There are so many things I miss these days.
I miss having a presidential candidate that is as ruthless and cunning as Richard Nixon.
I miss stuffing my mouth with sweets and having a body that can absorb endless hours of athletic abuse.
I even miss a lot of the comedians from days gone by. From Red Skelton to Chris Farley. Even the Charlie Chaplin and Groucho Marx flicks always find their way to my home every month or so.
We always can use more laughter after all. But what about cars? What prophetic trends from our automotive past deserve a second coming?
Should the Yugo have been given the opportunity to evolve into something that was … well… a bit more enduring?
Do French cars need to be reconsidered by the American public at large? If so, will Renault have to remain content with marketing their cars under a pseudo-Japanese veneer? Or can Americans finally look at Renaults, Peugeots and Citroens as cars worth keeping.
Why do minivans and midsized station wagons get so little love these days? Is it because of a lack of good choices in today’s market ? Or have they truly been surpassed by the CUV, the SUV, and whatever you think a Crosstour should be called?
Will our descendants look back at the GTO and Prius with admiration and a tinge of envy? Or will it be the Trailblazers, the Monte Carlos, and the Azteks?
Okay. The last one was a bit of a stretch. But the question remains. What in today’s car market do you truly miss?
Writer’s Note: You can feel free to list features instead of models. In fact, you can even throw in the stalwarts of yesteryear. Would you love it if Soichiro Honda came back and took control of his company? Should Roger Smith have one more chance to turn GM into a synchronized hell march? The question is all yours folks, “What in today’s car market do you truly miss?”
The Crosstour should be called “Cancelled”. Kill it with fire, send the ashes into the sun and pray for a supernova.
They’re already bringing out an I4 model – just drop it a couple inches, throw on some normal sized wheels and tires, and tack on the front end from the regular Accord. Hell, if a stick found its way in there (like you can already get on the sedan), even if it meant giving up AWD, I’d be happy.
What I’m saying is that I want another Accord hatchback.
The Crosstour is one of the few cars that allow for easy sleeping in the back. The rear seats fold down to give a truly flat surface long enough to plop down a camping mat on; an achievement very few other cars can boast. To go along with that, enough ground clearance to get a bit off the highway for sleeping is not such a bad thing. On a thru drive, it beats the heck out of wasting an hour or more looking for, checking into and out if some ratty motel.
I miss Honda and the German companies’ engineering-first attitude from the 90s. It’s a little less fun to be passionate about brands that you know are just seeing you as a paycheck.
You couldn’t possibly ever have actually done any work on any 90’s german car if you really miss them…
And no car manufacturer have ever given their cars away as charity (with a slight exception of the Porsche 959) You were always just a paycheck :)
Comparing the minor work I could do on my E39 versus my current BMW is night and day to me. And my old Acura integra was equally a good balance of DIY and high tech. The 80s and before were simple because they were simple, if you get what I mean. My old 80s Saab and 70s Volvo were a bit too straightforward and basic to work on.
BMW, Mercedes and Honda have all seem to have picked up the same cheapening of material or methods, so that when you do poke around, you’re disappointed by the lack of art and quality under the surface. I wasn’t disappointed in this way in the 90s.
Type57SC:
Have you seen an Audi engine block? High AL content and polished. They’re beautiful. And they’re way beneath the surface. Most people probably don’t bother to look, but it’s a joy to watch one get disassembled.
Have you lifted the hood of a Boss 302? Gorgeous. Solstice GXP? Same thing. The entire Solstice’s construction is just cool to pour over.
Look at Mazda’s SKYACTIVE. Cool stuff.
I know it doesn’t address BMW/Honda, but who cares about them? Look at what they did for the competition and enjoy it as a consumer.
The GXP’s engine is many things, but beautiful is not one of them unless it’s some other Ecotec I don’t know about.
I guess clam shell hoods and high pressure duct work don’t do it for you.
I miss cab-forward design… and the sheer goodness of the ’90-’93 Accord.
Agree completely with the 4th generation accord. When I first drove the coupe version (after owning Mustangs), I was blown away. I haven’t purchased a car from the Big 2.5 since.
If they made one today without the motorized seat belts, I would probably still buy one.
My 1992 LX 2-door was spared the motorized belts, thanks to a driver-side airbag. But the 1990 I learned to drive on had them.
More or less agreed, not the easiest car to work on, but if my 1990 CB7 had been a wagon not a sedan, I wouldn’t have sold it. Turning radius wasn’t very good though, not even compared to a semi…
Agreed on both counts.
Correct me if I am wrong since I do not think I have ever sat in a Honda Accord outside a junkyard and you have more experience with them than I do.
While the 1990-1993s do look nice I actually like the 1986-1989s more because they came in hatchback form and also had those cool looking pop up headlights.
I prefer the 3rd and 5th generation Accord too. My experience with the 4th generation was limited to one with automatic belts though. When I adjusted the seat for sufficient leg and head room, the belt crossed four inches ahead of the side of my chest nearest the door, which didn’t feel reassuring and put a damper on the experience of driving or riding in the car. I also considered the black dashboard to be too much of a blatant E30 crib when even first generation Accord had dashboards color coordinated to interiors. BMW was only doing it to save money anyway.
Nostalgia colors my judgment a bit on the 90-93s. The 3rd generation was sharp as well (I like the pop-up lights too, so very Eighties!) though I’ve never driven one. I never cared for the styling – inside or out – of the 5th generation, though they drove much the same as the earlier versions.
Of course they were far from perfect. Oddly, both my parents’ ’90 and my ’92 had many of same maladies on common — broken temperature knobs and door handle surrounds (super glue to the rescue), busted power antennas, and warped digital clock housings. The alternator on the ’90 was replaced at 75,000 miles under a recall; mine failed at 82K, and was (surprisingly) covered by Honda.
I could be wrong, but I could swear that the dashboards on both the ’90 (grey interior) and ’92 (burgundy) were coordinated to the interior colors. The only black I recall in both were the steering wheels, and the actual instrument binnacle. (Edit – A quick Google Images search showed both grey and red LX dashboards, like ours, as well as a black dash/tan interior combination on the EX.)
I’m partial to the 5th generation car, since I learned to drive in one, but I’ll second the notion that it drove and felt a lot like the 4th gen. I consider it the last true Accord, as the ’98 model dramatically increased in size and power, but also suffered from decontenting (although not as bad as the ’97 Camry). The ’76-’97 cars were real gems, displaying a level of sophistication and attention to detail no competitor could match. The 6th gen Accord was still excellent (I owned one for awhile), but it felt like a step down compared to the older cars. The ’03-’07 is very much the same, just in an uglier package, while the ’08+ flat-out sucks.
