| It took a whole lot of skill to drive the cars of | | | | we wanted it - and often even if we didn't. She was |
| yesteryear. | | | | fine, that "409". |
| If you are sixty today, you've probably been driving | | | | Gas Mileage? Not a problem either, with gas at 5 |
| for about forty five years. You probably began your | | | | cents a gallon or so. Pushing the pedal on the old |
| driving career with cars built in the early sixties, | | | | muscle cars could really siphon gas out of the tank |
| maybe even the Fifties or Forties. | | | | but you pulled up to the pump with a five dollar bill |
| Cars were slightly different then. | | | | and got change back. (Oh, and the attendant washed |
| We didn't have Radial Tires. If we were really lucky, | | | | your windows while the tank was filling). |
| we had tubeless bias-ply tires. Yet older tires had | | | | Now even back then, we had slow drivers and fast |
| rubber tubes in them to hold in the air. Those old | | | | drivers, but the operative word - was "drivers." |
| rubber shoes didn't have quite the grip that today's | | | | Those old buggies were very unforgiving and if you |
| tires do. They didn't steer very well. They got a lot | | | | didn't know how to drive them you could easily find |
| of flats. They blew out just every so often. | | | | yourself in a ditch on the side of the road. |
| Power steering? We didn't start to really see that | | | | If you were running four hundred horsepower in one |
| exciting option until around the middle sixties - and | | | | of those old lovelies, you really had to know how to |
| even then it was an expensive option. Oh, and of | | | | drive. That ditch took on a whole different meaning if |
| course the steering was still usually "recirculating ball." | | | | you hit it at a hundred or so! |
| Rack and pinion? Practically unheard of. | | | | Knowing how to downshift for control, steer into a |
| Yeah, we did have vacuum assisted windshield wipers | | | | skid, pump the air out of your brake lines, or control |
| (when they worked) but McPhearson Struts? More | | | | the car during a tire blow out weren't optional driving |
| of a Seventies type of thing. You were happy if | | | | skills. They were mandatory. There was no electronic |
| your early suspension system kept you upright while | | | | traction control to do it for you. |
| you were standing still - much less at fifty miles an | | | | If you were a slow driver, you still needed to know |
| hour! | | | | how to shift - just to get the car up to forty or so. |
| You could get loose (skid sideways) in half a | | | | If you were a "go fast" type, you really had to |
| heartbeat and if you did, the slightest wrong twitch | | | | understand that clutch pedal, gear shift relationship |
| on the steering wheel would put you upside down | | | | thing. Missing a shift at 6,000 RPM was - well? Let's |
| hanging from your seatbelt. Oops, almost forgot. | | | | just say embarrassing! |
| Didn't have them either. Well, actually some cars did. | | | | The "go fast" in the muscle car also cared about little |
| Simple lap belts were an option. Airbags? What a | | | | things like knowing how to load up his nervous |
| concept! | | | | suspension system, or perhaps keeping those not so |
| Speaking of transmissions (were we?) - most cars | | | | sticky tires somewhere in the general vicinity of the |
| were standard shift. Automatics were starting to | | | | road. Going "kinda' airborne" wasn't all that |
| happen then but they too, were expensive options. | | | | uncommon, what with old shock absorbers and leaf |
| Most cars came with a third pedal -- which needed to | | | | springs doing ninety five or better. If you hit a bump |
| be pushed, in order to shift gears with something | | | | in the road you sort of wanted to know how to |
| called a gear shift. You needed at least a basic | | | | bring it in for a safe landing. |
| understanding of how a transmission works, to even | | | | When you see that Senior on the Service road, you |
| pass your drivers test. Today we have countless | | | | might want to pause for a moment and think about |
| drivers who have never even seen a clutch pedal. | | | | what she learned to "drive" on. |
| They get in the car, put it in Drive - and off it goes. | | | | When you see that Sixty-something moseying along |
| But horsepower? We had gobs of it. Not too much in | | | | in that muscle car? He still appreciates performance, |
| the early fifties but by the time the sixties had rolled | | | | perhaps even more when it's "power under control". |
| around, Detroit had discovered that "bigger was | | | | Might not want to under estimate the ole' hot-rodder |
| better" and "faster was funner". "Big-blocks" with a | | | | though. He probably has instinctive driving skills -- you |
| couple of four barrel Hollies (remember carburetors?) | | | | never even dreamed of. |
| were definitely cool. We had plenty of horsepower if | | | | |