These vehicles of romance have now changed so much
CARS have changed dramatically during my lifetime. When I started driving most cars had “bench seats” that went right across the car from door to door. This was particularly handy for courting couples as there was no centre console to get in the way of any action that might take place in the front seat.
At the age when a young person started driving a certain amount of front seat action was one of he main reasons for driving.
Gradually over the years the designers of cars made changes intended to make vehicles safer. Bench seats went away in favour of “bucket” seats, because they were thought to keep the driver firmly in place.
The introduction of seat belts put the final damper on automotive romances.
Tyres improved in design. It was quite common in my early driving days to have to stop and change a wheel because of a blow-out or puncture.
This was partly due to the condition of the roads back then, but also because tyres were just not as durable as they are today. I haven’t changed a wheel for years. Gearboxes improved too. I don’t think modern drivers have ever heard of a manoeuvre known as “double declutching. It was necessary to be able to do this in order to change down from a high gear to a lower one. Today’s gearboxes are as slick as can be, and in North America almost all vehicles have automatic gears.
One interesting change in the world of cars is the attitude of society towards driving in general.
“Motoring” used to be a recreational activity. Families went out for a Sunday drive. There were plenty of road-houses where you could sit in your vehicle and have a pretty waitress on roller skates bring your milk shakes and hot dogs to the car and clip a dented aluminum tray onto your window. This allowed the kids in the back to drip double thick chocolate malt directly into the upholstery.
Every town worth the name had a drive-in cinema, where you could sit in the privacy of your car and watch a romantic movie – or better still, watch the romantic action in the cars all around you.
The latest trend is to add “infotainment centres” to cars. Newer models come with GPS, wi-fi, weather monitors, MP3 players, Bluetooth, blue-ray, builtin phones, TV screens , flashing lights and 16 things that go “bleep” for various reasons.
Even my little bakkie has something that says “spit-spit” from time to time and another one that says “ding.” I have not figured out why.
I suspect all this is to distract us from the fact that traffic has become so congested we no longer actually go anywhere in our cars. We might as well sit in the traffic jam and be entertained.
Last Laugh
The teacher was handing out corrected exam papers and said sternly to little Jimmy: “You obviously haven’t studied at all for this geography exam. What’s your excuse?”
“Well,” said Jimmy, “my Dad told me the world was changing every day, so I thought I’d wait until it settled down, then start learning about it.”
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