1972 Lincoln dashboard
Canon TLb, 50mm f/1.8 Canon FD S.C.
Kodak Gold 200 (at EI 100)
2018
Notice how the turn-signal and gear-selector stalks have no buttons or switches on them? They do just the one thing each. I can’t remember the last car I owned where that was the case.
This whole dashboard seems so strange now, with its strip speedometer and gauges in individual binnacles, rather than big, round gauges in a pod mounted high. Heck, even gauges are going away, replaced with screens that simulate gauges.
And when was the last time you saw a car with a blue interior? They all seem to be black, gray, or beige now.
As a kid I remember thinking how primitive and strange cars from before World War II were. But now this car is that old to a kid today. What is a modern youngster’s impression of such a machine? Do kids even dream of cars anymore?
I sure remember cars with interiors like this …. and I liked them very much. Dashboards now have way too much on them. If it has a good radio, I’m happy …. and if they still made them with crank windows, that would be fine too. I know …. old fogey, right ??
I remember a big silver Mercury Marquis you guys used to have. I rode in it a few times. It was such a serene ride.
For that matter when was the last time you saw the gear shift on the steering column or a bench front seat?
I think column shift is still available on a car or two, but it’s rare. But bench seats are gone and will never come back thanks to three-point belts and airbags. The only thing I miss about bench seats is the ability for my wife to slide over and snuggle in on a long trip. But if we were in an accident while like that, it wouldn’t go well for us.
As an automotive marketing person with nearly 30 years in the seat, I will tell you that millennials are far less interested in cars than we were at that age. I don’t have to tell you that this worries the auto manufacturers very much.
Seismic shifts are coming in the auto industry, to be sure.
When I see the electronic dashboards I always think, “Well, there’s something else that can develop a fault.” Pretty, though.
Yeah….me too, actually. The more analog and mechanical a car is, the more comfortable I feel. But every car is stuffed full of electronics now.