Car accessories from the 1960's and 1970's, do you remember these?

[rustic]

In the 60's car heaters were an option, so to help prevent misted windscreens, some people bought these 12 volt hot wire demisters, some flush people bought two, one for each side. Attached by a pair of suckers, placed near the bottom of the screen eventually they were partially successful lol.

[rustic]

In the 70's, heated rear windcreens were not common place, so did anyone buy one of these Smiths Self adhesive rear windscreen electric demisters ?
I bought one for my mini, it worked well, went on straight, no wrinkles, but there were many that fell off within a week, or were fitted on the slant lol

[rustic]

Also in the 60's it was a requirement that after dark it was a legal requirement to have a parking light when vehicles were left unattended.
They couldn't leave side lights on all night, as it drained the battery, so they had a small unit they clipped over the window or edge of the door, and had something like a 2.2 watt bulb lol
If they parked off side, they simply unscrewed and swapped over the red and white lenses.

[rustic]

Back in the 1970' very few cars had reversing lights or rear fog lights, so people used to add their own. Again, I wanted some, but I bought some convertible ones.

Normally they were white reversing lights, but if it got foggy, or you were expecting fog, you slipped on a red cover, but it was more pink than red lol.

Sorry no pic found for that one.
Can't sleep tonight, in bed with the ipad on dim screen, typing away lol.

[rustic]

In the 60's there were no switches or stalks on the steering wheel, the more modern cars had flashing indicator bulbs, controlled by a huge rotary switch on the dash board.

You could buy after market self cancelling indicator switches, that clamped on the steering column, and had a rubber wheel that contacted the steering wheel, and after a few turns of the wheel, eventually self cancelled. Lucas at it's best.

Dip and full beam were controlled by a foot switch to the left of the clutch, I must admit I liked those, but took a lot of abuse, especially when you have wet salty feet.

Pic of floor mounted dip switch.

[rustic]

Here is a picture of a fuse box from this era, most leyland and rover cars had this set up.
There were two 35 Amp fuses, one for all things that turn off with the ignition, and the other, live all the time, for all lights, horn etc

If you wanted to hot wire a car, say if you lost the key, you simply linked both fuses together, no steering locks or alarms in those days.

The 35amp fuses actually blew at 35 amps in those days, but could safely carry 17.5 amps.
Cars were not power hungry then.

[Lazy-Ferret]

Originally Posted by rustic

In the 60's there were no switches or stalks on the steering wheel, the more modern cars had flashing indicator bulbs, controlled by a huge rotary switch on the dash board.

You could buy after market self cancelling indicator switches, that clamped on the steering column, and had a rubber wheel that contacted the steering wheel, and after a few turns of the wheel, eventually self cancelled. Lucas at it's best.

Dip and full beam were controlled by a foot switch to the left of the clutch, I must admit I liked those, but took a lot of abuse, especially when you have wet salty feet.

Pic of floor mounted dip switch.

I have one of these in my T2 to switch the roof lights on and off. Still think they were the best way of switching high/low beam.

I have one of those Smiths heated rear window elements in the garage, I got 2 at an auto jumble and used one to replace the broken factory fit one on our old Volvo 240, as it was too badly damaged to repair.

Sent from my SM-T705 using Tapatalk

[Blocky10]

Originally Posted by rustic

Also in the 60's it was a requirement that after dark it was a legal requirement to have a parking light when vehicles were left unattended.
They couldn't leave side lights on all night, as it drained the battery, so they had a small unit they clipped over the window or edge of the door, and had something like a 2.2 watt bulb lol
If they parked off side, they simply unscrewed and swapped over the red and white lenses.

Ha. I have one of these hanging in my garage.

[terranosaurusdoug]

Originally Posted by Blocky10

Ha. I have one of these hanging in my garage.

Haha, I feel very young

[Blocky10]

Originally Posted by terranosaurusdoug

Haha, I feel very young

I found it in my grandads shed when he passed.

[rustic]

Originally Posted by terranosaurusdoug

Haha, I feel very young

I feel like a 21 year old somedays....



You all know where that punch line is going don't you lol...

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