The 1960s and 1970s through the mid-1990s was a period like no other in the automobile industry as automakers experimented with wacky features that represented the perfect marriage of space-age style, convenience and quirkiness. Including innovative features and design elements like the talking dashboard on the 1981 Datsun Maxima to the first use of a CRT touchscreen in the 1986 Buick Riviera, automakers introduced digital dashboards, powered seat belts, pop-up headlamps, bouffant vinyl roofs and other memorable styling cues that were forward-looking to a fault, gimmicky, or just ahead of their time. Some of the concepts made a return years later, often in a more sophisticated, reliable form, but others didn’t make it back due to weather-proofing, safety regulations, or driver preference.

Many of these features now act as painful reminders of how much the most common forms of everyday motoring have evolved. CB radios allowed drivers to communicate traffic and fuel information before cellphones, and some simple features like vent windows and floor-mounted dimmer switches filled basic needs. Curb feelers protected wheels from curbs, while power operated seatbelts tried to make safer restraints more user-friendly. Other features like Landau bars and retractable headlights became hallmarks of classic-car styling. Looking back at these ten car features shows us a time of experimentation where automakers tried many different ideas for comfort, communication, safety, and design-some of which disappeared, but many of which influenced the features of modern vehicles.

1. The Talking Dashboard

The 1981 Datsun Maxima also had a built-in voice alert, reporting to drivers on their vehicle’s status. Even before smartphone assistants there was a robotic voice keeping customers updated by voice through the dashboard. These showed up with a message like “Your door is open,” or “Your fuel is low,” and gave the impression of a vehicle straight out of a science-fiction movie. It was one of the first attempts to tell drivers vehicle information via voice instructions rather than through visual means, but the novelty wore off pretty quickly for some consumers. The voice was not deactivatable and would spout at unpleasant moments, with some customers disconnecting the system just weeks after purchase because they could not take the constant chime. Car makers eventually decided that a quiet chime would suffice.

Inside the Era of Voice Alerts:

• Datsun Maxima introduced voice alerts.
• Robotic prompts reported vehicle conditions.
• Drivers heard fuel-level warnings.
• The voice could not be disabled.
• Quiet chimes eventually replaced spoken alerts.

That was the thinking with the talking dashboard, a piece of car tech that was way ahead of potential customers’ capacity to receive it. Its aim was handy tell the motorist something is wrong. Instead of constantly checking an array of warnings, the driver could listen to a straightforward announcement. Unfortunately, the inability to mute the dashboard quickly made the feature a tedious one. It also illustrates that a potentially clever car feature also needs to be a practical one it may sound cutting-edge in a showroom but end up becoming obnoxious during the everyday routine. The Datsun made use of a mode of information exchange that drivers would get accustomed to in later models. Although the pioneers didn’t quite nail it, they set the stage for a more manageable way to talk to a car.

2. Digital Dashboards

In the 1980s, during the time of the technology boom, automakers replaced the traditional analog speedometers and fuel gauges with glowing digital displays of number. Drivers no longer watched needle float from one end of the dial to another now they could see their speed and fuel level in numbers that glowed on the instrument panel. These digital dashboards had the look of a pocket calculator, and to drivers navigating that transition, the glowing display felt like the future of automobiles. But their futuristic look was undercut by a number of problems. Direct sun or polarized glasses could make digital dashboards difficult or impossible to see, and a failing LED segment could make the entire display unusable. Manufacturers also developed digital versions of analog gauges that had some of the disadvantages of both types of display.

What Made Early Digital Gauges Different:

• Glowing LEDs replaced traditional needles.
• Speed appeared as digital numbers.
• Sunlight reduced display visibility.
• Polarized sunglasses caused reading problems.
• Failed segments affected panel reliability.

Digital dashboards showed how fast the carmakers wanted to bring a digital age to the driving experience in the 1980s. They brought a novel way to show critical data through an electronic display, but their everyday utility didn’t always match their novel styling. Drivers wanted instruments that stayed legible under changing lighting conditions, and early LCD displays couldn’t offer it. The technology also left a few reliability questions. If a single segment of an LED display would go dark, drivers might begin to doubt the info shown on the panel. Digital proxies for traditional gauges tried to provide a familiar design and data set with an electronic display, but they could also inherit the shortcomings of each approach. These early attempts show that there’s more to good digital instruments than just innovative looks.

