Crazy Features of Old Cars!

When you imagine a car any older than 30 years, a certain bulky image likely comes to mind. But old cars were actually much cooler than you’d think. Some of the features were more advanced then you would expect for the time, and some were less advanced.

The vintage car rally in Bingen could have convinced you!

Even vintage cars from Great Britain joined the rally in Bingen. The vintage car owners were invited to Bingen and some had a really long journey to get here. One driver told me that she would have missed the air conditioning! She even disclosed a secret that she couldn’t wear her linen trousers since they would have been soaked in brown– the colour of the car seats. So jeans were her choice.

Would like to hear more about crazy features of old cars or vintage cars?

It was decades before the silly „safety“ revolution of seatbelts and airbags that took place in the `70s. Instead car manufacturers featured a minibar in the glove box as a standard feature! Can you imagine that shot glass stuck magnetically to the opened glove box so they would remain stationary. How crazy!

Later, during the late `70s, as the government became more conscious of safety, automatic seatbelts were born. Unlike than today many of them were attached to the door, so when you entered the car, you needed to slide under the belts.The closing of the door secured the belts automatically.

However, the problem was that is was so awkward to get into, that most people removed the belts. How crazy!

Or have you ever heard about the chin alarm? Whenever the car driver happened to nod off, a bell under his chin would ring and wake the driver up. How crazy is that! Today, most of the motorways have rumble strips on the edges of the road that make a loud noise when you veer off the street.

Features – Merkmale

Vintage cars – Oldtimer

To disclose a secret – Geheimnis lüften

Soaked – eingefärbt

Decade – Jahrzehnt

Glove box – Handschuhfach

Shot glass – Schnapsglas

Remain stationary – Sich nicht bewegen

Unlike than today – Anders als heute

To slide – rutschen

To remove – entfernen

To nod off – einschlafen

Bell – Glocke

Chin – Kinn

Strips on the edges of the road – Fahrbahnmarkierung im Randstreifen

To veer off the street – von der Straße abkommen