To answer your question on the 1986-89 Accords, I had the US 4 door sedan LX-I fitted with the fuel injected 2.0L 4 with something like 120hp and a 5spd manual.
I found it a fun car, but its size was such that its off the line launch was not nearly as sprightly as my 83 Civic with about 1/3 the hp but it was a fun car to drive and was reasonably sporty for what was more or less a more sedate car than the design ethos of the Civic, which was more sporty overall.
They were very nice cars for their day and comfy to drive and were good on long trips too. I just wished the AC worked in mine but it was fully equipped otherwise.
However, I’d take a similar vintage Civic over the Accord any day, or better yet, the same vintage Integra over it even.
The ’80s Accords also had a low beltline and a tall greenhouse that made them more airy and spacious. A driver could see everything around him.
I had a 98 that was indestructible. not the prettiest thing, but awesomely put together.
I always heard the 92 Corolla was one of the most reliable cars ever (of modern, volume priced cars)
Sure do miss my ’87 Accord LX-I 3-door manual. One of the best-driving cars I’ve had, and I got it to 190,000 miles before a mechanic advised me not to drive it home after an oil change, since everything underneath was so rusted out from 11 years of WI and MN winters. I still drove it for a few more months until a hailstorm totaled it out. Good luck on my part. Instead of $75 bucks at the junkyard, I got a decent check from the insurance company.
I need to get myself another manual. They were fun.
Cab-forward +1. I still think the 96-00 Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge minivans were the best-looking minivans ever (I had two of them), and I also had a 95 Stratus whose design looks modern even today.
I’ll miss my ’91 Integra 1.8 Sedan. Light weight, great suspension, acres of glass.
Just Right. Just Right Power. Just Right space. Just Right trunk. Just Right steering. Wonderful car.
Until some jerk stole it.
I miss my ’93 Integra hatch. Just right. pushed like crazy, but it was still fun to balance at it’s limit. Rear seat passangers were usually not happy though…
Until some drunk ran a red and killed it.
full size Buick sedans.
There are still some new Lucernes remaining for sale, aren’t there?
RWD, two door hardtops with useable backseats.
Man, I like how you think! ++++++1!
I agree with that too 100%, preferably with a low enough beltline that I can hang my elbow out the open window. Also, vent windows and “cowl vents”, so you can get some fresh air when the windows are closed without requiring a blower motor running.
I don’t miss my old 2drHt with usable back seat………..I still have it. 1967 Pontiac Catalina Ventura 2drHt. Check my avatar.
I miss a simple brick-like station wagon. I have a 1996 Volvo 850 turbo wagon and am afraid of having to replace it. There simply isn’t a decent replacement for it these days.
Factory decal packages
Simple, yet elegant, style ( 2001 Audi S8 ). Cars with fewer electronics than Mission Control. Cars you car repair yourself. Two-tone paint jobs.
I just miss a decent huge cheap wagon, preferably rwd, with no useless gadgets, but maybe with a decent engine,and a manual transmission. Something like a mid 60’s mid-size (by American standards) wagon. maybe even with just three doors, so you know what the kids are up to, and can lean your elbow out the window.
http://bringatrailer.com/wp-content/plugins/PostviaEmail/images/1964_Ford_Falcon_Station_Wagon_For_Sale_Front_resize.jpg
I was thinking about a Volvo 940 wagon an ex had while reading the recent Volvo 760 article. It was a box on wheels with an interior that was completely expendable in its cheapness and lack of style. We used it as the utility vehicle that it was until its demise with over 210,000 miles. It had barely enough power, even with the 16 valve engine, but it took years of abuse without puking its oil onto the street. The automatic transmission clunked off shifts like a Ford, but it didn’t turn into a box of neutrals. When it finally died, in a crash and after having been relegated to a second car, she replaced it with an XC70 as a dog and garbage hauler. The XC70 died of natural causes at 5 years of age, and my ex is no longer a potential Volvo wagon buyer. Even before it expired, the XC70 was never as useful as the 940. I wish someone made something like the 940 today, but the MSRP today would be about $40K, and I can’t see many people paying that kind of money for a wagon with the sophistication and rattles of an Econoline van.
Heck, I’d settle for a CamCord or Fusion wagon as long as it wasn’t some ridiculous retro-styled beast aimed at maximizing the cute factor. Form follows function.
I miss small utilitarian pickup trucks. Something like a pre-2004 Tacoma or Ranger, extended cab, with a 4 cylinder, 4 wheel drive and manual transmission.
cpu
Isn’t the Ranger pretty much the same today as it was pre-2004? Maybe the 4cyl manual doesn’t offer a 4wd option, but they didn’t really update the Ranger platform at all in the last 8 years from what I’ve heard.
I think he means “Ranger or pre-2004 Tacoma”
I used to own an ’89 Ranger. That was a good little pickup. My father bought a c. 2000 Ranger–that thing is so bad that it killed all my interest in Ford. It took the ’12 Focus to finally get me to look at them again.
I miss two things:
Cars that had a personality – rather than cars that are an electronic appliance on wheels.
Cars that you could actually work on yourself – where you could see the engine when you opened the hood and you could actually figure out what was wrong with it without needing a computer. Drive by wire sucks.
I miss the excitement of new cars at the dealership. They used to have the search lights out
illuminating the night sky. I remember the 63′ Vette at the dealer like it was yesterday. The split window, the fake grills and generally just how absolutely cool it was. As a ten year old
it rivaled the XKE for the best car.
Blazers, Ram Chargers, & Broncos (real ones, soccer moms not allowed)
Cab forward
V8 rwd personal luxury couples that aren’t German and don’t cost $90,000.
4-door convertibles like the ’60s Lincolns
Simple, single cab stepside trucks w/manual transmissions and bench seats.
Small, light, reasonably priced 4 cyl. coupes like the Celica of the 70s.
A Civic two-door hatchback
Subaru Brats
Chrysler mid-60s style
I miss a few models, especially those from their prime … The thunderbird and cougar when they actually were different cars. The non bloated early mercedes SL’s, the ranger, the Acura legend coupe, and the kharman ghia.
More than anything I miss cars that you could work on yourself without needing a laptop and tinker toys. I am not sure I would ever go back to adjusting carbs and points at this stage in my life, but the advancements have made it a lot harder for a dad to teach his kids the ins and outs of a car with real hands on 9/16th’s socket wrench knowledge.
My grandfather could fix anything with bailing wire and duct tape, both because he knew how and you could.
My dad rebuilt engines with help from him because it was necessary, and you could. I learned from them both. They are gone now, and after my first transaxel rebuild nightmare, I make appointments at the repair shop, because I can.
I miss station wagons.
My father bought a 1981 Ford Escort wagon on his 50th birthday. I want to buy a Ford Focus wagon on my 50th birthday in 2014, but Ford won’t let me.
