Dead features in cars that need to make a comeback

[timolloyd]

Leaf springs and cross ply tyres.

[martc]

Road Fund Licence.

ie - vehicle excise duty that actually pays for the upkeep of roads not just shoved in the big pot of money to be spent on, well, anything but the roads.

[Rightnider]

33 minutes ago, Missy Charm said:

What does the "EXTRA" button do?

😀

I’d say it’s for activating spot lights, or “extraljus” in Swedish. 
 

+1 for coloured paint!

[junkyarddog]

The slot in GM gearboxes for easy FWD clutch changes.

[New POD]

3 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

The slot in GM gearboxes for easy FWD clutch changes.

If regulations for cars required certain maintenence tasks to be carried out in less than 30 minutes there might be less waste and better for the environment. (People would be able to afford to service their cars, rather than scrap them) 

I'm thinking clutches, discs, pads, cam belts, cam chains, water pumps, spark plugs, air filters pollen filters, fuel injectors. Etc. 

And headlight bulbs in under 3 mins. 

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, Missy Charm said:

What does the "EXTRA" button do?  And do higher spec versions have buttons marked, accordingly, "LEADING MAN" or "LEADING LADY".  

Something to bring back?  Coloured paint.  

It was a generic placeholder for dealer fit options.  In my case it was an override for the cooling fan.

[warren t claim]

2 hours ago, New POD said:

If regulations for cars required certain maintenence tasks to be carried out in less than 30 minutes there might be less waste and better for the environment. (People would be able to afford to service their cars, rather than scrap them) 

I'm thinking clutches, discs, pads, cam belts, cam chains, water pumps, spark plugs, air filters pollen filters, fuel injectors. Etc. 

And headlight bulbs in under 3 mins. 

I think even on a Mk2 Cavalier 30 minutes for a clutch change is pretty ambitious!

I'm with you on headlamp bulbs though.

[stuboy]

not needing a key too open the bonnet !!

[captain_70s]

11 hours ago, stuboy said:

not needing a key too open the bonnet !!

Is that not just a particular era of Ford thing?

[UltraWomble]

23 hours ago, bangernomics said:

Saloon versions of small hatchbacks.
 

EFA

Everything seems far too lardy on the outside and tiny on the inside these days  - my Mk 1 Fiesta seated 5 adults yet was the same size externally as my Sons  Pug 108.

Look at the latest Micra and compare it to the K11 (Peak Micra IMHO)

[UltraWomble]

20 hours ago, sierraman said:

Scabies and Measels

Ive had both (and crabs - caught it off a dirty Allegro seat) )  - nowt to shout about really.

[HMC]

Opening hinged  quarterlights are nice - especially so when the electric windows and the heating and ventillation system are not in the first flush of youth. 

Thats probably not a valid justification to be fair.

[grogee]

36 minutes ago, UltraWomble said:

crabs - caught it off a dirty Allegro seat

Oh aye

[MiniMinorMk3]

Carbs and points. Just so you've got a valid excuse not to go to B & Q on a Sunday and buy some paint for the kitchen and do the decorating that you've been putting off for the last two years.

[goosey]

Vacuum wipers, 3 speed gearbox’s, Dynamo’s, sealed beam headlights, 

[lotus3512]

On 24/08/2024 at 11:46, catsinthewelder said:

The indicator stalk on the right on a RHD car.  That way you can change down and indicate at the same time when overtaking.

YES!! This is without a doubt the feature I will miss most when I sell my 1989 Honda Accord.

I attempted to retrofit R-H indicators to my Rover 214 R8 once, buying a set of stalks from a Concerto. I managed to fit them, but there must be a difference in wiring as I recall none of the controls did what they should have!

[Sigmund Fraud]

Hydrolastic suspension - no, really !

Simpler, cheaper and more robust than the Citroen hydropneumatic system (or BL's later Hydragas), and achieves a wonderful balance of ride and handling.

[caffeine]

One that’s maybe not quite dead yet but certainly seems to be going that way: analogue dials, digitally rendered approximations look naff and while it might be regarded by some as more up to date and  ‘techy’ I strongly suspect it, along with the omission of physical switches/buttons, is mostly driven by cost cutting.

