Remember the headlight dimmer on the floorboard?

[Black69]

My have never figured out how to dim the lights in my 69 Camaro.

 

[VM]

My 1967 VW Kombi had floor dimmer switch

 

[epj]

Up until recently I regularily drove a fuel injected, 4-speed 1962 Corvette. Shifting gears and dimming the lights at the same time is doable, but takes some coordination.

 

[sjmjax]

Yeah, I remember. Learned to drive with those features. Floor mounted dimmer switch, on the column 3 speed shift, vent windows, AM only radio, non-power assist drum brakes.

Some things were fun and wish we still had them. Others, not so much.

 

[tom turner]

Yep . . .

I started driving using dad's 1930 Model A Ford coupe, so ditto on a lot of things mentioned here:

- Loosen two knobs and the windshield pivoted out at its bottom

- The two levers on each side of the steering column, just behind the steering wheel were NOT for turn signals or lights or windshield wipers.

No, the left one was your "spark" lever (manual distributor timing advance). You started the car with the lever UP (IIRC), then advanced the lever down to advance the distributor timing. Or . . .was it the other way around? No problem, you'd figure it out instantly, or the 24.03 Horsepower engine wouldn't run right! . . .

. . . and the right one was for "throttle" and allowed one to rev up the engine more than normal. This helped if you had to use the manual CRANK lever to start the car if the electric starter didn't work!

- The ignition switch was in the center of the small dash cluster . . . but just turned on power to the distributor. The STARTER SWITCH was on the FLOOR, near to the gas petal! You pushed down on the button with your right foot and the straight lever pushed straight down into the starter solenoid on top of the Model A's starter.

- The horn button was a tiny black "button" in the center of the steering wheel, as expected, but around the button was a round metal plate with a lever pointing down. Push the lever one way and you'd get parking and tail lights. Push it the other and you'd get low beams, then high

- The carburetor had a manual choke lever, on the end of a long metal shaft that came out of the side of the carburetor and rose through the dash and mounted on the right of the dash board's bottom. You'll pulled it out (spring loaded) to choke the engine when starting. It would also rotate to make the carburetor richer when necessary.

- Um . . . the dash board? It was actually the GAS TANK! That's right, the gas tank was both the dashboard AND the top outside of the tank was the car's cowl top just in front of the windshield. This allowed Ford to avoid using/needing a FUEL PUMP . . . since the gas tank was thus higher than the carburetor . . . and just behind the firewall . . . and JUST above your lap!!!

- The battery was under the driver's feet and floor BOARD. This allowed the shortest cable possible to the starter . . . also on the engine's left side's bellhousing.

- SAFETY FEATURE! The Model A was the first Ford to use SAFETY GLASS in the windshield. Seat belts? Are you kidding? You wanted to be ejected through the windshield before the gas tank ruptured over the engine anyway!

FUN FEATURE . . . You could really make someone jump as you passed them in your car . . . by turning off the ignition switch temporarily, then yank the spark advance lever UP, then turn the switch back on.

BAM! When you switched the ignition back on, it would sound like a gun going off. However, sometimes the explosion would blow the muffler right off!!!


Ahhhh . . . the good ol' days in the mid-60s . . . driving a '30 Model A . . .

Somehow I survived it. Dad's Model A is still in the family too! It needs restoration but it is still a decent Model A. The engine HAS been replaced since this photo . . .

I later had a 1931 Model A Roadster. I finally sold it to my younger brother, as I couldn't afford to restore the nice, unrestored roadster. He's still got it today.

Here's the photo of it. I told him I wanted first refusal if he ever sells it!!!

 

[OLDFED]

Wind wings, push out windshields, center opening doors on sedans, real trunks on the back, center-of-the-windshield radio antennas that you could turn up or down, clocks that you wound, little heater boxes under the dash, steering wheels that cracked in the sun, rubber floor mats, dashboard throttles, chrome and lots of it, center floor hand brakes, window air conditioners, water bags on the bumper when in the west, constant flat tires, flat rear floors, laminated window glass, big back seats for....., spare tires on the front fenders, paint jobs three inches thick, steel even thicker, running boards and best of all....engines that you could easily identify every part of and adjust yourself!

 

[ecam8000]

I forgot about the foot control for the windshield washer, something I drove had it but I can't remember what. I drove a half million miles in one tractor that had the foot mounted dimmer. I changed several cars over to floor dimming from the turn signal dimming. Some of them are a piece of cake, others not so. These days, I'm getting used to the signal shift. I still have mom's 1929 Ford Sport Coupe. It's light lever surrounds the horn button and the switch is at the base of the steering column/steering box.

 

[gunlovingirl]

Sure. I used to have to give it a shot of WD40 once in awhile. Also remember the side vent windows. Wish they still made them. Worked great for flicking ashes out and letting in some air.

 

[BarbC]

I liked it on the floor like that too.

I had a '83 Thunderbird with the horn on a button at the end of the turn signal stalk, which was stupid.

 

[Rule 303]

Remember the head light switch on the floor boards?