As James Earl Jones used to proclaim, “choices” from his famous yellow page ads. A 69 coronet gave you interior choices of gold, white, black, green, red, or blue. No dull grey or dull tan like todays default choices. A 70 cuda could be had with a 340, 340 six pak, 383, 426 hemi, 440, or 440 sixpak. GM and Ford were the same way. Boy, those were the days.
I personally miss the two or three tones factory colors. Today only Bentleys and Bugattis offer those, and they look good with it. I wish they were available on lesser cars too. Don’t work with every kind of cars, but on more traditional car shapes, and on bigger cars with tall sides (minivans, SUVs, crossovers) they ought to look good.
Oh, and tall greenhouses with slim pillars and lots of glass area.
A variety of color in interiors. Red. Aquamarine. Green. Blue. Hell, just ANY choices besides the same old black, gray or mouse-poop beige. I am glad to see a return to white in recent years.
A la carte options lists instead of packages. If I’m ordering new, I should be able to have any and all options listed without having to load down the car with crap I don’t need or want. A sunroof, decent seats & upholstery, manual transmission, whatever colors I desire inside and out; keep the trip computers, power windows, AWD and 31-way power seats well away, thanks.
No mysterious black box data recorders. It’s my damned car… just who is in control here, anyway?
Visibility, all around. When I’m on a road trip, I want to see the world, not the inside of my car. A pox on gun slit windows and high-assed trunks that you can’t see over!
Individually repairable components. Having to scrap a modular unit that is 95% usable because 5% is broken is wasteful, expensive and irritating.
Actually, when it’s all said and done, just make me a new 1981 Volvo 245 and I’ll be happy. A man can dream, can’t he?
+1. The Fake Luxury item below reminded me of all of the choices we used to get. You want smooth leather, tufted leather, velour, corduroy, plaid, stripes, denim? Paint in every color of the rainbow? Painted wheels with trim rings, styled steel wheels, signature wheel covers that were different with each make? You want your car to reflect your personality and taste? Gotta go back to the 70s.
+1 on every item you listed!
I’ll add to this list: rear wheel drive without having to go luxury (more choices than just the Charger/300 please), wagons, reasonably-sized wheels/tires (and if they’re steel, even better), and gauges – real honest analog non-idiot oil/water press/temp, volts/amps, etc.
Even BMW which used to be good about offering options a la carte has now made some unavailable except as part of a package.
+100500 on options packages.
As for the Volvo of your dreams, they are available in Japan with LHD, some paltry 30-60K on the odo, and in toppest nick imaginable. You can invest in switching them to manual – doing so with pre-CAN-BUS/Pentium-on-wheels old motors is pretty straightforward – and you are set.
http://www.carsensor.net/usedcar/detail/CU0662991355/index.html?TRCD=200002
I miss the BMWs designed before German reunification. I want back gearing chosen to complement the performance of the engine instead of chosen to work on a dynometer without consideration for aerodynamic drag or weight. How about pickup trucks where the bed is the reason instead of an afterthought? I’ve been shopping for a long bed pickup truck. We’re going to wind up with way more truck than we need, because manufacturers assume nobody buys a small or half ton truck in order to haul stuff.
I miss excellent outward visibility, and being surrounded by glass rather than hunkered down in a steel bathtub.
http://www.netcarshow.com/honda/1986-accord_sedan/800×600/wallpaper_04.htm
I miss how lightweight cars used to be.
I miss stereos (“head units”) that you could figure out without consulting the manual.
Nixon? Gimme a break.
Compared to Nixon, today’s politicians are pretty boring.
If you don’t like the Nixon reference, I’ll suggest Tip O’Neill – he kept things fun.
I miss beltlines around my elbows. Pillars I could wrap my hand around because they just had to keep the glass up instead of the airbags in.
I miss big, loud, bouncy trucks for men. Instead of refrigerators full of airbags for women.
I miss checking six for a cruiser before running a red light at night. Instead of just waiting the three minutes all alone because there’s a camera on the pole.
I miss chrome. Hood ornaments. Rear wheel fairings. Tail fins. Angles. Cars you could tell apart in the dark.
I don’t miss the mechanic one bit.
I miss our ’87 Civic wagon. You can’t believe how much stuff would fit in that little car. My wife could find a comfortable driving position, yet so could I because the roof was high.
Like others, I miss real color choices (it’s getting hard to even find green with many cars) and 2 or even 3 tone paint jobs. Is it really too much to ask for an aquamarine car with a white roof and aquamarine upholstery?
Bumpers that actually worked like the ones on my 1987 Caprice.
Speaking of which, I miss vehicles like my 1987 Caprice Estate and sure the Chevrolet Traverse is the 21st Century version, but it is ugly as pedophilia.
I miss crank windows, low belt line, and non-bloated vehicles.
Thing is my 95 Voyager has these features I like so I actually do not miss anything, just wish the bumpers were more robust.
I had a 1987 Caprice Estate. If I had gone to Arizona instead of Wisconsin for grad school, I might still have it. If I ever find another one (or a B-body Impala coupe), rust-free, I might well buy it. Those chrome bumpers were impregnable.
My current H6 Outback wagon is the closest I’ve come to that Caprice, but the body-color bumpers have already led to an expensive repair from my being rear-ended on the freeway that wouldn’t have affected the Caprice one bit.
I miss interior colors. I miss tough base vinyl interiors and naughahide, I do miss airy interiors.
I miss metal.
Metal dashboards, big metal bumpers that I can hit shit with and not damage (my) vehicle. I miss transfer cases with actual levers. I miss sold axles, I miss coil-over A-arm suspensions. I miss dimmer switches on the floor.
AND VENT WINDOWS!!!!!
Curb feelers.
I am very young compared to some of the B&B here. My dad had a ’92 Nissan Maxima that went through many control arms for some reason. But I learned driving using that car; had many interesting moments in it. It let me experience what 200km/h felt like at the age of 16 (empty road, of course). Dynamically it wasn’t as great as it was advertised to be in 1992 (4 Door Sports Car or 4DSC, apparently). Although that probably had to with the fact that it was on Pizza delivery duty and was maintained on a shoestring budget.
I guess my point is that I miss that car. Yeah it probably wasn’t the best car around, but its the experiences that count.
And now I own the next generation Maxima, 1998, maintained on a university student budget.
I know Steven posted this to find out general things that the B&B miss, but I just added my personal bit.
Oh, and I see most people commenting on what car they miss in the market. I am going on a tangent: I miss the good days when we could buy gas for $0.65 /litre [Canadian]. I’m sure others here can go much beyond my experiences from as late as 2002.
I miss good sightlines out of vehicles. The trend of high beltlines has ruined this!
+1 Low beltlines and better visibility are safety items. They’ve been abandoned for, as far as I can tell, “style”.
