Cars.....if you wait long enough, they come back in style!

[West R Lee]

I turned 66 today, so my memory can go fairly far back, and earlier saw a FB post asking to name something we saw in a car when we were kids that kids nowadays would never understand? Strangely, the first thing that would have come to mind was my Aunt's '57 (I think) Rambler American, and it's push button transmission. For some reason, I'd always remembered that.

Last weekend my wife, her mother and our niece, all took off for a girl's trip up to Oklahoma. Since they were traveling in my wife's Tahoe, my niece, who was meeting my wife and her mother here at the house, asked if she could leave her car in our garage. I just asked that she leave her keys in case I had to move her vehicle....a new Buick. I did have to move it........and guess what? A push button transmission! On the console, not on the dash like the Rambler. I was shocked.

West

 

[silverfox103]

How about 3 on the column.

Tom

 

[beecee]

Three on da tree!!!

 

[twocorgis]

Honestly, the combination of the plethora of automatic shifter systems, combined with the stupid start/stop buttons that almost all cars seem to have these days, is getting a lot of people killed and injured. There was a woman in NJ in a Mercedes that got killed because she got stuck on the railroad tracks, and couldn't figure out how to get it back in gear is one example. And then there's people who die of carbon monoxide poisoning because they forgot to turn their car off in in an attached garage. That happened to a very good friend of mine's parents, and happens a lot more than you might think.

Whatever was wrong with a key you put in the ignition, and a PRND21 transmission shifter? Seems like technology, just for the sake of technology.

 

[davismanLV]

My truck got in a fender bender during COVID!! And then I'm like.... what?? So we got a rental for a while. The trucks an '04. So a Ford Taurus rental. Honestly, it was a super nice car. Uhmmmm. a fob not a key. and push button start. And a dial for transmission. This little wheel in the console. Really. I didn't feel like I was changing gears but ... it was a cool car. for a bit. OH and the truck took 16 months to get fixed. But then they called me because my old school key wouldn't let them in the car.... so I brought the original with the Nissan gop on the top... and let them in. I was like... seriously do you need my FOB?? No just this key that works. Of course that key also let them in the door. I'm not sure if we're going forward or backward.....

 

[lungimsam]

Floor button headlight brights switch.
Push button cigarette lighter.
I don’t like push start or button transmission either.

 

[Brad Little]

Floor button headlight brights switch.
Push button cigarette lighter.
I don’t like push start or button transmission either.

What goes around comes around. My first car, a '57 Triumph TR3, had a push button starter. It also had a small hole in the grill in which you could put a crank if your battery was low! Don't have that on my 2020 Outback!

 

[Brad Little]

Strangely, the first thing that would have come to mind was my Aunt's '57 (I think) Rambler American, and it's push button transmission. For some reason, I'd always remembered that.
West

Late '60s, I inherited a '59 Plymouth Fury from my Grandfather, had a push button transmission on the dash to the left of the steering wheel.

 

[fronobulax]

Floor button headlight brights switch.
Push button cigarette lighter.
I don’t like push start or button transmission either.

Emergency brake that is set with a pedal on the left.

My nightmare when learning to drive "three on the tree" was coming to a stop at an intersection on a steep hill at night. I had to dim the lights, set the brake, put in the clutch, panic, pop the clutch and then release the brake which at least had a hand operated release.

 

[silverfox103]

Late '60s, I inherited a '59 Plymouth Fury from my Grandfather, had a push button transmission on the dash to the left of the steering wheel.

Now that I liked. Brad, if you have a little time on your hands, look up this on YouTube. It's a 60 Plymouth Fury that this guy restored. Restored actually is not the right word. It was a field find where it lived for 15 to years. Probably one of my favorites on YouTube by far.



His site on YouTube is "coldwarmotors". I think you can look up coldwarmotors 60 Plymouth Fury

You will enjoy, it's probably 10 to 15 episodes.

Tom

 

[adorshki]

Seems like technology, just for the sake of technology.

I thought that was the whole point? Otherwise you won't have anything new to sell.

 

[Stuball48]

I thought that was the whole point? Otherwise you won't have anything new to sell.

Agree! Veer:
And the folks in "marketing department" do a great job of making us feel as though we need these changes.
I have a good friend (81 years old) who at age 76 decided he would eliminate several things I think/thought were a necessity. He had his electricity cut off (no refrigerator or lights) and his water cut off (no bathroom - been there done that). He has a a spring and spring-fed creek running through his property. He eats lots of fish and whatever wildlife in season. Always cheerful when I see him at Bill's Tire Shop on Fridays.

 

[GGJaguar]

It's a 60 Plymouth Fury

A little fancier from 1960

 

[bobouz]

Something kids today wouldn’t understand?
Perhaps an air-cooled VW bug engine,
and the accompanying John Muir service manual!

 

[davismanLV]

Wait.... y'all are making my pulse rate jimmy up a bit.... C'mon... these are the BEST cars!! Thanks, kids!!

 

[NM156]

The AMC Eagle was decades ahead of the suv trend.

 

[tonepoet]

My dad had a white 1963 Valiant back in the day that checks a lot of the boxes:

3-on-the-tree transmission
Foot push button for bright lights
Pedal on the far left to set the parking brake
Vent windows in the front doors
A rubber bulb to the right of the clutch pedal that you pushed with your foot to squirt washer fluid on the windshield


(Photo from internet)

 

[tonepoet]

Whatever was wrong with a key you put in the ignition, and a PRND21 transmission shifter? Seems like technology, just for the sake of technology.

Agree. I think it comes down to what is least expensive to produce and that is what they are going to give you.

 

[Brad Little]

My dad had a white 1963 Valiant back in the day that checks a lot of the boxes:

3-on-the-tree transmission
Foot push button for bright lights
Pedal on the far left to set the parking brake
Vent windows in the front doors
A rubber bulb to the right of the clutch pedal that you pushed with your foot to squirt washer fluid on the windshield


(Photo from internet)

Similar to my same era Dodge Lancer, probably built on the same frame. Mine did have the push button transmission and not the 3 on a tree.

 

[twocorgis]

Agree. I think it comes down to what is least expensive to produce and that is what they are going to give you.

It's hard to believe that any of that is less expensive, especially the transponder keys. If you've ever had to replace one, they're $300 and up, and none of them will work unless you get all the ones you have programmed at the same time in most cases. Just a stupid idea, I think.