These Are the Classic Car Design Features You Want to Make a Comeback

A. Thinner A pillars.

B. Bigger Windows/lower beltline

I want to drive around in a car, not a tank. See current gen taurus and camaro.

C. This is less feature and more color choice. Bring back forest green exteriors. It is the best color by far. I’m tired of the white crossover. (Literally I think I saw 8 different white crossovers once on the same street.)

Unfortunately, the first two things on this list aren’t even going to come back. Rollover safety standards mean those are lost to time.

Green paint however, that does indeed need to come back. Green over tan is the superior color combination, and anyone who disagrees in a savage and an idiot.

As Robert De Niro said in Meet the Parents, “Geniuses pick green.”

Suggested by: Garlos Chosn (in honor of Mergio Sarchionne)

Saab Night Panel mode! Only vital information illuminated in eye comfortable fighter-jet green.

So, uh, Saab is a bit dead, so I don’t think they’ll be brining the night panel back anytime soon. That being said, it would be cool if others cars adopted it. I’ve used this feature once or twice and it is actually very nice to have driving down a dark road.

I can especially see it getting more and more useful and screens continue to enter the cabins of cars. Who knows, imitation is the greatest form of flattery, so maybe someone will copy Saab.

Suggested by: My name is Jonas

Tailfins and boattails, give me that classic nonsense style. It just has a sense of style that you don’t get these days. Also, I’d like tactile controls in the cabin again, because fuck the touchscreens.

Fins are cool, but they have been documented to literally puncture people’s lungs while they were stationary. There are so many wonderful little nuggets in Unsafe at Any Speed. They may look cool, but they are certainly a touch deadly. Maybe that’s the fun of it all, though.

Suggested by: skeffles

Hideaway headlights.

Talk about doing something to the appearance of the car that knocks it out of ballpark. Yup, all-time styling masterpiece and the hideaways played a large part in pulling off the look on the 2nd gens.

As opposed to the meh-appearing (yet aerodynamically much better) ‘69 Charger 500's fascia.

So do hideaways rule? Abso-friggin’-lutely. Make it happen again, Detroit.

Those are badass, my man. I’m not sure if they fall into the same category as pop-up headlights, as those are now banned.

I’ll talk to my friends down at the NHTSA and see what we can get done. Be right back.

 Suggested by: the 1969 Dodge Charger Guy

Options. Like, the ability to add or remove most features without having to buy a trim level above or below that comes with more features you don’t actually want like a cable TV package. Like optioning in a better sound system but without being forced to get the leather seats because that sound system is only available with the higher trim that comes with leather seats.

This is why Porsche is so great. You can get literally anything you want, however you want it. It’s configurator is a great way to waste a couple hours online. If only stuff like that could trickle down to other (more affordable) brands, then we’d really be cooking!

 Suggested by: Weeks

Soft, sofa like cushioned seats. Double points if velour.

Not everything needs to be sporty for cornering, or engineered hard vinyl. If I’m driving a long distance, I want a plush and soft seat I can sink into. It wasn’t that long ago that these were still available, at least in trucks. Now even Platinum trims have rock hard leather with no give. Come on.

Yes, yes, yes. A million times yes. My spine is what is medically known as “fucked” and would love if big ass couch seats came back into vogue. Also more cars need massaging seats. I know it sounds like overkill, but trust me my guys, it is so god damn good.

Suggested by: V10omous

The A/C vent under the steering column that shoots right up your shorts.

Please bring back the grundle vent. I demand it. Humanity demands it.

Suggested by: G-ERTI

Three words: Rich. Corinthian. Leather. Every other answer is just frippery.

Nothing makes you feel fancier than some rich corinthian leather. Trust me on this. Have I experienced rich corinthian leather? Maybe not, but I still get the gist.

Suggested by: GTB

Hardtops. No, not the removable ones. Lack of B-Pillars. Not feasible due to side impact regs but you did ask what I wanted. Man I love me some open cabins...

I appreciate you recognizing this feature can never come back, but suggesting it anyway. That’s the sort of answer I love to see. Man, oh man, do those pillar-less doors look good. It’s an airy feeling we just cannot get anymore, and for better or worse, that is a shame.