I’ll be preemptive here and say that I miss a car that was a car and not a cell phone with wheels.
I miss mutant minisports. Shove the most powerful engine you can fit into your lightest $#!+box and give it just enough handling and stability upgrades to keep it mostly on the ground. Make sure some kid who married right out of high school and is working a trade can afford one and ignore the threats of cannibalized sales from the bean counters.
I miss wagon variants from sedans. Even if they must all be a factory order, offer an extended roof version.
I miss paint to sample for special orders; unless it’s the refinishing aftermarket, current automobile color forecasts and analysis have zero relevance apart from underscoring how clueless and conservative in-house color selections are. I shouldn’t be forced into a $#!+box or sports car in order to have a full spectrum of vibrant colors to choose from.
I don’t miss comprehensive European automobile service and support networks as they have never existed in this country.
I miss cars painted and upholstered more than 1 color. Stop the slavish worship of monochromatic metallic finishes and look at houses for an idea of what people want. Walk through neighborhoods filled with permanent upkeep Victorians, Edwardians and turn-of-century houses and marvel at their multicolored gaiety, then go back and offer those color combinations for the exterior and interior. And train your stylists to work on multicolor-friendly designs.
I miss the ability to easily import automobiles. Now that safety and emissions standards differ in name only, barriers to entry simply serve to underscore just how little freedom the car buying public has.
Pickup bed on a car chassis. Bring back the Ranchero!
You mean proper utes they are still about just Americans dont want them
Not that it hasn’t already been noted, but add my vote to those pining for COLOR. I’m sick and tired of the vast sea of Gray cars (includes white (lightest gray), silver (light metallic gray), and black (darkest gray), in addition to all the other muted tones!)
Choices of interior colors beyond black, gray and beige would be nice also!
Why can’t we get Cadillacs and MBs in light yellow, like the 60s and 70s? Where are all the green cars? We need more brown and copper and purple in the parking lots, and yes, two-tone as options.
I miss actually getting a proper key with your car instead of getting a button on the dash.
And I miss Saab ;)
First off, I miss the original Acura Integra (1986-1989), in the RS (top trim) with sunroof and a manual, make mine either red or the blue on blue (similar to the original blue used on the first gen Accord). Dad test drove an ’86 once but decided it was too much cost wise. I loved it for its sporty styling and the very mid 80’s styling cues that were common (quite wedge like and angular).
I just miss the much of the design aesthetics of the 1980’s and of much of New Wave music that quite prevalent early in the decade.
I miss the first 2 generations of the Honda Civic
I miss the first generation especially of the Accord (make mine blue on blue or perhaps the red that made its debut in 1978).
I miss the relative straight forwardness of the small cars of the past in so far as their size and with many having an emphasis on driving.
I miss the more distinct variations of cars back then, also of the various interior colors too.
Miss the MKII Celica/Supras, which was my most favorite of the Celica/Supra model.
I miss the fact that life was once less angst ridden, that people dared to step out design wise, I miss the fact that the early 80’s embraced the art deco design elements and folded it into the overall look of the period.
I miss 2 tone and tri tone colors on cars, as well as the more pastel/fruity colors so common in the 50’s, such as chartreuse, yellow, black, coral (beeswax), gray, and a brownish gray called putty (VW used a 2 tone color scheme around 1957 that was called beeswax and putty, or a variation of a pinky coral and putty gray), along with other fun colors.
I miss Mid Century architecture and interior designs, I miss Googie coffee shop architecture
I would love to see something like the Yugo (but better equipped) come back to the US and yes, bring back the French cars as today, they are less odd than they used to be and it seems they are less likely to be super reliable than they were in the past.
I have a soft spot for quirky designs, but feel that they should not be exclusive of being reliable too.
I miss the old late 70’s Mazda GLC and have its later predecessor, the Protege5 now as my daily driver.
I had an ’87 Integra that I bought new right out of high school. It was a red manual LS (which was the top trim and the RS was the base model). I put well over 200K miles on that car and it was awesome. I thought I’d repeat the same magic in late 2003 with a 2004 TL 6 speed but the magic was clearly gone. Nowhere near as reliable and the maintenance costs were prohibitive. I still miss my old Integra.
LS it was then, thanks, I keep getting those mixed up. :-)
Love that era a lot from a styling POV.
I miss the thick leather hides used for car seats back in the day. A buddy of mine and I recently parted out a 50 year old T-Bird and the seats were still in near pristine condition. You’d never see that sort of longevity with modern paper thin split leather seating. I swear the vinyl paint coating them is thicker than the hides themselves.
A neighbor of mine is selling a 1st-gen Lexus LS400, in good shape except for the seats that have been trashed. I’d buy it if I knew I could get good replacements without a lot of trouble. When did leather seats cease to be a premium option? (Is it all cheap Chinese leather like you’d get on a $50 briefcase at Staples?)
If you’re willing to pay for the good stuff you should be able to get a uppolstery shop to it. How thick do you want it to be and how much do you want to spend?
I miss the early 1970’s before the malaise set in before the end of the decade. Specifically I miss the choice of cars we had back then. You could get American cars with all sorts of color and engine/transmission combinations, Japanese cars were small, cheap and well made, German cars were beautifully engineered and reliable, and you could even get French cars in the US market, ah those were the days.
I miss being able to rest my arm on the window sill while driving. I miss vent windows. I miss rear windows that roll all the way down. I miss concealed headlights. I miss being able to open the hood and seeing the engine in all it’s glory. I miss being able to drive for more than 5 seconds without some god awful chime reminding me to put my seatbelt on. I miss proper ashtrays too.
The CRX and F-150s with a manual tranny.
1+ for the CRX. That is the concept that could work today. Think of a two seater FT 86 with a hatch. That would be the bomb.
By far the best and most fun car I ever had.
Full size cars. And I don’t just mean a somewhat large Chrysler that is the same length as a Chevy Lumina. I mean big (at the very least, 115″ wheelbase, 210″ length, 75″ wide), and then how about a true luxury car (130″ wheelbase, 230″ length, 80″ wide)? One that doesn’t cost $300,000. Rear wheel drive. V8. Huge front and rear overhangs. Bench seats. Column shifters. Velour sofas, not metal frames with leather stretched over them. I want a car that floats over the road like a yacht and was designed by a company who has never even heard the word “handling”. I’m only 22, but for the longest time I looked forward to the day I could afford a new car, and could walk into the Mercury dealership and order a maroon Grand Marquis built just for me. Now that day will never come, and based on the way things are going, I’ll never buy a new car since there are none on the market that interest me at all.