3. Motorized Seatbelts

Motorized seatbelts came about because of changes in safety legislation in the late 1980s. Once a door was closed, an electric motor would automatically transport a shoulder strap out of a track attached to the door frame and across the occupant. The intention was to eliminate the labor involved in retrieving a shoulder belt, thereby increasing its use. It was all about making restraints easier to use and doing so by automating the process as much as possible. It sounds easier than it was. The electric motors sometimes failed, tracks became clogged, and belts would get caught on people’s hair and clothes. And, of course, the lap belt had to be fastened manually as well, which some forgot to do, undermining the entire purpose of the system. The technology was phased out with the advent of airbags and new restraint technology, which relegated motorized seatbelts to history.

The Problems Behind Automatic Belts:

• Shoulder straps moved automatically into position.
• Electric motors could burn out.
• Tracks sometimes jammed during operation.
• Moving belts snagged clothing.
• Lap belts still required manual fastening.

These systems proved a reminder of the difference between automating part of an automotive safety system and making that system reliable. The convenience of having an automated shoulder strap was obvious, but the complexity of the device meant it could always malfunction in unexpected ways, and drivers had to work around the possibility. A broken down track or a burned out motor would not make the shoulder strap easy to use, but it would make it more of a nuisance. And the ever-present reminder to buckle up the lap belt made the optional shoulder strap work counterproductively Vaguely trusting that the automated shoulder strap was working meant that the driver could be less careful about strapping the bottom in, and this made the whole system less effective than it sounded. As automobile safety systems evolved, the cockpit-mounted airbags gradually replaced the belts of this era.

4. Pop-Up Headlights

Pop-up headlights were a famous styling cue on performance cars like the Pontiac Firebird and Mazda RX-7. These retractable lamp assemblies, which became popular from the 1960s until the 1990s, could create a smooth, aerodynamic nose for a car by retracting when they weren’t in use. At night, the lamps would pop up through internal mechanical linkages, giving the vehicle a signature visual flair. To many enthusiasts, the very act of the lamps rising up added some pizzazz to the vehicle’s driving experience. As a bonus, the mechanisms could get unreliable as the vehicles aged-drive motors could burn out, gears could strip, and low temperatures could prevent assemblies from opening at all. A headlight that refused to pop up in the middle of a dark highway was a very real safety hazard. Newer exterior lighting designs, and the push towards meeting pedestrian safety requirements, started phasing out pop-up headlights by the start of the 21st century.

Why Retractable Headlights Disappeared:

• Hidden lamps created sleek front ends.
• Pontiac Firebird featured the design.
• Mazda RX-7 popularized retractable lighting.
• Motors and gears could fail.
• Modern standards ended their popularity.

Pop-up headlights are one of the most instantly recognizable forms of experimental styling. They were popular because they served a purpose and yet were also an obvious mechanical solution: the front of the car was smooth and clean, until the headlights were activated. This feature helped create many memorable body shapes on sports cars that continue to evoke nostalgia for an earlier automotive age. Like so many mechanical features, though, the headlights had their own technical issues wiring, drives, and moving parts could fail, and extreme cold could cause the headlight cover to stick shut. Reliability became even more critical once drivers began to rely on the headlights to see at night. As automotive exterior styling changed and regulations for pedestrian safety became more aggressive, the push to refine the feature resulted in the temporary retirement of modern pop-up headlights.

5. Vinyl Roofs and Landau Bars

In American luxury cars, vinyl roofs and Landau bars were used to suggest greater prestige for the sedan body style. The vinyl material was applied to the hardtop roof, while chrome Landau bars in an S shape extended along the C-pillars. They served no structural purpose, but they became the defining marks of an upscale car. They suggested a more luxurious type of car even if they were non-functional. As time went on, the vinyl material could create problems for the roof below, trapping humidity against the steel and speeding up the rusting process. The vinyl was also vulnerable to the harsh elements, cracking in extreme heat and cold. What appeared refined on the showroom floor could eventually cause expensive problems as the decades passed. During the 1980s, vinyl roof treatment and Landau bars gradually fell out of style.

