•October 21, 2015•

By Jerry L Ginther
NP Columnist

When you saw a ‘57 Chevy coming down the street, even a block away, you knew it was not a ’56 Ford Crown Victoria. Can you remember when cars were easily identifiable at first sight? Proprietary attributes such as front grills, rear tail fins, hood ornaments and chrome trim made them easily recognizable from a considerable distance. The make of the car and the year it was manufactured was unmistakable even to those who knew little about cars otherwise.

When I was a youngster there were several pre WWII autos still on the road, too. Looking back I’m amazed by the fact that some Ford cars had V-8 engines in them before 1940. Those engines were known as flathead V-8s, because the intake and exhaust valves were in the block. Later, in the 50s, the valves were located in the engine head but were referred to as “overhead” valves. Somewhere back in the good old days, I’m told that Lincoln cars were equipped with V-12 engines and overdrive. For a full sized car, I’m thinking that those old Lincolns had to be the fastest vehicles on the highway. Do you remember the song, “Hot Rod Lincoln?” If you’re less than 40 years old, you have probably never heard the term “overdrive” either.

The interior of those pre WWII types sported gadgets that the present generation has likely never seen. Starter pedals were located on the floor next to the accelerator. Actually, they were just a steel rod protruding through the floorboard with a rubber boot around it. One had to push the rod with the right foot to engage the starter. The headlight dimmer switch was also located on the floor, but on the driver’s side of the clutch and brake pedals. This configuration continued for many more years. As technology progressed, the starter switch was improved to a push button on the dashboard. In those older vehicles the ignition switch had to be turned on with a key before the starter was engaged either by the foot switch or the push button. The key was not used to start the engine, only to shut it off.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.