Colors. Lots of colors. I want the full page 40 different color list of a ’60s Imperial, not the 20 different shades of silver and one midnight blue that you see today. In fact, just get rid of black, silver, and white all together. And interior colors! Get rid of black. Bring back white, red, blue, green, and maybe a few others. You might as well keep tan and gray, since there are some cases where those colors work well. And while we are at it, how about custom paint colors? These days only companies like Rolls-Royce will let you choose your own color, but I’ve heard tales of a day when many companies like Cadillac would let you do that too.
Station wagons (big ones, with room for at least 8. And a rear facing third seat, so I can watch the traffic go by). Tinted windows (just a light blue-green tint, not the blackout windows that are standard these days). Fender-top fiber optic lamp indicators, not overly complicated error prone computer systems. Cornering lamps. Extremely wide horizontal speedometers. A two knob, five button radio. Hardtop coupes (ones that I could afford, not a $160,000 Mercedes, beautiful though it may be). Hardtop sedans (I seem to be one of the only people who prefers them to coupes). Cars styled by an artist, not a wind tunnel (specifically cars styled by Virgil Exner, Harley Earl, Elwood Engel, or Bill Mitchell). I’m just guessing here, since I’m too young to have driven one yet, how about a straight six or straight eight engine? V12? V16? Tailfins. Suicide doors. A dashboard without a tachometer.
How about a high quality dashboard? Its been over 40 years since metal dashboards were phased out, and just now companies are finally starting to figure out how to make plastic dashboards that don’t look completely awful. Why not bring back metal dashboards? Isn’t the whole point of the seat belt and airbag to keep you from hitting the dash?
Visibility. Oh, visibility! How is it that my car, with its tiny rear window, enormous blind C pillar and thick B pillar still has infinitely better visibility than any post-1990s car I’ve ridden in? It can’t just be the low profile headrests, can it? There’s got to be more to it than that, right? I have a feeling the only reason Mercedes spends so much money on their robotic crash avoidance technologies is because such an alarmingly high number of accidents were caused when their customers couldn’t see through any of the windows.
Mercury. Plymouth. DeSoto. And most of all Oldsmobile. My first car was a 1984 Ninety-Eight Regency, and recently my sister got my grandfather’s old Cutlass Ciera, and if Oldsmobile was still around today they would have a new lifelong customer (brand loyalty may be illogical at times, but when a car is built well it makes sense).
As bad as it sounds, planned obsolescence. I’ve never liked that phrase, because it implies that the cars weren’t built to last. That brand new Cadillac won’t be obsolete next year, it will be just as high tech as the new ones. It just won’t be as fashionable. But I want a new car design every year, and a totally new car every three or so years. Maybe if we hadn’t switched to 5+ year model runs we would have already passed the aerodynamics fad and moved on to bigger and better things.
And how about “Fake Luxury”? While it may not have the true ultra-high quality materials and craftsmanship of a 60s Imperial or Cadillac, a Chevrolet Caprice is still a very luxurious car. Exclusivity can be nice, but it has absolutely nothing to do with luxury. Relatively few people in the world are homeless, but you don’t see anyone jumping on that bandwagon just to be exclusive. Luxury by definition is comfort, and what’s more luxurious, a large, quiet, roomy sedan with sofa seats, air conditioning, and power everything that will last hundreds of thousands of miles with minimal upkeep, or a small, cramped car that spends most of its time in the repair shop but just so happens to have very high quality leather on its hard seats and a slightly better stereo system? Just like the 1930s, true luxury these days is only available to the ultra-rich. The masses may have gained power windows, automatic transmissions, and air conditioning, but if you want a big, quiet, calm, comfortable luxury car these days your only option is a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
Wow, that’s a long rant, but then again you asked for it. I feel like I might be missing a few things, but that should be enough for now…
Oh, and to answer one of the actual questions, sure being the French cars over. Specifically (and I realize this car isn’t made anymore) I’d love to get my hands on a Renault Avantime. If I can’t have a huge Oldsmobile hardtop coupe, a two door hardtop minivan with an enormous sunroof would do just fine. Also, I’d like to be able to buy a Citroën C6 in the US, since those supposedly have the smooth, luxurious ride I like, and supposedly the painfully beautiful Citroën Metropolis will go into production soon.
Town Car
Hell, Escalade/Navigator – if you’re not the slightest bit concerned about handling, that higher centre of gravity isn’t really a problem. Admittedly, they trade most pretenses of style for utility, but they are equally brash and luxurious.
SUVs owe all of their popularity to the demise of the full-size car. They only became popular when people could no longer get a roomy V8 rear wheel drive car. And while they may be large, they aren’t really luxurious, or safe. I may like my cars to “roll” around corners, but I don’t want them to actually fall over. I’ve never ridden in a luxury SUV, but from all the other trucks, SUVs, and vans that I’ve ridden in, I can’t imagine that they have a smooth ride (especially not with those low profile tires). And while the Escalade or Navigator may be brash, brash doesn’t have anything to do with luxury. I want a calm, unpretentious luxury car, like the ’90s Cadillac Fleetwood or late model Town Car.
Also, while I love station wagons, they have no place in a luxury company’s lineup. Luxury cars are sleek and formal, while station wagons (and SUVs by extension) are utilitarian. A luxury SUV is like a tuxedo with cargo pants and a hood. No thanks.
The 1500-series Chevy Suburban (from 2000 and up) has a very good ride. I rode in one a couple years ago, and my thought was “So this is what a modern version of a big Caddy would have been”. It sort of glided over bumps and didn’t float like an old Detroit luxobarge.
That particular truck did *not* have 20 inch wheels, it had the stock wheels which were probably 17 inches and were shod with tires with a pretty generous sidewall.
Thin A and B pillars. Headlight bright/dim switches on the floor. Real metal interior trim on cars under 50k.
I miss those high beam switches.
And as much as I’ve liked having a sporty round speedo on every car I’ve owned since ’86 I think I’m ready to go back to the horizontal speedo like in my old Catalina. Differentiating between 25mph and 30mph on a round speedo that goes up to 160mph is more trouble than it should be.
I miss writers who knew how to spell Red Skelton’s name . . . . ;-)
And Hot Hatches and Super Minis that actually impressed you with amazing interior packaging and great gas mileage.
I always thought his last name was Skeleton. Change made…
For what it’s worth, I miss automobiles with low belt lines, thin door and window pillars and good visibility. I hope that comment about Richard Nixon was in jest, as I would have to seriously question the judgement of anyone who misses that crook.
No one needs to miss a candidate as ruthless and cunning as Nixon when we got Newt Gingrich! Actually I hear he is more ruthless and cunning like Regan…sorry couldn’t resist.