Suggested by: dustynnguyendood

Just regular 5 spoke rims instead of whatever seizure inducing craziness automakers think new cars (especially EV’s) should have. New rim designs seem like they’d be a pain to clean too.

I’m definately a less-is-more guy when it comes to rims, but I also have to acknowledge a lot of EV rim design comes from the fact they need to be fairly aerodynamic. Does it make the prettiest rim? No, but what can ya do.

Suggested by: klone121

Owner serviceable access to known points of wear/failure. How hard is it to provide a dipstick, non-breakable clips (aka bolts) or hand access for a know consumable fluid or 15-90K lifespan part? Soon, we will need a dealership to tell us how much gas/electricity/unicorn tears are left in our tanks. Heck plastic engine cover branding removal is getting to be a non-user capable task. And yes, it is a design issue because this is being intentionally designed OUT of vehicles

I am the world’s worst wrench, so I can’t speak much to this, but it sounds like a good idea to me. You’ve got my full support, FutureDoc. The TRX I drove had the biggest engine cover I’ve ever seen. It was quite silly.

Suggested by: FutureDoc

Suicide doors on luxury sedans. Only.

Specifically, Chrysler missed an amazing opportunity to strike while the iron was hot and take the 300C, stretch it a few inches, add high end interior (wood, carbon fiber), moderate changes on the exterior, suspension, etc and call it the new Imperial. $70-80K price point.

I’d say your 300C idea would be cool, but Lincoln tried almost exactly that was the Continental and literally no one cared. I think they look cool as hell, and I wish other people did too. Looks like we’ll have to rely on Rolls Royce for our Suicide Door fantasies.

Suggested by: 900turbo

I’d say the wedge design of 80s cars - DeLorean, Trans Am, kind of thing - but I want to limit myself to stuff that would still pass muster for current-day safety regulations. So I’ll echo what someone else said - interesting colors. Forest green, purple, TEAL, bring back the audacity of color palettes from the 90s instead of one blue, one red, black, white, and 2-3 different shades of gray.

Wedge Design is rad as hell, and that 80s aesthetic is coming back slowly but surely. Case-in-point: the Hyundai Ioniq 5. Is it a wedge? No, but it’s got that same ethos to it. I think we’ll see more stuff like that as older millennials try to recreate their youth.

Suggested by: Boter

WING WINDOWS

WING WINDOWS

WING WINDOWS

There is no reason we dont have them. I want them back. There is just no feeling like cruising around in an old truck swinging one of those open and aiming the air wherever you want. It felt better than A/C, even if it was 90 degrees out.

I’d even venture to say if we had them, people would use way less Air conditioning.

I need an automaker to get you on its payroll. This is such a brilliant answer. I’ve never actually driven in a car with opening quarter windows, but I lust for them regardless. They just seem to make so much sense.

Suggested by: Caddywompis

Real analogue gauges.

I want a tach, speedometer, water temp, oil pressure, voltage, and fuel. I don’t want digital bars, or any other abstract representation of these. I don’t want idiot lights, or some computer to tell me when I need to know about these things. I want to be able to always monitor them in real time. You know, like we were allowed to from the beginning of cars up until sometime around the 1990s when manufacturers decided to take all that away.

The worst offenders being manual transmission cars with no tachometer!

I see both sides of this argument, but to be fair digital gauges can (for the most part) be pretty well customized to display everything you’re talking about. I’m also not sure the last time a manual transmission car was sold without a tach. But hey, to each their own!

Suggested by: Knyte

Car seat arm rests. What the hell happened to these? It may have just been a land yacht thing, but I didn’t realize how awesome these were until they were gone.

My friend, you gotta check out Range Rover. They all come with arm rests, and they are fantastic. The car I learned to drive on (a 1998 Plymouth Grand Voyager) also had them, and I loved it. I miss it to be honest, especially if there isn’t a center console to make up the difference.

Suggested by: Mosko

This one is easy: Rear wheel spats.

Uh. Alright, I guess.

Suggested by: Unacceptably Dry Scones