Where innovation was exciting as cars of the 1960s to 1990s embraced technology, innovation, and odd design elements to shape our motoring experiences. Baby boomers watched as automakers sought to make cars more high-tech and modern with digital displays, digital dashboards, and motorized seat belts. Other features promised to make the driving experience a more futuristic feel with features like sleeper buttons, pop up lights, and dot matrix digital displays that looked far more sophisticated than what drivers were used to. Some features were genuinely worthwhile while others proved that a good idea does not always make a good feature in a vehicle. Moving back through the decades reveals what a change the industry has seen and why particular elements became so iconic.

Many of these features attracted initial interest simply because they were a departure from the cars you already knew. As drivers began to experience them in daily life, the weaknesses became evident. Robotic dashboard voices proved distracting, early digital readouts did not work well in sunlight and motorised seat belts suffered a mechanical failure that annoyed their owners. Other features, such as vinyl roofs, landau bars and curb feelers, demonstrate the attitude to comfort, extravagance and style that was changing at the time. CB radios and petrol pumps that combined bespoke blends serve as a reminder of how drivers made decisions and interacted with other motorists before the advent of the sat-nav and the on-demand digital world.

1. Talking Dashboards

One of the earliest production cars with a voice alert system was the 1981 Datsun Maxima. It was a sort of science fiction dream where cars not only warned you but actually announced to you through something like a robot rather than a warning light. Instead of just having a warning light next to your gas meter, you heard “Your fuel is low”. Car owners unfamiliar with this new feature must have been amazed at how their vehicles seemed to take a new step into the future by actually communicating with them. The talking dashboard was an attempt to give alarm signals to drivers who might otherwise be looking at their speedometers rather than at the road ahead of them.

Talking Dashboard Features Worth Remembering:

• Introduced spoken vehicle warning messages
• Featured in the 1981 Datsun Maxima
• Announced open doors and low fuel
• Created a futuristic driving experience
• Replaced visual alerts with robotic voices

Soon, it was no longer as much fun having a talking dash, than it was a futuristic feature. The “robotic-type” warnings could become monotonous, and it was also known that the system would “interject” itself at what would typically be unwelcome moments, and is best compared to a simple warning chime, which only get your attention without the systems attempting to rob you of a few more decibels. The material provided with the vehicle suggested that the many owners who would grow frustrated with the alerts, would actually simply unplug the system’s wiring within the span of several weeks simply because they would prefer a more straightforward warning. This underscored that merely having the vehicle speak, isn’t necessarily an improvement over the traditional warning method.

2. Digital Dashboards

The general use of numbered ‘digits’ in automotive designers’ replacement of glowing LED number displays over the analogue dials during the digital revolution. Taking such instrumentation a step further than their use of numerical readouts on pocket calculators, they were marketed as a more sophisticated alternative to traditional gauges. Drivers were able to view numerical readings in illuminated form across the dashboard, creating a cockpit more akin to the controls of a fighter aircraft than a standard car on the road. To more technologically-minded motorists, digital dashboards heralded an entirely new approach to familiar instrument layouts, signifying the automotive industry’s desire to incorporate the latest electronic advancements.

Digital Dashboard Innovations and Limitations:

• Replaced traditional analogue instrument dials
• Used illuminated numerical LED displays
• Created a futuristic cockpit appearance
• Struggled in direct sunlight
• Could become unreliable when segments failed

Real-world driving also revealed some shortcomings of these early digital displays. The numbers could be washed out by bright sunlight, or rendered almost invisible by polarised sunglasses. A shaky hand on a bumpy road or a faulty LED segment could spoil the entire instrument cluster. Car makers then tried to produce digital versions of existing analog gauges, which attempted to marry the best aspects of the old and new instruments. Yet these could also suffer many of the negatives of their two parents without any of their advantages. That fact demonstrates how the modern digital dashboard a technological triumph can be a headache for all but the most technically minded, and why digital displays have to be a potential driver for the entire range of future automotive technology.

3. Motorised Seatbelts

Motorised seatbelts were designed to make putting your seatbelt on easier by doing it for you. When you shut the door of the car, an electric shoulder belt would slide along a track above the window and across your chest. This was quite a strange experience as the belt seemed to cinch itself with no manual effort from the driver, and many car manufacturers were experimenting with innovative ideas to keep passengers safe. The effect also gave the car a bit of an edge, something that is cooler than simply having to pull your seatbelt on in this case, it just pulled itself on without you.

What Made Motorised Seatbelts Memorable:

• Automated the shoulder-belt movement
• Activated when the door closed
• Used an electric track mechanism
• Aimed to simplify seatbelt use
• Introduced additional mechanical components

In reality, it was nowhere near as effective as first thought. The motors could overheat, the mechanisms in the tracks were liable to get stuck and the moving belts would snag on the wearer’s clothing. One problem was that the automated shoulder belt didn’t remove the requirement to fit the manual lap belt, either, but this remained undone by some drivers, reducing the safety advantages of the system. The end result was that this belt arrangement was more complex than a standard seatbelt, which could be fitted easily. As newer safety systems evolved, the motorised method became redundant, and the technology was dropped entirely. This example shows that any type of safety equipment should be easy to operate, reliable and even help to facilitate correct operation.