Back on topic, this goes back a few years but when I first test drove an e46 coupe I was amazed at how big the windows were and how much I could see. I was coming from a 98 accord and recently test drove a 350Z (probably the worst visibility of any car I’ve ever driven)
I miss interior color variety. Where are those bordello red interiors from the 70’s? I had a ’96 Explorer with a blue interior that was awesome. Blue dash, blue seats, carpet, the works. I’d kill for that again.
I had a Citroen CX once, and while it wasn’t a reliable car by any stretch it was at least different from everything else. I’d love the option to buy a new Renault or Citroen in the US. French cars aren’t to everybody’s taste, but that’s a good thing, IMO. At least they’re willing to take risks and do something interesting instead of focus-group their cars to death.
Small pickups would be nice, and I’ve got a soft spot for T-tops too.
I miss full throttle upshifts(auto trans) that would bark the rear tires going into 2nd gear.
I miss tires with actual sidewalls so when the wife gets too close to a curb you dont damage a $400 rim.
I miss the days when replacing a radio–now”audio unit” didnt require dashboard dissection.
I miss the days when a bumper was actually just that, and not a “bumper cover”.
I miss the days when one panic stop at highway speed didnt warp a $200 set of brake rotors.
I miss the days when a headlamp assembly didnt cost $400+–and the lenses stayed clear.
I want a simple / full size car where I decide it’s safe because of the size/weight/materials/construction.
Does Ford still have the tooling to build me a new 1973 LTD wagon?
I miss back windows on 2 door sedans that actually roll down, pillarless hardtops, chrome bumpers and exterior trim, fancier interiors, saddle brown GM interior colors, cars you can see out of; let’s face it – I miss the styles of the 1960’s up to 1972, but not the lack of safety features or reliability.
Realistically, though, I’d like to see more formal, reasonable designs with fancier interior and exterior trimming and an actual mid-and full-size functional (read openable rear side glass) two-door sedan. Pillarless styles will most likely never return die to side impact standards.
The Alfa`s……….
In no particular order:
Windows – Remember that time when you could actually see out of your car?
Boxy cars – Remember when cars were small from the outside, yet big on the inside? There’s a reason! I hate the inefficient eggs of today.
T-tops – seriously, this needs to come back ASAP. Leaks be dammed…
Pop up headlights – There’s nothing cooler than lights popping up….this type of sexy awesome just does not exist anymore.
Pullout stereos – It’s really hard to replace factory stereos these days since they are all designed into the dash. I miss the days when you could put an after market head in for a couple hundred bucks and you’d have twice as good of a stereo, instead of having to buy some lame-o Bose package.
“Boxy cars – Remember when cars were small from the outside, yet big on the inside? There’s a reason! I hate the inefficient eggs of today.”
Do I ever. My grandparents were an Oldsmobile couple through-and-through, until there weren’t any Oldsmobiles anymore.. so when it came time to replace their 1998 Olds ’88 they switched to a 2005 Buic Lucerne.
Worst automobile I’ve ever sat in. When asked to chauffeur granma in the thing it was horriffic just how claustrophobic this supposidly full-sized car was on the inside. They sold it for a new F-150 last year, it was near-new since they hardly drove it at all instead relying on the beat-up Silverado they also kept nominally for farm and ranch work on their spread.
I miss:
Acuras with actual names instead of alphanumeric designations.
BMWs that don’t require a $500 dealer visit to change the battery.
Nissan sedans with the spirit of the 90’s Maxima; although the Infiniti G Series has filled that hole at a higher price point with RWD.
Real SUVs with tough suspension components and two-speed transfer cases. Most current crossovers are nothing more than minivans with hinged doors.
On the above note, I miss the XJ Cherokee. I’ve been looking for one for a 3rd vehicle for skiing and light offroading, and most have been cut up into crazily lifted mudbogging machines by local rednecks.
I miss the old inline-6 with three on the tree pickup trucks. I owned four of those before ever buying my very first new truck with a V8, automatic, Air, and a split bench seat with folding center.
Yep. Specifically the old.Ford 300 ci straight six. What a great engine.
We’re pampered these days with all the niceties in trucks and that’s a good thing, but my fondest memories are of an old IHC 4-door pickup truck I bought from the Air Force salvage yard and kept going for years, until finally, the wheels fell off.
Then there was my ’59 Apache and my ’62 F100. Ah, those were the days. They were easy to fix and cheap to maintain. You could swap points on the side of the road and be a shade-tree mechanic.
And no EGR or smog-emissions to worry about, either.
I never understood the appeal of a 3-on the tree gearbox.
I guess I’ve only ever driven floor shifts, but the column mounted gearchange seems like a kludge to get more legroom for the center passenger on a vehicle with a front bench seat.
I’ve always thought of the floor shifter as a kludge by companies who were lazy and just stuck the shifter to the transmission. Why ruin a perfectly good 3 seat bench by putting a gearshift on the floor? It’s an enormous waste of space. I only drive automatics though, and for a sporty manual car I can see how a floor shifter would be better. But in sedans and trucks (and anything with an automatic), keep the shifter on the steering column.
Sam P, way back then, from 1946 on, the column shifter, as it was called, was the predominant method of engaging the manual transmission, as well as the automatics of those days.
There were some cars that used push-buttons to select the gears of the automatic transmission (I briefly owned a 1957 Mercury with pushbuttons) and Chrysler/Plymouth/DeSoto also had push-button automatics.
Only sports cars, foreign cars, WWII vintage Jeeps and trucks had floor shifters. I owned an IHC 4dr pickup truck that had the damnest floor mounted shifter with an electrical push-button on it to engage/disengage the clutch. No clutch pedal, just this button you pushed and then shifted the gears up or down.
All that was pretty cumbersome in those days but we didn’t know any better. These days I would be hard pressed to give up my 2011 Tundra 5.7 with paddle-shifters even though I rarely use the paddles. People make fun of the Tundra as being an old man’s truck, but it is without a doubt the best truck I have ever owned.
Call it melancholy, but I miss those old pickup trucks with a torquey inline-6. The three on the tree was common those days, as was the manually activated overdrive.
For 26 years after I started driving that’s all I had in a pickup truck until I bought that 1988 Silverado with the 350 and the automatic, my first brand new truck. For a long time I kept stepping on an imaginary clutch pedal when coasting to a stop sign.
I miss being able to unleash a monster on a budget with a carb, intake cam and exhaust. I miss understanding my ignition system. I miss lifting the front wheels on street tires if I got it just right.
I miss feeling protected by a fuzz buster.
I miss Honda, where did they go? How can they be a decade behind in engine design??
I miss the ’93 integra a drunk totaled for me much more than the ’96 I totaled all on my own.
I’d like to see a RWD, 250+ HP, GDI, MT wagon… but I’d only buy one a decade or so, so I’m not a good market.
Count me in as one who misses colors, inside and out. Though I did manage to get green (albeit grayish/green) on red/brown leather for my latest car. Quite wild and crazy by 2011 standards.
