Who's on first

[LDB]

and when did it happen? With apologies to Bud and Lou.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enth...386c9cab&ei=57

[Draigflag]

We take so much for granted now. I remember my Dad's old Morris with a vacuum screen washer. Push too hard, it would fly straight over the roof of the car, didn't push hard enough, it would even reach the screen. Now we have auto washers on our reversing cameras, who would have thought...

[JockoT]

Amazing how most of the "comfort" items come from the US and the "safety" items from Europe.

I had a few cars with vacuum windscreen wipers. Ran off the manifold depression. Put your foot down and they soon came to a halt. I did have a Vauxhall Wyvern where the wipers were a direct mechanical drive from the engine (possibly the gearbox input shaft) and the faster the engine went the faster they went. Combined with the three-speed gearbox they went like berzerkers.

[LDB]

It's interesting how far back some of those things came. And who was responsible for some of them. And how much some have evolved and improved since first appearing.

[JockoT]

I had a 1969 Volvo 144. This was in the days before heater rear screens and when you set the ventilation to demist, as well as it going to the windscreen the warm air went along through the sills (keeping moisture at bay) and up to vents below the rear screen.
It also had front and rear crumple zones, disc brakes all around and dual-circuit brakes (two front and one rear).
Engineering wise it had a pair of auxiliary drive belts (so if one broke you were not stuck and a thermostat that didn't just open and close but when the engine was cold, directed the water flow around the exhaust valve stems for rapid heating.

[LDB]

I liked Volvo in the 60's and 70's. They seemed to frequently bring in some new safety feature ahead of others and some thoughtful things like that thermostat. And I thought they looked good too. Not everyone's thing with the 3 boxes but I liked them. And there was IPD too.