Do you think cars were more fun and rewarding to drive 20-30 years ago?
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What are your thoughts on this?
I totally agree. Although I've held a licence for 27 years, I always drove my father's car, then my wife's, and didn't own my own car until 6 years ago.
Recently I have been telling my eldest son about the cars 'back then'… The way my father would, after church on a Sunday, pull out the ramps, position the car, and start doing things to it I never understood. Filters, carburettor, that strange contraption that looked like a frying pan above the engine.
I can remember all the cars my father owned during my formative years: a green triumph, midnight blue Ford Escort (registration JML 727 K), a silver Wartburg that never ran properly and seemed always to need a hill start (good job we lived on a hill!), white Toyota Corolla (PGW 345 W), a silver Proton, blue Kia (Pony?), Toyota Starlet. My wife's car was a Ford Fiesta.
All that aside, I really do miss the connection drivers used to have with the road. No fancy widgets on the dashboard, just dials - yes, DIALS! - for fuel level, speed, mileometer, tachometer, and an analogue clock. You could see your mileage without having to put a key in the ignition. No rear windscreen wiper, only one wiper speed, no AC, no radio, no electric windows, only 4 gears, no central locking. A choke to help start on those cold mornings, no adjustable height steering wheel or seats, seats that tipped forward to allow rear passengers in and out, no seatbelts (and even if you had them you didn't have to use them. Revolving ashtrays...
2, 3, and 4 star petrol...
I
really miss those old cars.
I'm also a cyclist, so I have a connection with the road and other road users when pedalling along. One of the stipulations I have when buying a car is that it has as few 'luxuries' as possible. I don't care for all these modern electric conveniences (I actually find electric windows very INconvenient), so always go for base models where most things are manual. This helps me maintain a connection with - and respect for - the road. It makes me aware of my own driving, so I have to remain focussed on the driving, rather than reclining, engaging cruise control, and listening to the radio/CD.
A neighbour across the road from us has an old Golf. I had the pleasure of sitting in it a couple of weeks ago, and was smitten by the lack of everything modern. I think there were just two dials on the dash, and no radio.
Yes, driving is not as fun as it used to be. Nothing beats those old cars.