Crisp, tastefully backlit dials and switchgear are fearfully a dying art -  can you imagine ‘the dash at night’ thread made up entirely of identikit elongated iPads - what would be the point?

The multi-million pound Bugatti Tourbillon I mentioned in another thread seems to make a big deal of its analogue dials, unfortunately we may be fated towards a world where they only exist as an ultra-niche luxury.

[sheffcortinacentre]

On 24/08/2024 at 17:14, martc said:

Road Fund Licence.

ie - vehicle excise duty that actually pays for the upkeep of roads not just shoved in the big pot of money to be spent on, well, anything but the roads.

Now you're just being silly.

[sutty2006]

No EML lights

no dpf

no EGR

no Ad blue

no bullshit. 
 

I’ve just driven the wife’s new High’n’dry Tucson back from Rugby and fuck me, the amount of bongs, boings, warning lights in mirrors, then went round a corner and got told the washer fluid needs topping up “boing!!!”. Fuck off. 
 

oh yeah, and that annoying smooth dash where you have to take your eyes off the road to increase temp or decrease volume is a death trap!! 

[sheffcortinacentre]

All this stuff is to hard , complicated for modern drivers they just want an appliance or a person taxi at their beck & call 24/7.

[EyesWeldedShut]

5 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

No EML lights

no dpf

no EGR

no Ad blue

no bullshit. 

No diesels would cure that  
I'd ask for a temperature gauge and just this please:

 

[grogee]

I notice nobody's suggested bringing back manual windows. 

Electric windows are ace and easy to fix as long as you don't buy VAG shite. 

@Cluffy and I have worked on a power doors feature for a certain British luxury car manufacturer. Be afraid. 

[EyesWeldedShut]

4 minutes ago, grogee said:

@Cluffy and I have worked on a power doors feature for a certain British luxury car manufacturer. Be afraid. 

That'd be buggered by my request for less electric gizmos then? Central locking is handy but power doors or power boot lid? Kind of up there with automatic wipers and lights in my book - great when they work but will be a bugger for somebody when the car is ten years old?

Ideally I'd like to have something modern but designed like my runout Ovlov 940 -  smol ECU to handle fuelling, electric windows/locking, full size spare, proper jack, decent profile tyres. 
Air con and power steering.
Decent sized boot, velour or cloth upholstery (how can a 1996 Ovlov with 180,000 miles still have unblemished velour when the modern pleather stuff does not last 100,000?)

Trouble is that, as a consumable, modern cars need to be attractive to the first owner and, if that needs gizmos and baubles, so be it.

 

[EyesWeldedShut]

On 24/08/2024 at 10:38, bangernomics said:

Nova saloon was the last one I bought.

I did wonder who bought the other one
1983 1.2L from new - I don't think the garage could shift it as everybody was mad for the hatchback. Big booty - took that wee thing all over Europe camping and the only thing that would have been better would be the ability to drop the rear seat backs to improve boot space.
Like the Orion and the Belmont - doomed.

[HMC]

A fairly comprehensive toolkit. Preferably with forgings to include the motor manufacturers name/ logo please. Less “hands on” ownership in the modern day and less needy cars. But even changing a bulb these days can involve a suprising amount of disassembly.

Maybe a factory supplied basic plug in diagnostic tool in the wheel well stowage would be a modern equivalent?

[bangernomics]

I did wonder who bought the other one
1983 1.2L from new - I don't think the garage could shift it as everybody was mad for the hatchback. Big booty - took that wee thing all over Europe camping and the only thing that would have been better would be the ability to drop the rear seat backs to improve boot space.
Like the Orion and the Belmont - doomed.

Mine was £25

[EyesWeldedShut]

1 minute ago, bangernomics said:

Mine was £25

Bargain - I think the list price on mine was around £4,500 but they 'gave' me a silly trade-in on a 1978 two door escort so I ended up paying £3,200 - which is probably what it was actually worth to be honest. Fuckload of money back then but I was young, single, well paid and stupid.

[RoverFolkUs]

Points ignition. 

Nothing like wondering if you're going to get to work the next day based on how low the temperature dropped overnight 

😂

[morrisoxide]

Clothes peg for the choke.

Big ball of blu tack for various rattles.

Oh...  Wait these are aftermarket parts.