4. Pop-Up Headlights

A feature of many sporting cars was the use of pop-up headlights, which enabled the vehicle to retain a streamlined look when the lamps were turned off. Using headlights that would pop up from the bonnet area became an all-the-rage with the Pontiac Firebird, Mazda RX-7, and others with the macho look, great sporty image, and the aesthetics of the extravagant movement of the pods themselves from the under-bonnet line to the traditional headlamp position. Hideaway headlamp conversion also meant you could have a longer, more consistent front end and for many the pop-up headlamp was a big part of its character, more than just a flashy addition.

Why Pop-Up Headlights Captured Attention:

• Created a clean front-end profile
• Revealed lights through mechanical movement
• Became popular on sports cars
• Added drama to vehicle styling
• Required motors and moving mechanisms

All the way down the line Pop-up headlights, attractive though they are to look at, added extra mechanical components that could go wrong in older cars. Electric motors could burn out, gears could strip or winter weather could freeze the mechanism in the retracted position. A headlight that wouldn’t pop up when needed could make a car a pain to drive in the dark and give visibility issues, so they were more difficult to service than static lights. The trend eventually proved too complex and design- conscious to still have the headlights as a feature, with the source material reporting in 2004 that Pop-up headlights had ‘disappeared from new cars.’

5. Vinyl Roofs and Landau Bars

In the past, car manufacturers provided vinyl covering for roof panels as well as landau bars ornamental chrome strips across the roof’s styling line to make a sedan look a little more upmarket. Vinyl roofs, which could cover the entire roof or just an area between the windscreen and rear window, combined with other trim pieces, one of which was a chrome stripe, the latter of which was sometimes combined with a rear-facing S-shaped splat on the C-pillar, to evoke the luxurious look of a convertible roof and ‘faux’ top-hinges that did nothing but suggest a missing convertible roof and offer owners a little more elegance.

The Appeal of Vinyl Roofs and Landau Bars:

• Added a formal luxury appearance
• Covered roofs with vinyl material
• Featured decorative chrome landau bars
• Became popular status symbols
• Created maintenance concerns over time

What might look like an attractive feature can hide a serious long term issue. Covering made of vinyl can trap moisture beneath it against the steel underneath and lead to corrosion. As the material wears, it can crack in fluctuating weather and the corrosion issue becomes more apparent over time. If the corrosion occurs beneath the covering, the damage would be out of site until it has become significant, making an in demand styling feature potential damage to bodywork and cost the owner a large amount of money. Classic car owners with vinyl roofs need to be aware of the state of the covering as well as the bodywork underneath it, because these “it looks so good on the street” features could be disguising damage that stems back to the corrosion that can be caused when moisture is trapped with the bodywork.

6. CRT Touchscreens

Center debuted as an innovative, high-tech solution for dashboard control. A cathode-ray tube (CRT) touchscreen was used to control the radio, climate controls, and health of the vehicle. While the CRT technology was certainly not new, at a time when few people had used a screen to navigate their vehicles and through a dash of a piece of plastic and a few felt-tipped pins, those buttons and that volume knob might seem antiquated. The on-screen touchscreen of the Riviera offered a lot more control and customization and a very computer-like quality to the interior of a car whose controls set it apart from its peers.

Inside Buick’s Graphic Control Centre:

• Introduced in the 1986 Buick Riviera
• Used a cathode-ray tube touchscreen
• Controlled radio and climate settings
• Provided access to vehicle diagnostics
• Replaced several conventional physical controls

Driving while using the system was not quite as futuristic as it looks, either. The on-screen “buttons” were tiny, and often not quick to find if you wanted to turn up the radio or change the temperature setting. Using a touch-screen while paying attention to the road is about as awkward as you might expect it to be when a display requires your focus on the display. By 1990, GM was back to using knobs, according to the supplied material, but touch-screen controls became common on newer cars, so the Riviera could be said to be yet another step along the path toward a digital dash. The direction Buick chose with the Riviera’s system is the sort of approach that an idea of this sort could only lead to new-ish screen tech, with a new-ish interface, can only be as good as the user can handle it.

7. Curb Feelers

Curb feelers were generally curved, thin metal rods that could be attached near a vehicle’s wheel arches. Curb feelers acted as a tool that drivers could use to determine how near or far their tyres were from a kerb or wall. They were a mechanical solution to telling the driver that they were too close when reversing, commonly a scraping or squeaking sound whenever the metal rod came into contact with the concrete kerb. Particularly popular with those who wanted to keep their tyres in top condition and keep the visual aesthetic of their car smooth and bright, they had been around since the early years of the twentieth century and became really popular in the post-war years.

