Pluggers by Rick McKee for October 25, 2016

dumbest move car makers ever made..

Ah, back in the days when the only thing the stick on the column controlled was the transmission.

Remember when you wanted to cool off, you had to roll the windows up down with crank because there was no AC.Our old Falcon had funny little boxes with doors on them for cabin air vents. Mice liked to nest in them.

I wonder why they got rid of that switch. I liked being able to keep both hands fully on the wheel to turn the lights up and down.

And now I get my foot tangled in the steering wheel dimming my lights!

Pfffffff … I go back so far, we had cars without turn signals OR windshield wipers.

I kind of liked the magic eye doo dad that sensed the oncoming cars and lowered your high beams.

I do occasionally try to step on the clutch while starting the car. Except there isn’t one, my wife has never tried driving a manual and has no interest.

Wipers were adjusted (off / on / speed) by adjusting the vacuum control switch mounted on the windshield. There were no turn signals.. you used your arm out the window. You started the vehicle with your foot on a knob by your gas peddle. (if you didn’t have to crank it). And your left foot did double duty running the clutch and the high / low beam lights. Those were the real plugger days

I remember some cars had a turn signal that was a small arm that came out on the driver’s side. Left for a left turn, up for a right turn, and down for stop. Just like your arms when riding a bike. This was in Germany. Not sure if they did that here in the US.

My ’ol ’52 F-100 had the starter on the left side of the floorboard as well.

Mustang’s “squishy Bulb” on the floor that was the windshield washer !! (surprised I’m even mentioning this, NOT being a Ford guy…….)

Holy Moly, some of us can remember when we had to get hay to feed the horses before we could go for a ride…

Come to think of it, we used to get a work-out just driving a car. Now, they talk on their phones and update Twitter and Facebook. Henry Ford would be horrified.

I remember that switch. And like several others, I miss it. It kept my hands on the wheel.

Dimmer buttons, hand signals (for turning not obscene), and stick shift. Now that was driving. You, not the car was in charge.Won’t trade the AC for open windows, though.

That changed in the mid 70’s.

No turn signals on 58 and older trucks(as sold) in the U.S., some wipers were hand operated or vacuum with a valves you opened on the wiper gearbox. I think turn signals were required for cars after WWII. British sports cars late 50s and early 60s had a toggle on the dash, installed before they could be sold in the US. Many older cars and trucks had floor shifters and nothing on the steer column except a steering wheel.

And no heater or radio.

The left foot is getting vestigial, it needs something to do! I seldom needed to change the beams while shifting (but could do it anyway), but I occasionally dim during a turn (oncoming traffic) when my hands are at the other side of the post but my left foot is doing nothing. The explanation I got for the change was the European requirement to flicker the headlights at intersections, but a light touch on the beam switch could flick them without locking in one or the other brightness.

Since all the old farts are sharing( I am also ) I will tell that my 39 plymouth starter button was under the clutch pedal ! PS anyone remember the radio antenna being two metal strips under the running board !

I remember having four vehicles and four stick shift patterns. Now I have trouble with where are the headlights, turn signal, and wiper between two vehicles