The Appeal and Drawbacks of Vinyl Tops:

• Vinyl coverings suggested luxury and prestige.
• Chrome Landau bars decorated C-pillars.
• The additions served no structural purpose.
• Trapped moisture accelerated body rust.
• Cracked vinyl damaged classic-car appearance.

Vinyl roofs and Landau bars reveal how much a feature on American cars once defined the ability to add decoration to make something appear more luxurious. Landau bars, metal roofs, and vinyl roof coverings were a way to say that a car was a little more luxurious without expensive equipment or big performance features. These upgrades didn’t always make a difference for years until the moisture got trapped beneath the vinyl and caused the steel to rust, sometimes damaging the unseen bodywork beneath or even causing cracking because of prolonged exposure to the weather. As the styling trend disappeared through the 1980s, these features became a touchstone of a particular style of American car. They are vintage styling clues, but one that also shows some of the ways that a cosmetic upgrade can cause confusion and trouble in the long term.

6. Early CRT Touchscreens

The standard in electronics, even at the time, when the 1986 Buick Riviera created the Graphic Control Center, a CRT Touchscreen that brought a touch of the future to the Riviera. In place of lizard gloves (knobs and switches), the driver could use a glowing green screen to turn the heat up, tune the radio and check the engine diagnostic module. Using the touchscreen wasn’t standard back then the concept was untested, and the driver could get distracted trying to get the screen to work as intended instead of watching the road. Some vehicle owners found the system difficult to navigate, and GM withdrew the technology in 1990, back to mechanical controls. It took a resurgence of touchscreens in modern infotainment for the technology to make a return Buick was way ahead of the curve in its futuristic approach.

Buick’s Early Touchscreen Experiment:

• Introduced in the 1986 Riviera.
• Green CRT screen controlled cabin functions.
• Drivers adjusted climate and radio settings.
• Tiny buttons complicated operation.
• GM abandoned it by 1990.

One of the earliest iterations of the digital dashboard can be seen here in the Buick Riviera. It was called the Graphic Control Center, and it integrated the separate switches and dials that marked car dashboards up to that time into one single digital display. That display provided access to entertainment and climate control, as well as other comfort features, and it could also display service diagnostics. But it was cumbersome to use digital buttons, requiring eye and finger coordination, had to be pressed by eye-trained drivers with limited distractions, something very difficult behind a steering wheel. Drivers were frustrated with the system, which was dropped from Buick in 1990 later vehicles would include Touchscreens, which provided much better access to digital controls.

7. Curb Feelers

Long before backup cameras and proximity sensors became common sight, drivers used curb feelers, which could help cars avoid scraping their wheels along concrete curbs. They were long and thin wires that attached to the sides of cars near the wheel wells and extended out to the curb. When a driver ran the wire into the curb, it would make a sound like a fingernail on a blackboard, alerting the driver that he was getting too close. These little devices may seem like relics of the era of chrome trim and perfect car bodies, but they did live on into the 1980s and ’90s on classic cars and lowriders as decor rather than a tool for parking prowess.

How Curb Feelers Worked:

• Thin metal rods extended near wheels.
• Drivers used them while parking.
• Wires scraped against nearby curbs.
• Sharp sounds warned of contact.
• Lowriders revived them as styling accessories.

Unlike modern park sensors, which use ultrasound or similar technology, parking aids known as curb feelers had only their rubber wheels, or curb sensors, to protect them. This was, they were simple if your vehicle was close enough to hit a kerb, the metallic rod made contact with the kerb and the contact resulted in a loud warning. Kerb feelers gave drivers a simple, no-frills way of protecting their wheels or bodywork when parking, but before the advent of parking sensors, were particularly necessary. However, as car designs changed and vehicles fitted fewer body-coloured panels, curb sensors have become less common. However, they proved long-lasting and eventually became a feature that could be personalized on older, lower-class vehicles. In the later years, some owners used curb sensors not to help park, but as a marketing gimmick on their lowrider.