Why Drivers Used Curb Feelers:

• Helped judge distance from kerbs
• Used thin metal warning rods
• Produced noise when touching concrete
• Protected prized whitewall tyres
• Required no electronic parking sensors

Despite their eventual decline, however, these inserts did not go away altogether. As other parking techniques emerged and vehicles were fitted with new options to make parking easier, curb feelers became more and more obsolete. As noted in the provided source material, though, these odd additions to the car experienced something of a kitsch renaissance in the 1980s and 1990s, when they appealed to lowrider fanatics and nostalgic owners of vintage cars alike. Their usefulness in these roles was limited, but they were an interesting answer to the issue of parking assistance certainly a far cry from the sophisticated, integrated systems available in today’s vehicles.

8. CB Radios

CB radios were an essential form of communication for drivers well before cellphones and GPS apps became a modern essential. While the device was first developed in the 1940s, it was primarily useful for trucks and farmers for most of its early existence; farmers could call each other in rural areas, truck drivers could update each other on road conditions, and the US Coast Guard used CB radio technology for instant communication. For drivers on longer journeys without cellphone service, it provided a way to pass along information and stay in contact, as such a feature was not necessary for some but could have been a lifesaver for others.

CB Radio Benefits for Road Users:

• Enabled communication across rural areas
• Helped truckers share road updates
• Supported quick communication for users
• Gained popularity during the 1973 Oil Crisis
• Allowed motorists to share fuel information

CB radio exploded in 1973 during the Oil Crisis, when fuel shortages meant that telling each other where petrol was available became incredibly useful. Drivers could listen to radio chatter on where stations had fuel and also relay information to other drivers. This immediately drove many people to adopt CB radios for general motoring use, as they created a greater road-related subculture for motorists, with drivers communicating to each other on the airwaves in order to create a shared community feeling. With modern digital navigators and cell phones, it is hard to think that this was once the case, but this real-time information was important for motoring at the time, making CB radio one of the more practical technologies from that era.

9. Front Bench Seats

What is a front bench seat American cars in the 1920s and ’30s commonly featured a front bench seat a spacious continuous bench spanning the width of the front cabin. As ownership became more widespread, and leisure driving by families grew more prevalent, car manufacturers found these bench seats a simple way to accommodate extra passengers and provide a spacious and versatile interior. Unlike bucket seats, a bench could house several occupants in a single shared surface and give the front cabin the feeling of open space, and a single seating unit. These bench seats tended to suit the traditional full-sized cars that made up most American roads at the time, ideal for those who preferred comfort and plenty of cabin space to a sporty driving experience.

What Made Front Bench Seats Popular:

• Offered a wide front seating area
• Accommodated additional front-row passengers
• Created a spacious cabin layout
• Suited traditional full-size American cars
• Reflected an earlier era of motoring

For many years, front bench seats have largely been replaced with individual bucket seats. Seating options such as individual bucket seats provided support, and changes in centre consoles and floor-mounted gear selectors also shifted the design of the front cabin to a new arrangement. As car interior layout designs shifted and changed, the traditional continuous bench seat became a rare option for most manufacturers. According to the included source, the Chevrolet Impala 2012 is the last model year to feature a front bench seat in the cabin, marking the end of a tradition that has lasted for decades. While it may have created a very defined feeling of cabin space, modern car interior designs have shifted to individual seats with centre consoles, but traditionalists may enjoy the Chevrolet Impala 2012 as the last traditional full-sized American sedan with a front bench seat.

10. Custom-Blending Petrol Pumps

During motoring’s golden years, petrol at a petrol station was sometimes not just the same old grade. Sunoco’s Custom Blending Pump, which was introduced in the 1950s, was available at many petrol stations for a few decades and meant the motoring public could blend together a single grade of petrol at the pump through a single machine. The system gave motorists a degree of control over the actual blend of petrol that they purchased and was a product of the time when petrol grades were always something to consider for the driver. Instead of a choice of just a handful of pre-made blends, customers were given a selection for a specific vehicle.

Inside Sunoco’s Custom-Blending System:

• Introduced during the 1950s
• Operated from 1958 through 1972
• Offered eight different fuel grades
• Ranged from Sunoco 190 to 260
• Included charts recommending suitable fuel grades

The Sunoco custom blending pump was in operation from 1958 to 1972, and had eight grades of petrol to choose from, from the Sunoco 190 all the way up to the high octane Sunoco 260. The company also supplied charts which recommended specific grades based on the engine and the fuel needs of the vehicle, so that the customer could make a more educated decision when they stopped off at the petrol station. Some would argue that it was made more relevant to the gas stations of the time, when drivers could become more engaged in the correlation between fuel and engine power. Although now you tend to find a narrower selection of standardised petrol grades at a petrol station, Sunoco’s Custom Blending Pump is certainly one of the more iconic ‘non-standard’ retail petrol pump.