Has anyone ever seen (vehicles, joint, German, windshield)

[rlrl]

cars with bizarre equipment before? I mean old cars. For example I remember seeing a 1971 Plymouth Fury III parked at a bus parking lot and it actually had a manual 3 speed transmission column shifter. You could see the clutch pedal on the floor and it just seemed so odd that someone would order such a big boat with such a configuration. I know some of the full sized cars from the late 60's (the low level cars like the Biscayne, Bel Air, Galaxie, Fury I) had those set ups but even those were pretty rare. By around '71 I don't even think such cars could actually be ordered with such standard equipment

And i wondered if that particular car was a V8 engine or a 6 cylinder engine. If it was a 6, I wonder how such a large car got around and if it even felt like a large car on the road.

What type of person would order a car like that with a 6 and manual? What purpose would it serve them??!!

[Filet Mignon]

Originally Posted by rlrl

cars with bizarre equipment before? I mean old cars. For example I remember seeing a 1971 Plymouth Fury III parked at a bus parking lot and it actually had a manual 3 speed transmission column shifter. You could see the clutch pedal on the floor and it just seemed so odd that someone would order such a big boat with such a configuration. I know some of the full sized cars from the late 60's (the low level cars like the Biscayne, Bel Air, Galaxie, Fury I) had those set ups but even those were pretty rare. By around '71 I don't even think such cars could actually be ordered with such standard equipment

And i wondered if that particular car was a V8 engine or a 6 cylinder engine. If it was a 6, I wonder how such a large car got around and if it even felt like a large car on the road.

What type of person would order a car like that with a 6 and manual? What purpose would it serve them??!!

If you're not over 40 (and I suspect you're not), you have no idea what all kinds of cool older vehicles there were!

The old "three on the tree" was VERY common. And they were pretty danged cool too! I grew up driving a 1956 Chevy pickup, with the inline-6, 235ci engine. It had the three on the tree, as well as a starter button on the floor that you pushed with the toe of your right foot. It even had a manual overdrive, the knob mounted under the dash, that you pulled to engage it. Power NOTHING. I would LOVE to have that pickup - bone stock - right now!

Lots of older cars had lots of quirky and cool features. For instance, a lot of the Dodge vehicles had the push-button transmission shifter.


This should be a fun thread for people to reminisce about some of that weird, cool old stuff. Thanks!

[rlrl]

I'm 46. I remember those push button transmissions And some cars had the ignition switch on the left side. We had a 1971 Plymouth Duster that had an emergency brake you pulled out by hand instead of flipping a switch(the Volare and Aspens for 1976 however had the switch releases)

My grandfather had a '65 Dodge Coronet, turqoise, reminded me of a cool spring day.

[Filet Mignon]

Originally Posted by rlrl

I'm 46. I remember those push button transmissions And some cars had the ignition switch on the left side. We had a 1971 Plymouth Duster that had an emergency brake you pulled out by hand instead of flipping a switch(the Volare and Aspens for 1976 however had the switch releases)

My grandfather had a '65 Dodge Coronet, turqoise, reminded me of a cool spring day.

Then you're an old fart too - same age as me!

One of the coolest cars we had was a 1962 Oldsmobile 88. The speedometer changed colors as your accelerated.

Frankly though, I just like all the big chrome knobs all over everywhere. I suppose maybe now it's nostalgia. I also liked the old AM radio, with one speaker in the middle of the dashboard. Tuning in to marginal stations was an art form. Sometimes we could even get WLS out of Chicago, and listen to Wolfman Jack.

[rlrl]

we had a 1966 Ford Galaxie 500 sky blue that started peeling paint. We had it for 9 years and sold it when we bought a 1975 Buick Century Regal(beige, brown vinyl roof), god what a difference!

we had a 1971 Plymouth Duster that was was loaded with extras we didn't order like fold down center armrest with split seats, shag carpeting. it got iced in the blizzard of 2/1978 and the year after the struts broke on us, rendering the car unfixable. we replaced it with a 1980 Chevy Citation(which replaced the Nova)

by the 80's I felt that cars lost their character and that they allseemed to look like each other

[golfgod]

Ahhh, the good old days;

Chevy three speed transmissions that would eat the 3rd gear synchronizer and then constantly pop out of gear.

Ford V-8s from the '50 that must have had valves made out of cardboard. Set them today and they're back rattling tomorrow.

Mechanical fuel pumps,
Vacuum operated windshield wipers,
6 Volt electrical systems,
Spark plugs that lasted a year, if you were lucky,
Always having to check and reset the "points",
Needing to replace rings and bearings before you hit 100K miles,
Ball joints that maybe lasted 3-4 years,
Doing and oil change and lube on an "upper end" (Buick/Olds/Caddy) GM car and having to count each grease fitting to make sure you hit all 20 or so of them!
Big honking V-8s that didn't generate as much power as a 3.5 Liter Nissan V-6 does today,
The awesome, neck snapping, real torquey TWO SPEED automatic transmissions in Fords,
When Toyotas (Toyopets, the first ones I saw) were considered s**t boxes,
When spotting a Mercedes Benz was an EVENT, and they were still considered real good cars, built by Germans, I doubt there's been a "German" on the production floor in 30 years!
When gas cost about 17 cents/gallon, and it was RED.

golfgod

[5chevin5]

The old Corvairs had a strange shift on the dash if I recall?, actually shaped like the ones these days, but smaller.

My old Datsun B210 actually had a back-up beeping sound like a bus, I found that strange for such a tiny car.

5

[caution]

I owned an old truck that had those side vent mirror things. They'd fold out like big wings and pull in air rather than having AC. Those were cool.

I learned to drive with three on the tree, and I ain't all that old.

[rlrl]

remember the 1972 Ford Gran Torino was recalled because of the rear axle was in danger of slipping off? The new Clint Eastwood movie Gran Torino reminded me of that

[drb85650]

Covered these elsewhere I think, but again........
some I actually saw, sat in....
71 Monte Carlo with a straight six and 3 on the tree.
70/71 Gran Prix with a 6 and 3speed automatic on the column, bench seat, no console
71 GTO, special ordered by a 18 year old kid in Denver Colorado....wait for it.....with factory heater delete.
Some I heard of that Burt Chevrolet dealer in Littleton, Colorado supposedly had in his private collection....Opel GT running around with a Vega drivetrain as a test mule.
'54 Bel Air with factory installed 265 V8, another test mule. Never saw'em, just heard "rumors".
What's funny is seeing a ebay ad awhile back for a 75? Nova, "antique"....guy was all stoked about how it even had the dimmer switch on the floor.... Read a post from a guy on another forum talking about restoring his Grannys '86 Celebrity.....
yeah, old I am. 56.