I remember the starter on the floor of my 1953 Chevy Pickup.

Rule 303

 

[enfield]

The last vehicle I had with one was a 1986 Ford van.

 

[McGivern]

My first car was a '31 Model A coupe. In addition to all that 'tom turner' says, there was a fuel shutoff valve under the dash on the passenger side. One of my buddies enjoyed turning it off with his foot and waiting for the engine to quit when all the gas was used up in the carburetor. Made for some hair-raising episodes at times. I wonder how we survived sometimes.

 

[bummer]

Floor vents

 

[jimmyj]

Hi:
I well remember the floorboard dimmer switch. My first assigned emergency vehicle also had the siren switch next to the floorboard dimmer switch. Scared myself and innocent citizens by meaning to push the dimmer switch and pushed the siren switch instead.
Jimmy

 

[MK]

And do you remember the "autronic eye" that GM put on the dashboard of its high end cars about 1958? It looked like a little outward pointing ray gun mounted over to the left of the driver's side. It was supposed to sense oncoming headlights and automatically dim your headlights as a courtesy to the other driver. I think this feature lasted about one year, because there were implementation bugs. I remember tales of cars going down streets with no traffic, but shifting dim-bright-dim-bright-dim with every passing street light.

They go farther back than 1958..
My dad's 1954 Pontiac Star Chief had one of those. Most all Cad's
had em.. I remember he would use it on the highway at night when
we went on trips to visit the relatives in AR, OK..
In those days, most traveling was on 2 lane highways, and if there
was no traffic, the lights would stay on bright most of the time.
Most would be doing 70-80 mph on those two lane roads so
good lights were a must.
When there was a full moon, the moon would trip the brights off.. :/
That was about 50 years ago, and I still remember it like it was
yesterday.. It was the worst when you had "moonrise" with a
full moon almost directly ahead of you.
I still have two old Ford trucks that have all that "old" stuff.
Even wing vents. GM had a funny name for those.. But I forgot
what it was.. Oh yea.. I remember.. Ventapanes... Or at least
that is how it was pronounced..
Those are handy for getting a little vent air without it raining in
the car.. It will just drip a little on the floor as it trails off the edge..
In my modern Yota toy car, all you can do is crack the window.
And then you have rain spraying all over the door panel, seats, me,
etc.. I'll get a bit of water on the door panel if I use the windshield
washer with the window down in that thing.
No drip rail or anything on that car. I guess it would lower the
aerodynamics.. :/ It is slippery in that regard. My trucks are like
rolling barn doors in comparison.

 

[Pop's2]

Studebaker's "hill holder" (hold clutch pedal down and tap the brake pedal it would hold the brake on a hill so you wouldn't roll backwards while shifting) or manual air vents in the fenders ...............

 

[m657]

In 1973 I had a nearly new Citroen ID 4 door passenger car. One of the standard features was a hand crank 'just in case'.

Little did I realize the byzantine nature of French automotive design!

The suspension had a hydraulic pump that provided variable height ride adjustment; front wheel drive, and the hand crank.

When my starter went out, parts were virtually impossible to find outside of France. While awaiting international shipping, I made do with the hand crank for nearly 5 months. It was a simple job to open driver door, retrieve crank, turn on key, go to front, install, twirl the handle, the 4 cylinder engine would fire and by the time you got back to the driver door, the beast would have pumped itself back up from the 'down' position to the 'normal' drive position, and it would bring just a bit of joy to your heart that you weren't left stranded after all.

Many other features to the Citroen I loved. Never bought another one though.

 

[GRIZZLYBEAR]

Things on the older cars I remember:
1. floor mounted dimmer switch
2. floor mounted starter switch
3. manual chokes
4. manual trottles
5. wing windows
6. non-electric windows
7. three on the tree
8. cars without seatbelts
9. cars without turn signals
10. the generators
11. dash mounted starter button
12. no air conditioning
13. windows without tinted glass
14. push button transmission
15. the "auto sander" for lack of a better name---when you used this it would drop sand on the road in front of the rear drive tire,
16. rag tops
17. standard (non-power) brakes and steering


there are more but I stop here rather than date myself

grizz

 

[m657]

My 28 Ford had a hand shifter---rotated out of the way and the passenger seat folded way out of the way...should one care for a bit more...room....for the .....passenger....*kaff*kaff*......

My grandpa had a spiffer 51 Olds that did NOT have factory defrost!!!

 

[jimmyj]

Hi,Stbryson:
My Father came home right after after WW-II driving a 1946 bright maroon Hudson. One of the new "Gadgets" was the floor mounted radio station changing switches. As soon as I saw the Hudson I just knew we were "Rich". Dad kept the floor switch secret and had me thinking the radio was magic and that it changed radio stations by itself.
Dad drove Hudsons forever. We had a 1937 4 door Phymouth that my Mother darn near out run the Highway Patrol while Dad was overseas.
This was a secret that we kept from Dad and the rest of the Family.
The Highway Patrol Officers didn't charge Mom. Mom had grew up and went to school with them.
Jimmy