Back in my day•••••

Corvettes and other sports cars had 15 inch wheels 

only old fashioned cars like a MGTC  had 19 inch  wheels.  That and old Model A Fords. 

In reply to frenchyd :

remember when they were service stations instead of convenience stores?  

I worked at one. In addition to selling gas you got your car worked on.  We had lifts to change oil grease and service cars.  The bench held tools and the usual stuff like vise and grinder.  Tire changing equipment,  alignment and suspension repair equipment.

We also had a boring bar because we rebuilt engines right in the chassis.  Valve and seat grinding Starter and generator rebuilding  we did it all.  

I was proudest of the Sun Engine analyzer it took up a whole wall of the shop.  It operated with old vacuum tubes that took a while to warm up.  

The specs on every car since the 1930’s was there.  Ford, Chevy, even Duesenburg 

In reply to frenchyd :

...you could operate things like the lights, wipers and radio with simple round knobs that were in the same place on almost every car or truck. 

And the A/C and vent controls were operated by a cable... and in the worst case scenario you had to oil the cable.  No computers and electronics to open a vent door.  Dagnabit.  

In reply to Danny Shields :remember three on the tree?  

And the gasoline was different colors and smelled different too......don't ask

In reply to 759NRNG :Remember 115/145 leaded Avgas?  

In reply to frenchyd:Remember 115/145 leaded Avgas?   No not really , I was 16 at the time pumpin' gas, cleanin' windshields, checkin' tires, and waiting for the next 'hot car'(or babe ) to pull up to the pumps. Oh and the Sunoco pumps with the 'blend thingys' were pretty cool.

And if you broke down, chances are you could be up and running with simple hand tools.

And you had to replace the points regularly? And how everything smelled from the unburnt fuel, and if you got in a crash you were impaled by the steering wheel? And how a car with 100,000 miles was considered high mileage?

Ah, the good old days.

When I was a boy...steering wheels had only ONE button on them. And when you pushed it, it went "beep." That's how the Lord intended it. 

Dirtydog said:

And if you broke down, chances are you could be up and running with simple hand tools.

And even new cars broke down, like, constantly.

In reply to 759NRNG :115/145 is a military grade of Avgas.   

In reply to Keith Tanner : not only points but spark plugs.  

In reply to dculberson :

Gas stations sold oil three different ways,  new in tin cans, re-refined in glass bottles, and used straight from the dirty oil boozer.  

In reply to dculberson :

I know.  Owned a 3 year old Fiat 124 in the 1970's.  Got more excercise pushing to the side of the road than driving it.

You set your points with a matchbook cover. 

I remember buying retreads for my beaters when I was a teenager.

frenchyd said:

In reply to Danny Shields :remember three on the tree?  

 

Had one that would fall out of 2nd if I let off the gas.

In reply to NOT A TA :

Retreads/ recaps were the norm for older (10 years was considered old)  and cost as little as $15 plus your old recappable tire 

Recaps  were lucky to get 5-7000 miles and 10,000 was considered good for a new tire

Remember paying a deposit if you wanted to take the bottle of pop you just bought with you?  

AaronBalto said:

When I was a boy...steering wheels had only ONE button on them. And when you pushed it, it went "beep." That's how the Lord intended it. 

Amen, brother.  

I remember when rotating tires was a simple job that did not require trip to the internet to get rid of a pesky light.

We had one knob for volume, and one for tuning.   If you wanted to get really fancy you could buy a cassette with AUTO reverse!