Remember This Car?

So, its time to go for a short (or long) trip. What have you got to go in? What is you car like in the days and ages gone by? I can tell you of some of the things that my father coped with, but more clearly the way things were when I first started driving and what we were used to when we travelled.

I recall being told about some of the things my parents put up with when they first began travelling in autos. Never mind what it was like travelling by horse and buggy. I have seen in museums the vehicles that our parents used for their journies. No block heaters, for those of us living in the colder areas of the country. Our fathers, on cold days, would often put a stove pipe with an elbow pointed up to the engine oil reservoir, (remember stove pipes?) and then place some straw and/or wood into the pipe and light it to warm the oil. Remember engine cranks? That's how these cars were often started when the starter wouldn't or couldn't turn over the engine. Some cars had no starter so this was the way the cars were started. There's more, but I'll go on.

My earlier travelling days were in cars that are a far cry from what the latest and greatest is today. My first car had the starter button, (no, it didn't have the starter on the key) located on the floor, just above the gas pedal, sometimes called the footfeed because the earlier cars had the throttle on the steering column. It also had a radio, AM only, and not transisorized, it had what were called vacuum tubes (remember those?). Boy, the reception you could get on those, usually one station, local, although things improved on nice clear evenings.

But those were good times. We could load up the car with lots of young folks, and because there were no seat belts there was no limit as to the number that could be accommodated in the vehicle, so there was lots of crowding and good fun. There were no child seats, no booster seats, no air bags and no seat belts. It was noisy, and sometimes smelly due to some of the fumes that came off the engine or out of the exhaust. No catalytic converters to scrub the exhaust fumes before they got into the air. Also gas was 23 to 25 cents a GALLON, (that's four liters or so).

After I married, things progressed considerably. The starter button was moved up to the dashboard, still not on the key. Air conditioning and cruise contol were option you could order but cost you extra. The cars were larger, but you could also buy the smaller imports if you wanted to save a bit of money or improve on economy. I remember the crowding that took place in those. Five in a car like that was about all that would fit, although I also recall that a lot more were often packed in for the fun of it.

Now I drive a new vehicle with many of the amenities that are offered, or are supplied at no extra charge. I'm not sure if we can call all this progress. You turn the key and the engine starts every time(?) and air conditioning and cruise control are considered necessities along with Am/FM CD player, with possibly a DVD for showing movies to the little ones while you travel. You also have engine heaters that warm the engines to make starting a fool-proof proposition.

But I sometimes sigh and wish for the "good old days" but realize also that they were often not as "good" as we like to think. I'll talk about that later.