutes ago, peteski said:

Sure, that was a handy feature 20 years ago, but nowadays you can do  it with voice command.  When I was driving a Tesla not to long ago, I told the car that my feet were cold. It told me that it was directing warm air to the foot-wells.   Bam! Done! Look mom, no hands (or fingers) needed.

But I do miss physical buttons for many controls that became controlled on touch screens.

Wow. The people around you are so tired of hearing how cold you are you had to complain to a Tesla? ?

See, I can just click a button and keep my trap shut. I don't look like a lunatic to other drivers, talking to no one about my cold feet.

 

 

[peteski]

9 minutes ago, Chuck Most said:

Wow. The people around you are so tired of hearing how cold you are you had to complain to a Tesla? ?

See, I can just click a button and keep my trap shut. I don't look like a lunatic to other drivers, talking to no one about my cold feet.

Relax Chuck, The Tesla was a rental my GF rented for a day as a B-day gift for me, and we were just having fun. It was a blast!

As for looking like a lunatic to other drivers, just looks around you while you're driving - probably 5 out of 10 drivers you'll see are either talking on a hands-free phone, singing, or texting.  You wouldn't look like a lunatic to them - they would think you're perfectly normal.  Normal is relative.