8. CB Radios

Before mobile phones became common, car radios were also used by farmers to talk with other farmers in distant locations, truckers to report traffic conditions to each other, and the U.S. Coast Guard to make quick contact with each other. For drivers driving long-distance, the radio would allow the other car to pass along any information as they would often be miles apart. CB radio trucks turned car radios into a roadway communication device that united drivers of the roads. Though they reached widespread approval during the 1973 Oil Crisis when people started running out of gas at every gas station, drivers began using the airwaves to communicate information about available gas along miles of highway driving. What started as a convenient method of long-range communication developed into a subculture among drivers to communicate driving information on the open road.

The Role of CB Radios on the Road:

• Connected drivers before mobile phones.
• Truckers shared important traffic updates.
• Farmers communicated across rural areas.
• Fuel shortages boosted radio popularity.
• CB use created a road subculture.

CBs became an integral part of communications, especially when there were no cell phones. The skill of using the radio went beyond just bullshit, however truck drivers could learn about traffic conditions, farmers could keep in touch throughout long rural distances and there was something of value to drivers who still had to put in long hours on the road. It became a useful tool, helping be a communication bridge for anyone long on the road. The 1973 Oil Crisis placed the radios into a new spotlight with gas supplies in short supply and refuelling stations slow running out, drivers could find out where supplies still might be available, communicate over long distances what was otherwise hard to get, or even let people know where to find a can of fuel. The radio helped to form community, just as it did when used for long distance distances, and helped establish a sense of community among drivers.

9. Vent Windows

Before vent windows In the days before air conditioning was often optional equipment on new cars, automakers came up with a simple way to let drivers take the outside air in. Vent windows, which ran the range of sizes from tiny triangular shapes atop the side windows to larger slivers that at the front of the front windows on most vehicles, could be pivoted open and angled so that the air flowed into the car. They were used through the 1930s to the 1970s, offering a way to improve ventilation on warm days in automobiles that lacked air conditioning, then being phased out as technology improved and the cars got more sophisticated, in the 1980s.

The Purpose of Traditional Vent Windows:

• Small triangular panes sat forward.
• Glass could pivot to direct airflow.
• Drivers enjoyed fresh air while moving.
• Air conditioning reduced their usefulness.
• Smooth single-piece windows replaced them.

Vent windows emerged as a solution to the early days of automotive interior design. Prior to the advent of air conditioning on new vehicles, motorists relied on the vent window or a defrosting rear window to properly circulate air within the cabin. A vent window is simply a small glass pane that can easily be pivoted or rotated to ventilate the vehicle, and it offered more precision in the airflow direction than the entire side window. It also remained pertinent for decades because it was a mechanical solution to cabin ventilation that didn’t rely on HVAC upgrades. Once automobiles acquired more advanced systems in the 1980s, they didn’t require a secondary piece of glass to be pulled open, and automakers moved to more contemporary, seamless side-window designs.

10. Floor-Mounted Dimmer Switches

In older cars, one way to switch between high and low beams was to tap on a small floor button, which you could find just next to your feet as you sat in the driver’s seat. These floor-based dimmer switches were a familiar feature in cars manufactured between the 1920s and the 1970s. Instead of moving a lever on the steering column, drivers could tap the switch with their feet, leaving their hands on the steering wheel, and then switch back using the same foot-controlled button. This foot-operated switch, just like the steering column gear shifter, made perfect sense to drivers familiar with using their feet to operate their vehicles, but by the time auto manufacturers perfected steering-column switches in the 1980s and 90s, people had become accustomed to doing things with a hand, not their foot.

A Forgotten Way to Control Headlights:

• Small switches sat near foot pedals.
• Drivers changed beams using their left foot.
• Both hands stayed on the steering wheel.
• Steering-column controls became more common.
• Hand levers replaced floor switches.

Floor-mount dimmer switches show how well-known driving behaviors may be reshaped by automakers at the wheel. The original configuration had enabled drivers to flip the switch to raise and lower headlight beams without moving their hands. For drivers trained on the system, stomping the left foot on a button came to be as habitual as turning the wheel. Automakers eventually coalesced secondary controls to a region near the steering wheel. Foot-controlled levers created a more practical configuration and adjusted to steering column trends of the 1980s. When foot controls fell out of use, they marked the end of a well-known feature that had once been considered second nature. And the evolution of a car’s buttons and levers isn’t just a tale of engines, safety gear, or technology.