I saw an older station wagon the other day, and realized I'd not seen new station wagons in many years. Do they still make them, or are they all SUV's and mini-vans these days? That started me thinking about other ideas in the auto industry that came and went in my years of driving.
We had a '63 Dodge Dart wagon with push button drive. There were a few cars that toyed with that idea, but it didn't catch on. Ford did convertable hard-tops for a couple of years back in the fifties. One big problem with that was the roof retracted into the trunk area, so if you had the top down you didn't have room for luggage. Mercury, in the late fifties had a sedan with an electric rear window that could be lowered. That was the one with the rear window angling in toward the back seat rather than sloping back toward the trunk.
Speaking of station wagons, we owned a '73 Chevy Caprice Classic wagon back when. Instead of the standard tailgate configuration, either from a key lock on the back, or switches on the dash, you could make the window roll up into the roof, and the tailgate retract down under the floor of the car where most cars have gas tanks. On that wagon the gas tank was inside the left rear fender. With the tailgate and window retracted it looked as if there was no tailgate assembly.
An option of some "Swept Wing" Dodges in the late fifties was a record player. One big drawback to that was it would not play any standard records available in stores, but you had to buy special, smaller records through Chrysler Corporation. I understand it wasn't bad about skipping when you were on rough roads, but it was expensive.
One invention that should have caught on but didn't. My brother had a 1950 Studebaker Commander. It had a standard straight stick transmission, but also had a hill holder brake. When you came to a complete stop the brakes locked and didn't release until you'd begin to give it gas and let the clutch out. As soon as the drive train started to pull it would release. This was particularly good if you had to stop on an uphill angle. Getting off the brake, letting the clutch out, and accelerating always allowed the car to roll back some unless you did a heel toe thing with the right foot on brake and accelerator both. Once the car stopped on that uphill you could take your foot off the brake, leaving one foot free for the clutch and the other for the accelerator.
Another great idea that didn't work was the Cadillac 4-6-8. Supposedly the car would run on 4 cylinders in mild and level driving conditions, switch to six cylinders when needed, and to eight cylinders for hard pulls or accelerations. Sounds like one of those great conservation ideas, but they could never keep it working. The car spent more time in the dealership than it did on the road. One thing I always liked they don't put on cars and trucks today. The little vent window in the front doors.
Today's cars have more features and gadgets than ever dreamed in earlier years. Thermometers that give you a constant outside air temperature, digital read out compasses. Voice activated features, GPS systems, OnStar, built in phone systems, retracting antenna, cruise control. Some will stay and some will go, just as in past years, but it has been fun seeing all the ideas they've tried and abandoned over the years.
