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We periodically see nostalgic threads about the good olds days and how technology has made things obsolete. But if you look back 50 years or so, taking us back in 1965, there are a lot of components that although reshaped or renamed, they are little changed. Some are obvious,
1-Radial tries
2- Wipers
3-Headlights, dome lights, turn signals, brake lights
4-Heater and A/C
5-Gas, gas tank, fuel cap
6-Internal combustion engine in general with parts like spark plugs, pistons and cylinders, cams, camshafts, timing belts/chains, even pushrods
7-Automatic transmission
8-Disc/drum brakes
Basically, what hasn't changed is that they are still driven the same way. They have an accelerator and a brake pedal. Some have a clutch. Turn signals are on a lever on the still used steering wheel. Automatic levers are on the floor or the column and manuals have the lever on the floor. So if you were brought up driving a mid 60's/70's car and have driven nothing but those for years, you will have no problem hopping in a brand new vehicle and driving away. You just may slam the brakes a little hard and turn a little to sharp/fast as modern cars actually stop and turn. And it may take a bit to realize that your high beams aren't on the floor!
The head scratching will start if you have a problem and open the hood!
Most of those have changed quite a bit. Tires today are still tires, of course, but they're a VASTLY improved tire. Even wipers are, I'm sure, better. Headlights now are better, even your basic ones although many cars now are coming with HID or LED lights. Brake lights are way brighter. Go find a VW Bug with the original lights, if you can, if you want to see what crappy brake lights that you can barely see in the daytime look like. Gas in 1965 was leaded. Gas tanks today have vapor collection systems that didn't exist in 1965. Engines are very different, mostly DOHC these days, higher compression, fuel injection, too many changes to name there. The V6 Mustangs of that era had a lot less power than you'd get from an I-4 family sedan, and that was the hot V6. The V6 you'd get in a family sedan was more like the runty 1.2 you get in a Spark nowadays. Automatic transmissions were two or three speeds, nowadays you're hard pressed to find a four speed automatic. Most are five or six although increasingly it's switching over to CVTs.
There is 1 part that is universal to almost every car ever made, the Schrader valve
Good one. Didn't even think of that one. Even there, however, nowadays there's TPMS sensors so even they have changed so they can connect with the TPMS.
And all it took to replace the steering wheel with a sporty one was to remove that big nut. Did that on every car I bought.
You still needed a stearing wheel puller to get it off.
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