When I was 15 years old I went on what was supposed to be a week-long backpacking trip. We cut it short after four days because of mosquitoes. That meant that we had three extra days to kill in a big ol' motorhome before anyone expected us back home. Even better, the dads were collectively sick of driving/listening to me wine about wanting to drive. Thus, I found that little in life is as exciting as piloting a motorhome on your learner's permit. (I loved it about nine million times more than that backpacking garbage.) True, the motorhome didn't look like any of the posters I had up on my walls at the time. But it did have one feature no Countach, Testarossa or Paulina Porizkova ever did – kick-on brights. Yup, like many pre-1980s American cars, the brights went on and off with your left foot, a feature I think should return as mandatory on every vehicle. My 1985 Pontiac wagon had an altimeter (which I loved), but that may or may not have been a dealer install. What's your favorite car feature? And before anyone else calls it, dibs on the windshield-washer pump on 1953 Corvettes, which was also left-foot activated.
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