Auto memories from the days of the original T Bird

[jerrym3]

Press the gas pedal to the floor on some Buicks to engage the starter.

Press down the clutch on some Studebakers and a medal tab off the clutch hits the starter button.

Studebaker hill holder feature on manual shift cars.

Nash seats folded flat to make a bed. (I think window screens were an option.)

Plastic ducts from the rear package tray to the roof to feed cool air to roof A/C vents.

A MoPar trans with a gearshift and a clutch that, functionally, is too complicated to describe. (Fluid Drive?) Part automatic, part manual.

Packard load leveler suspension (which my 89 TownCar also had)

Engaging overdrive in manual shift cars by lifting off the gas pedal at highway speeds.

Speed control via a dash knob and cable to set the carb linkage.

[007Cruiser]

Free AIR.

We actually still have a place for free air. You usually need to wait in line so I just use my own compressor.

[hippy_mailman]

it was before me just a bit, but I remember we had a car with a manual "choke" button that you pulled on the dash

[jerrym3]

I had a factory AM/FM radio in my new 65 Corvette. I think there was one FM station that played decent music.

[Brad]

We actually still have a place for free air. You usually need to wait in line so I just use my own compressor.

It's not the same without hearing the "ding" of the bell

[MikeB6]

I remember my first date was at a drive-in. I was trying to act all nonchalant and took a drink of my soda. (The concession stand sold drinks whose ice was round and convex on one side, flat on the other.) About 1 3/4 inches in diameter, I swallowed an ice cube and had to gasp for air as it painfully melted. We had a good laugh about that later, but it hurt until the ice melted! Also, I remember airing up the little windshield washer tank in my '66 VW Beetle at the gas station, so the windshield washers would work. And it was my first car. Bought it in 1970 for $975.

I still miss the "ding" of the bell when I gas up a car. (My TBird is my first car with a V-8.) I learned to drive in my Dad's 1960 Dodge Dart Phoenix with pushbutton auto transmission, and with a clear steering wheel with silver glitter in the plastic. The A/C vents on top of the dash looked like snorkels. And all the rest I rediscovered when I bought a 1960 Metropolitan convertible in 2013. Three on the tree, no power anything, tube radio with one speaker in the center of the dash, manual choke. Great big steering wheel.

[EllisonCal]

I had a factory AM/FM radio in my new 65 Corvette. I think there was one FM station that played decent music.

I bought a new 1959 Impala 2 Dr. HT with the 348 cube 4 Barrel V8. Radio Delete. Put in a Blaupunkt AM/FM/ Shortwave radio (cost $250. installed back then). All the good Jazz stations in Chicago were on late night FM. I remember WSDM (Smack Dab in the Middle of the dial). Nerds like me were into Jazz music, top 40 was for daytime.

[jerrym3]

Local drive-ins had an incline when you pulled into a spot.

One winter night. I pull into a spot with my Vette and watch (wink/wink) the movie with my date.

When we go to leave, the car had settled, and I couldn't get any traction. Spin, spin, spin.

A good Samaritan parks behind me, grabs my rear bumper with one arm and his car with the other arm and uses his muscle power as I'm trying to back the car off the incline.

Fortunately, I only needed a few inches, and the rear wheels grabbed,

That guy had some brass!

After a dew months with my Vette, I bought a second car for $75, a 57 Chevy 210/6 cyl/PGlide/2 dr sedan, for drive-ins, snow/ice driving, and going to/from work. But, I couldn't keep up with the car's oil leak, and the motor froze solid one night coming home from a USAR meeting. Car just went dead at a stop light. Wouldn't turn over. Got $25 for the car.)

[jerrym3]

Good memory sneaking friends into Drive-In in trunk Many trunks back then not very big and had to find a dark place to let them out..Spending sat. night cruising the drive in resturants, which back in 50's and 60's were Mom and pop franchises like A&W or pig and whistle. all Before McDonalds and Burger King. and all had car hops.

When I was a little kid, my folks and my aunt/uncle hid me and my cousin Tony (aka "Muzzie") on the back floor of our car, covered us with a blanket, and sneaked us into Palisades Amusement Park.

[TEE4TOO]

I remember the the reverb in the trunk of my 65 chevy Impalla. It was a real hit at Manners Big Boy. (drive in burger place) That was the highlight of the weekends back then.

[Welker]

The Buick starter under the gas pedal and the warning to never pump the pedal when starting because it would flood the engine which my mother did every time.

[BirdsAndBugs]

I miss Dino!

dino.JPG

We have Sinclair stations here in Las Vegas. Many have the dinosaur statue.

[jerrym3]

Common trend back then was owning a car that was "primed", not painted.

My cousin (good old Muzzie again) had a 1950 Ford 2 dr flathead. Around 1963, I worked in a bodyshop as a helper. We sanded his car, masked it, and I primed it for him. Looked OK. (Tough to louse up a "prime only" job.

Muzzie and I also went partners on a POS Harley. Paid $150 each. Nobody wore helmets back then. I went down twice on the bike, once with a girl on the back. Luckily, no one was ever injured.

One day, I got a flat, down the Jersey Shore. Filled the tire with a can of something, and got home. I left the bike in front of our house instead of in the garage, which was about a half mile away. Covered it with a poncho in case of rain.

Next morning, I come out of the house, and the poncho is on the ground, but no bike. Stolen.

The story gets worse, but I'll end it here.

[Rondor]

I bought a new 1959 Impala 2 Dr. HT with the 348 cube 4 Barrel V8. Radio Delete. Put in a Blaupunkt AM/FM/ Shortwave radio (cost $250. installed back then). All the good Jazz stations in Chicago were on late night FM. I remember WSDM (Smack Dab in the Middle of the dial). Nerds like me were into Jazz music, top 40 was for daytime.

Had a '59 Convert. with 348 turbo glide trans. Beautiful car but a real " dog" mechanically Still think Chevy small blocks are king. But never bought another Chevy.

[Rondor]

One of my MoPars had a reverb in the trunk and every time I hit a rough spot like a R/R crossing it made the most God awfull sound I ever heard. like some one beating on springs with an iron bar.