Also visibility. My Volvo 965 has a greenhouse worthy of the name. Most modern cars do not.
I miss engine displacements described in cubic inches, except for those ‘foreign’ cars, because “they’re metric anyway”.
I miss the affordable tuneability of cars, and the ability to fix them with common hand tools.
I miss cars that would allow driveway simple maintenance. Specifically, I miss my Mazda MX-6 LS. Imagine a fwd 6-cylinder (transverse engine), where changing all the plugs required only a ratchet, spark plug socket and 6-inch extension!
I miss the light, low content, cheap, fuel efficient and indestructible Hondas of the 90’s. Include the dc integra in there for good measure. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say I would buy a supersonic blue pearl GSR tomorrow if one was available brand new.
There actually isn’t a lot I miss about the old days, as far as the cars and trucks themselves. I do miss walking into the dealership with enough money to pay for a car, as I did with my first 3 vehicles. I miss the ease of working on a late 60’s to mid 70’s car. I miss the cheap gas and driving all day just for fun. I don’t miss the crappy brakes most cars had, I don’t miss the insanely large greenhouses with about 25% too much glass, making a decent looking car hideous, as was done for decades, with only a few models that resisted that trend, uglier than opera lights and vinyl tops. IMO. I don’t miss the stupid interior color schemes, including a couple of my past cars. Just give me dark grey/black and I’m happy. I don’t want everything inside to be “burgundy” like it was in one of my cars. When I sat in an identical car with a black dash and door panels it was like, “Wow, this is so much better!”. I recently saw a newer Lincoln with a really awful looking tannish interior that was just plain wrong.
Large bench seat convertibles. With or without fins.
Come to think of it, bench seat other cars as well. The other day I caught up to, and was annoyingly held up by, a Panamera S coming down a twisty road from where I live. While returning a bloody UHaul box van! When 99% of the population drive like that, what purpose can “sporty bucket seats” possibly serve, that is worth giving up that third position up front. And women shouldn’t be driving grown men around in the first place, so the whole “split the bench to make longer legged passengers comfortable” argument is rather irrelevant.
Large wagons. Meaning 8ft flat load floors with seats folded down. With a bench up front. Exactly why the most practical body style (wagon) is only offered on cars of the least practical size (compacts), is beyond me.
For cars that we have now, that I will miss in the future; the Raptor. Just like I currently miss personal sized Unimogs. Any vehicle that brings the civilized amongst us closer to being able to blow off the government apologists’ “well, without paying half your life’s earnings in taxes, how would we have roads” arguments, are sure to be missed if/when they are retired.
I miss promo model cars and detailed car brochures (for each model) that were given to car crazy little boys by friendly car salesmen who stayed with dealerships for years and knew and cared about their customers and their families.
I miss windows you could actually see out of…beltlines that were below your shoulder…cars that didn’t require back up cameras.
I miss back seats that had knee and headroom…that didn’t have hugely raked rear rooflines that squashed the passengers up against the drivers seat such that the rear seats just became nothing more than package shelves.
I miss manual transmissions offered with high end packages…or offered at all. Despite the EPA numbers, I’ve not driven an automatic that gets as good gas mileage or feels as responsive.
I miss engine bays where you could actually see the components without having to remove 5 different shrouds that attached with little screws and clips.
I miss reasonable engine bays too, though I remember trying to work on a VW Type 3s engine, sadly its little bay was prophetic of things to come.
Big ass vans with murals. And, on a totally separate note, windows.
Aw geeze, I miss vent windows. My 47 GMC half ton, any of the 2 dozen bugs I ever put on the road. My 60 something Willys Overland do Brasil. Nothing beats a dash labeled in Portuguese. Rear wheel drive. FWD only on Saabs and Citroens. Oldsmobiles I used to miss manual chokes, but since I discovered EFI is waaaay better than any carburetor, not so much. I-6 , 3 on the tree, wide white walls. Chrome! Cragar Mags. olds Vista Cruisers, Dodge Fluid Drives. Studebaker Hawks. Faux wood sided Grand Wagoneers.
I miss my 82 Tercel hatchback. When my 64 Mustang finally collapsed, breaking synchromesh rings every three weeks and shedding showers of rust every time I parked it, I got a new Tercel. 5-speed, air conditioning!, quiet, smooth, hatchback that was almost a useful to me as a pickup truck, great sightlines, excellent mileage, and completely reliable. Seemed like a fortune at $8000. Paid off long before it needed the only repair I can remember, new transaxles at around 90,0000 miles. Great car.
I miss the old Mustang, too. But after 200,000 miles, no AC, forever rattling shifter attached to the 3-speed transmission, and general decrepitude, I was ready to give it up.
I miss Ferraris that were styled by artists and not by the wind tunnel. The current crop of Ferraris is so uninteresting to me whereas I find my head swiveling towards anything built prior to the 90s. The simple beauty of a 308 or Daytona is missing from today’s somewhat generic supercars, who seem to share the same basic design theme.
The 458 is certainly striking, even beautifull.. the rest of the current lineup however, the California, the 599 and the FF.. they all look like examples of basically the same car that’s been tweaked in photoshop by three different people.
I miss two door full-sized SUVs (like the K-blazers, Tahoes and Yukons). Seating for four, real towing capability, reasonably good off road, and short wheelbase makes for perfect parking and maneuvering in “green” urban areas that are becoming more and more hostile for anything longer than a Smart.
I long for the return of Alfa Romeo . I have a 71 Spider in the garage. DOHC, hemi-head, aluminum block & heads, 5 speed, 4 wheel discs, fuel injection, magnesium wheels, full gauges, wood steering wheel, full size spare, 2300 lbs wet. All from the factory.
40 years ago.
Had one new in 74 and have been in love ever since. The only car I’ve owned that ever came close was my 1st gen 89 Acura Integra. It had all the important features from the list above but included air conditioning, a -higher- redline, and bullet-proof reliability. I suspect it handled better too, but I’d never admit that since it carried the sin of being FWD.
In those days Honda bragged in their advertising of a hoodline lower than a Ferrari (308?) but then conceded that the Honda had a front engine while Ferrari was rear engined.
If I can’t have my Alfas back, can Honda at least come back the way I used to know them?
I say I miss, those airy green houses, manual transmissions, simplicity, and the quality of ’90’s cars but I just walk to the garage and there they are. And the poster who missed floor mounted high beam switches, that’s out there, too. don’t forget you also got a RED high beam indicator as well. Glad I kept the my past alive.
