https://www.caranddriver.com/features/g27557833/old-school-car-features/
Do you remember these features in your car (or your parents’ car) that new drivers today may never see?
That just made me feel very old. :neutral: Too old for my three kids to all still be too young to be in college.
My three vehicles are all at least 10 years old. I had plans to drive a friend’s car a couple of months ago and took along a few CDs to listen to on the ride. When she saw me and said her brand new car did not have a CD player, I didn’t really believe it until I sat inside and realized the truth. What is this world coming to?
CD old school??? My first car had an 8-track!! Only one I could find was The Best of Bread!!! This was like 1986; car was a 1971 Chevy Nova.
Our '99 Windstar that we drove until two years ago had manual locks (a physical key!), velour interior, and just the manufacturer’s radio, no CD player, but we did get that fancy FM. Our son grew up with this car. Last summer, he bought an old, manual transmission Mustang as his first car.
I’m still trying to get the hang of all the extraneous electronics on this new car…
The article mentions track seatbelts, but I’m sure most of us remember the halcyon days of no seatbelts.
@NJWrestlingmom , our first car was a Nova from the late 60s so not even an 8track player!
One of our cars still has several of these things. And even our new car has AM radio.
I’m surprised they didn’t mention cigarette lighters.
And ashtrays.
Even a real spare tire is becoming a rare commodity.
Yes 8 tracks in the Chevy Nova… Lol… Loved that car. Think I had everything on the list at one point…
My husbands 17 year old Toyota Corolla still has manual locks which no one ever remembers to lock. It also has manual windows, a CD Player, a physical key, a hand brake, and a manual transmission. We always replace those weird tires with a real spare tire.
Kids who will be born 20 years from now probably won’t recognize the steering wheel we have in our cars today.
Our new car has physical keys. And AM radio. Don’t most cars have the latter?
For the most part, I think we’re in a better place with car options than these, so no regrets for the young’ens! 
One physical thing I was attracted to was the old styling windows - like the side vent window. I liked the way that looked and I still think they could have purpose.
I miss vent windows!
Learned to drive on my mother’s 1973 Chevy Impala. It was light green with a dark green vinyl roof. I remember waxing the car and rubbing a special treatment on the roof to keep it from flaking and drying.
Husband’s 2015 Wrangler has manual windows and manual transmission.
I didn’t have to look too far to find most of these things – just out in the driveway!
My car is starting on its 19th year but is a deluxe model with electric door locks and windows. My daughter’s (which was my mother’s) same HOnda accord, has the crank windows and ‘self lock’ system (pushing the button down). The radios are AM/FM, cassette AND CD players, all in one. They have a cigarette lighter-type thing that you can use to charge a phone if you have the old adapter.
My brother has several VW buses and the bells and whistles are absent. In most of them there isn’t even an AM radio.
My grandfather had a Dodge that had push buttons instead of a gear shifter
My last car still had the crank windows, manual locks, and a tape deck, but I remember most of those things. My parents always had the oldest, ugliest cars in the neighborhood. Our van was held together with duct tape for many years.
I learned how to drive in my parents’ '76 Impala. It was a tank. My sister hit our house/garage and a recliner (in the middle of I66) with it, and it was fine. After it was 20-30 years old, they gave it to a guy who entered it into a demolition derby. It not only won… It drove away!
I thought the choke in our 1976 Honda Civic was magic! And it had an after-market cassette player.
My 2003 Odyssey had both a cassette player and a CD player. My 2017 Subaru Outback has a CD player, for which I am grateful.
I still have a car without any hand cranks for the windows, because there aren’t any windows at all. And no radio. :lol:
@twoinanddone - My late grandmother’s 1964 Plymouth Valiant with pushbutton gears saw two of my sisters through college and me through grad school. What a great car!
My list:
A side to side speedometer
Light knob that you pulled out
Metal surfaces anywhere in the car
Rear seats that didn’t fold down
AM only radio, with one speaker in the middle
No air conditioning (excepting Canada and Europe)
No air bags
Seat belts without tensioners
Separate Lap and Shoulder belts
Independently controlled vent, defrost, and floor air
No beeping and warning lights
Anything less than a 6 speed transmission
A gas cap with no door
No TPMS
No cupholders except the flimsy one that came out of the dash
Bench seats.
A cigarette lighter
An engine that you could work on without a diagnostic computer
A non-pickup vehicle that didn’t resemble an egg