Classic car features
Classic car features /klas-ik kar fee-cherz/ noun (plural)
Classic car features are the distinctive mechanical, structural, and cosmetic design elements that were commonplace on vehicles of a bygone era but have since been superseded by modern technology and safety regulations. This is a catch-all term for the collection of charmingly archaic and often infuriating quirks that separate old cars from new ones. It describes a world of chrome bumpers you could sit on, windscreens as upright as a palace guard, and dashboards made from actual trees. These are the features that demand something of the driver: the strength to operate a heavy clutch, the foresight to anticipate woefully inadequate brakes, and the patience to fiddle with a manual choke on a cold morning.
The Full Story of Classic Car Features
To step into a classic car is to enter a world of forgotten sensations and defunct technologies. The exterior was a landscape of automotive jewellery. Bumpers were not flimsy plastic covers designed to absorb impact; they were great, gleaming girders of chrome-plated steel, elegant and substantial enough to serve as a park bench. Grilles were intricate metal sculptures, and every window was framed in polished chrome. The roof was supported by pillars so thin they offered a panoramic, almost cinematic view of the world, a stark contrast to the thick, airbag-stuffed pillars of a modern car that can easily hide a cyclist.
Inside, the cabin was an analogue haven. The dashboard was often a single, plank-like piece of burr walnut, housing a few simple, elegant dials from Smiths or Jaeger with chrome bezels and crisp black faces. Switchgear was not a series of anonymous plastic buttons but satisfyingly chunky Bakelite knobs and toggles that clicked and clacked with mechanical precision. Amenities were scarce. A heater, if fitted, usually had two settings: off and tepid. Air conditioning was the stuff of science fiction. Instead, you had quarter lights, small triangular windows in the doors that could be pivoted to direct a cooling jet of air into the cabin.
Starting the car was not a simple matter of turning a key. It was an art form involving the manual choke, a dashboard knob connected to the carburettor. A cold engine required you to pull the knob out to enrich the fuel mixture, then slowly and judiciously push it back in as the engine warmed up. Getting it wrong would result in a stalled engine or a cloud of black, unburnt petrol smoke.
This entire ecosystem of features was gradually rendered extinct. Safety legislation killed the beautiful but lethal chrome bumpers and thin roof pillars. Emissions regulations did away with the carburettor and its manual choke. And the relentless consumer demand for comfort, convenience, and reliability consigned the rest to the history books. These features are the very essence of what makes a classic car feel so different; they are the source of its frustrations, and the very heart of its charm.
For The Record
What was the point of a manual choke?
Carburettors cannot automatically adjust the fuel-to-air mixture for a cold engine. The choke was a simple valve that the driver controlled to manually restrict the air intake, creating a richer fuel mixture needed to start the car from cold. Forgetting to push it back in as the car warmed up resulted in terrible fuel consumption, fouled spark plugs, and a plume of black smoke.
Why did old cars have such thin roof pillars?
Simply because they could. Before stringent crash and rollover safety standards, the pillars only had to be strong enough to support the weight of the roof. This resulted in fantastic, near-unobstructed visibility for the driver, a quality that has been almost entirely lost in the name of modern safety.
What were quarter lights?
They were the small, triangular, hinged windows in the front doors of most cars until the 1970s. They could be pivoted open to direct a stream of fresh air into the cabin without the deafening wind buffeting of an open main window. They were a simple and wonderfully effective form of ventilation that modern climate control has made obsolete.
Are chrome bumpers really weaker than plastic ones?
For absorbing impact, yes. A chrome-plated steel bumper is very rigid and transmits the force of a low-speed bump directly to the car's body, causing expensive damage. A modern plastic bumper cover sits in front of a deformable crash structure and is designed to absorb energy, often popping back into shape after a minor knock.
What is Bakelite?
It was one of the first synthetic plastics, and it was widely used for interior components like steering wheels, gear knobs, and switchgear from the 1930s to the 60s. It was hard, heavy, and brittle, with a distinctive feel and a faint phenolic smell, a world away from the soft-touch, squidgy plastics of today.