But what do I miss with the modern stuff? How about the ability to order options without having to take unrelated equipment? Why do I have to take a sunroof with leather? Just because 92% ordered it that way when it was a separate choice? I also don’t like the feel of my “drive by wire” car in the winter. Playing on slippery roads the car becomes lifeless in your hands. I agree with most of what was posted by others as well…no need to repeat. But I will dwell on the repair issue a bit. Even if you are not interested in wrench turning yourself, why should your car be designed to F$#% you when you need a battery? How many BMW owners had marginal batteries that ran down when playing the radio during a 90 minute driveway detailing, then the dealer says a certain stored code means that you left something on and denies you a warranty claim. And you walk out with a $400 charge for a battery that you could buy outside for $90. But there’s that pesky computer initialization thing that makes the car recognize the battery. So add “cars not designed to profit the dealer” to the list…
For some reason the French had some weird thing about turn signals. Either they put the horn on it or it was some wonky paddle instead of a proper lever. That’s reason enough for me to avoid them.
They had the horn as a button at the end of turn signal lever.
I miss my ‘90.5 Volkswagen Jetta—don’t laugh, but it had a combination of ride, handling—that combined with a short wheelbase, fantastic seats, useful trunk, great visibility, pin-point steering, tank-like chassis—and longevity—I still wish I could experience NOW—notwithstanding the terrible electrics, old-fashioned 3-speed AT and overall expense over a 12-year period.
I miss being able to see behind me in a compact, engine bays that had room for your hands, the more sane styling of the early 90’s, engines you could hear, lightweight compacts, and as golden husky said ““cars not designed to profit the dealer” (Though I think this amounts to mostly luxury cars).
Maybe this is why new cars don’t sell too well these days, both the economy, enormous blind spots, radical styling, and over-complicated features on modern cars
I miss the choices we all had as I was growing up. We lost them with the loss of studebaker, packard, hudson, Nash (later AMC). They kept the big three hopping with innovations. I particularly think Studebaker may have been the best of the bunch.
I think the big three became setup for failure when they went. No competition. Then came Japan.
Today there are some pretty plain family sedans that can show their taillights to the musclecars. I really don’t miss the musclecars. I miss the choice of being able to go into a dealership and picking a midsize future classic (truck or car) with in inline six and a five speed manual. I wonder what the landscape would have looked like if we had not lost the independents to the economy.
Then again, of course, I probably couldn’t have gone 200k on any of them without a major overhaul and I can now. Maybe I just miss being young and having an industry not built by our congress. They did some good but I would happily tell them what orifice they could insert their smog pumps into. I feel more anachronistic then ever when responding to an article like this. Probably will pass on the next one….not.
1961 Volvo 122S Amazon 4 dr with a dash chain operated shade in front of the radiator which enabled the engine to quickly warm up the interior. Best simple design for cold weather ever but
I miss my first car, a $50 1951 Dodge Business Coupe,with 3 speed, fluid drive, semi-automatic transmission that I painted with black enamel with a brush on a Thursday and took Mary Lou Kuzloski Saturday night (not her real name to protect her embarassment 48 years later) to the Edison NJ Drive-In where I persuaded her to let me fold down the seat so we could see better and do my first adult wrestling. I thought the J.C.Whitney plaid $9.95 seatcovers looked real nice closeup. She did not share my joy.
So glad to see that so many other share my love of the gen-2 Integra.
WTF
I miss…
A-pillar vent windows.
Cars you can see out of.
T-top and Targa roofs.
Athletic/masculine body styling instead of suppository styling.
Front ends that didn’t care about pedestrians.
Chrome, real chrome metal, not chrome plastic.
Big station wagons.
When a turbo car said “turbo” on it.
Cars with names instead of LQ34-who cares? What’s that?, etc.
Interiors where you didn’t feel you were at a Tupperware party.
Engine options. Options that mattered instead of crap gadgets.
Straight 6/8 engines.
Personal luxury convertibles.
I miss most cars without a center console.
OK, I’ll bite.
I miss hatchbacks on cars. I miss really clever folding back seats on said hatchbacks.
I miss the kick of my mid 80’s Dodge turbo making boost.
I miss the weird 90’s morphing colors from Ford. I miss the plethora of eggplant purple and teal green cars from GM in the 90’s.
I miss being able to get into my 442, twist the key and cover a 100 miles of Ohio roads in about an hour or so. I miss having that immense reservoir of torque just below my toes. I miss listening to the burble of the Olds motor over the 400 watt stereo that was in that car.
I miss the violence of the launch of my modded 5.0L Mercury Capri. The car would get sideways with the Gatorbacks screaming for mercy.
I don’t miss HAVING to wrench on my cars, because there was no other choice.
Chevys with Chevy engines.
Buicks with Buick engines
Pontiacs with Pontiac engines.
Oldsmobiles with Oldsmobile engines.
Cadillacs with Cadillac engines.
GM ran best when the divisions ran themselves, including their factories. Some cooperation, like on transmissions, was OK, but each make had its own look and feel, and that expanded their market penetration. It allowed them to get away with some serious head-scratching model overlap simply because the cars were different even if the pricing wasn’t.
I miss Body-on-Frame Sedans and Wagons. People complain about their handling, feel, feedback, etc. Seriously, we have been making them for over 100 years. I think we can make one that handles well.
Also, steering column mounted Automatics. It frees up a lot of space, center console or not. Paddle shifters can be used for tiptronic mode.
OK. will try to add a few new lines:
I miss
– the departure of a simple and totally controllable mechanical throttle body.
– Assemblies that could be taken apart with separate bits replaced/repaired individually rather than the complete assy (suspension components are the most evident example).
And something that even if it existed, that would have been ages ago:
– Ability to import for personal use any car of any make/age, if it is not offered in my country, as long as it complies with basic local safety/emissions requirements. Certain restraints could be put in place to prevent commercial imports (like signing a waiver to sell the car for 3 years after importation or something).
I miss torsion bars and Torqueflite transmissions. And pushbutton transmissions.
I miss starters on Chryslers that go “Na-Rayre deer deer deer”.
I miss vent windows with cranks.
I miss ventilation systems that could bring fresh air into a car without picking up heat from the heater core. So, I guess I miss heater control valves.
I miss ignition keys on the dashboard.
I miss 18 real colors on the outside and 6 real colors on the inside.
I miss steering wheels made of translucent plastic.
I miss fender-mounted turn signal indicators.
I miss the ability to get music on an AM radio.
I miss being able to feel the road properly. Even in a Mazda2, which has pretty good steering feel, I still feel detached. I’m bothered that it’s considered a virtue to most people to be isolated from the road.
I miss the days when people were proud to be good drivers; when they were proud to be able to drive a manual transmission car. Now, a manual is considered a sign of poverty.
I also miss the days when living below your means was considered common sense. If you don’t buy what you can afford it’s a social taboo. So be it.
As others have stated, I too, miss windows.
I miss cars that don’t electronically interfere with the driver’s inputs.