Things you could order over 50 years ago that you can't order now !

[JasperFrank]

The dino figures were sort of a hard wax as I remember. I do know that I ate one as a very young child - or at least tryed to. I don't think any of theses survive to today. I believe there were three kinds: Triceratops, T Rex and what we thought at the time to be Brontosaurus.

 

[stuckmotor]

Yeah, I think they were a factory option beginning about 1955 with Ford, but the macho mentality at the time didn't do much as far as paying for the option.

Now, you've got me thinking about a traffic safety film they showed our PE class called Mechanized Death. It gave the gore flick Blood Feast, on at the drive in that year, a run for the money.

 

[Jstpssng]

if I wore the shoulder harness I couldn’t use the turn signals, or reach anything on the dash, because they were just out of reach.

It took them a while to finally change that. I couldn't guess how many times I would go through a puddle, soaking the windshield in my '84 F150, and not being able to reach the wiper switch.

 

[Oaktree]

I think seat belts, head rests and turn signals were required about 1968.

Laps belts were 68. I think shoulder harnessee and headrests weren’t until about 75 on the trucks. The 73 F350, didn’t have them, and the 77 F350 that replaced it had them.

I think cars had to have the shoulder harness and head rests, in 72 or 73. Had the shoulder harness in a 73 Dart Sport. Got a ticket for not using the shoulder harness.

I have a '67 Dart that has factory seatbelts and turn signals, but not headrests. The '70 I bought new back in the day had headrests, but not the shoulder belts. I also believe 1970 was the year passenger cars (but not trucks) had to have locking steering columns, mine did. The floor shifter (manual) wasn't interlocked so it was necessary to push a button to release the key/lock the column. 3-in-the-tree models had to be in reverse to remove the key IIRC, automatics in park. Those early shoulder belts were 2 separate belts, with separate buckles in the seat.

Speaking of turn signals, I remember the Sears catalog offering aftermarket turn signal kits for older vehicles, the switch assembly attached to the steering column with hose clamps. I seem to recall them offering a self-cancelling version as well, not sure how that worked.

It took them a while to finally change that. I couldn't guess how many times I would go through a puddle, soaking the windshield in my '84 F150, and not being able to reach the wiper switch.

A lot of vehicles of that vintage the latching pawl on the shoulder part of the belt was overly sensitive and would latch up when you went over a bump requiring you to lean back a bit to release it. If you hit another bump before it released it could strap you way back into the seat.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

You could buy dynamite at the local hardware store.

 

[tallyho8]

A drunk driver hit my Ford Ranger head on causing me to get a couple of painful broken ribs and remembering that when I bought my next vehicle I wanted to get one with an airbag. I read up on them and saw that 1995 Ford pickups had airbags so I made that my next truck. I needed a diesel to pull my 3 horse trailer in the Ozark mountains and found a nice '95 Ford 250 and bought it after the salesman convinced me it had an airbag.

Within a few days after reading the manual and looking further at the steering wheel I found out that airbags were not in the 250s, only the 150s. I went back to the dealer and the only consideration I received was an apology from the salesman stating that he thought it did. They refused to take it back or give me any compensation.

Today I still have it with only 120,000 miles on it and it almost looks like new and thankfully no one has hit me yet but if one of the new aluminum pickups with plastic bumpers hits me I'm not really sure what injuries I will receive.

 

[turnkey4099]

I have a '67 Dart that has factory seatbelts and turn signals, but not headrests. The '70 I bought new back in the day had headrests, but not the shoulder belts. I also believe 1970 was the year passenger cars (but not trucks) had to have locking steering columns, mine did. The floor shifter (manual) wasn't interlocked so it was necessary to push a button to release the key/lock the column. 3-in-the-tree models had to be in reverse to remove the key IIRC, automatics in park. Those early shoulder belts were 2 separate belts, with separate buckles in the seat.

Speaking of turn signals, I remember the Sears catalog offering aftermarket turn signal kits for older vehicles, the switch assembly attached to the steering column with hose clamps. I seem to recall them offering a self-cancelling version as well, not sure how that worked.


A lot of vehicles of that vintage the latching pawl on the shoulder part of the belt was overly sensitive and would latch up when you went over a bump requiring you to lean back a bit to release it. If you hit another bump before it released it could strap you way back into the seat.

I believe Volvo was one of the leaders of 3-point seat belts (one buckle) I had a 59 volvo with it and loved it. Grab belt latch with right hand, blind jab and it was latched - had a big upside down u on the tunnel it latched into.

 

[kenmbz]

My 69 280sl had front and rear crumple zones, collapsible steering column, head rests, three point seat belt and reinforced pillars for the front windshield so it would hold up without the top on in a roll over.

 

[Oaktree]

Saabs were also pretty advanced when it came to safety features. I recall magazine ads showing them rolling down a hill to demonstrate how crush resistant they were, this would have been late 60s.

 

[/pine]

Not sure about safety...but if you wanted a car that was hard to blemish...a '59' Studebaker takes the cake...you couldn't put a dent in the body with a sledge hammer...!
All time favorite car at demolition derby's around the country...!

 

[ultrarunner]

Saabs were also pretty advanced when it came to safety features. I recall magazine ads showing them rolling down a hill to demonstrate how crush resistant they were, this would have been late 60s.

As Chrysler Airflow in the 1930’s

 

[2LaneCruzer]

I have seen one of these, but only one. I don't know what happened to them, other than t he depression.

 

[ultrarunner]

So many cars ended in war effort scrap drives too!

 

[Jstpssng]

As Chrysler Airflow in the 1930’s

Thanks, but no thanks. I noticed though, that pitcher wasn't far enough from the car for his "speedball" to come up to speed.
Apparently '50s Fords could also roll and keep on going, according to Hollywood in this 1958 movie.

 

[stuckmotor]

Thanks, but no thanks. I noticed though, that pitcher wasn't far enough from the car for his "speedball" to come up to speed.
Apparently '50s Fords could also roll and keep on going, according to Hollywood in this 1958 movie.

When Thunder Road came on TV one night, a group of my elementary school class mates couldn't talk about it enough the next day.

 

[stuckmotor]

River Of No Return with Marilyn Monroe, is my favorite Robert Mitchum movie. Marilyn wasn't too keen on it.

 

[/pine]

Most all of his movies were better than average...I was always fond of 'Heaven Knows Mr. Allison'...

 

[bigtiller]

Thanks, but no thanks. I noticed though, that pitcher wasn't far enough from the car for his "speedball" to come up to speed.
Apparently '50s Fords could also roll and keep on going, according to Hollywood in this 1958 movie.

I'm living proof of that. My buddy had a '50 Ford. We rolled that thing a bunch of times on purpose.

There was a wide, shallow ditch just outside of town. At about 10 mph, he would turn the ignition off, drop the front left tire in the ditch and that was enough for the car to roll over onto it's top.

We'd crawl out the windows, push it back onto it's wheels, drive into town and park on main street where everyone could see it.

Every night there were more and more dents on it. The cops tried to give us some static but the glass was all good and the lights worked so he left in a big huff.

 

[stuckmotor]

My son was a kid during the time that The Dukes of Hazard was in afternoon reruns and wanted to watch it everyday. After seeing a demonstration of how the rolls and some other stunts were performed they became very boring to me. There's another reason for a magician to never reveal his tricks.