[funkykar]

Wow! There are several issues these yesterdecade cars used to have and don't see anything close to these days.

1) fuel pump overheat issue. Put a rag on pump soaked in water
2) Overheat, hoses giving away
3) Battery charge could run out if on dynamo
4) Issues with points/distributer
5) Poor Wiper
6) Jets getting blocked
7) Many cars did not have ORVM's as they weren't mandatory. IF they had, they weren't convex and had too many blind spots.

Back in those days, if there was a breakdown, good chances are an experienced owner could pop the bonnet and fix the issue and move on. Today, if there is a breakdown, likely end up calling company/towing guys and first troubleshooting may be of hooking it a gadget to understand what is wrong.

In today's busy traffic conditions, can't afford to have such breakdowns. Otherwise, I felt it was great fun and exciting to deal with these issues and niggles. It certainly taught us a lot on how stuffs work and created kind of a bonding with the machine. It always was a satisfying experience.

[devilking]

Interesting thread.

Technology is changing much faster these days than it used to 20-30 years ago. Defining 'old' in such a context is in itself challenging.

My 'old' car (a 2013 Swift LxI) did not have reverse parking sensors and I never felt the need for it. My 'new' car (a 2020 Brezza) has those and I am not sure I will now be able to easily adjust going back to reversing my car without turning my head even once because I know that the sensors will beep if I inch too close to anything behind me.

In a sense technology has made things easier for us as well as spoilt us.

[invidious]

After market AC installation. I remember we had a high roof Suzuki van and if I remember correctly the huge compressor was on the roof.

Music systems were mostly after market too. I think everyone had Pioneers or Sonys.

The 118 NE was a rust bucket. In Bombay there was a company called "Dinitrol" which did some anti rust treatment on the car and you had to get it done annually. The gearbox of the NE was superb though.

Also, cabbies used to keep their wipers in car and only attach them when it started raining, else they would be stolen!

[Chhanda Das]

As the saying goes, there are always two sides of a coin. There are some things that I missed in older cars while I miss some things in newer cars that used to be the norm in older cars. Here is what I have experienced driving my Grandfather's Landmaster and my 1986 petrol Mark 4 Ambassador over the course of driving all over North East India for almost half a century :-

1. Carburetor cleaning used to be a monthly affair and I remember hating it from the core of my heart. No one wants the carburetor grime to mess up the nail polish but I was forced to do it. But I am glad now that I was forced to do it then because I learnt a lot about cars in the process. My Grandfather was very knowledgeable about cars despite being a medical doctor in a nondescript place in upper Assam. After all these years, I have come to understand and appreciate the value of the DIY approach.

2. Another frequent issue was the fuel filter getting clogged with dirt but we were easily able to clean it up within a few minutes with some ultra-fine wire strands. This is impossible in modern cars and I find it to be both good and bad at the same time.

3. Despite living in North East India, we faced very few issues with rusting in our cars and we consider ourselves to be very lucky. I guess it has something to do with keeping our cars clean and dry as much as possible.

4. We did not face too many issues with damaged belts as well but overheating was a regular occurrence and we had to keep topping up the radiator with water since coolant was a rarity there in those days.

5. Our cars did not have an airconditioning system but we did not need it since the weather was generally pleasurable to cold. Additionally, our cars had openable front quarter glass windows which served as air blowers/redirectors. This is one feature that I miss very much in modern cars.

6. A D cell-operated tape recorder with radio was a must along with the music cassettes for long trips. We used to be able to hear Radio Ceylon, Akashvani, Chinese radio, Radio Burma, etc. Sadly, I cannot hear those in modern cars (apart from Akashvani obviously) and I miss that

7. Another aspect of cars of the bygone era are the sofa seats. The homely feel and comfort provided by them cannot be matched by those of consumer cars today. We could even sleep on those sofa seats but sleeping on the contoured seats of today's cars is way more uncomfortable.

8. Another aspect of older cars that I absolutely do not miss is their stability. My 1st generation Creta is much more stable despite being a taller SUV/crossover compared to my earlier Ambassador which was a lower sedan.

9. The wheel rim quality of modern cars is much better. For example, in older cars we had to go for very frequent wheel balancing adjustments but that is not the case with cars of today.

10. I miss the ability to install a front aftermarket sunvisor over/above the windshield that could be easily installed in older cars. Unless it is installed from the factory, installing something like that in modern cars can seriously compromise the structure/safety of the A pillar of the car.

These are some of the ones that I can remember right now. Personally, I feel that we are getting less car and flimsier cars for our money today than what we used to get earlier with only minor/cosmetic advancements in creature comforts and aspects like fuel efficiency. Also, cars earlier would be easily fixable due to absence of complex electronics unlike cars of today

[Ulysses]

Very interesting thread. I started my driving journey in 1994 with a Maruti Omni. Actually, I kinda loved it, it was almost like sitting on a chair and moving on the road. Things like safety features were unheard off and I guess nobody cared. However, in spite of having a small engine, it could pull it up well at ghat roads. I remember one incident in the Palamu forest, where I did a sudden up hill sprint, to escape a bunch of rowdy elephants and the Omni really did save the day!

The next few years were a kind of golden age for swapped engine cars (I am talking about West Bengal, can't say if it was all over the country). There were Ambies with Matador engine, Fiats with Daihatsu engine and Gypsies with Contessa engine.

Coming to Delhi in 2000, I first experienced the art of retro-fitting ac in non-ac cars, especially in Maruti 800 and Gypsy. I was working with 3M back then, so used to visit many garages for our aftermarket products, and it was a craze then, every garage owners used to claim that they are specialized in it. Probably the price difference between ac and non-ac car was significant, which justified the retro-fitting.

My first experience of a truly luxury car was Tata Sierra, 98 turbo model. I bought it second hand from a rich farmer in UP. His son bought it without realizing that it has only 3 doors! so no use for a big family. As a result dad summarily rejected it and I was lucky to be at the right place at right time to buy almost brand new second hand Sierra. It is so far one of the most dynamic, agile (in spite of having 90hp only) and comfortable car I have driven. At that time, I used to do weekly Delhi Chandigarh and Delhi Dehradun trips, just to be able to enjoy the car on long drive, even the road were utterly horrible..but in a Sierra bad roads just did not exists. I still remember listening the "Lounge Safari" music casset, which used to be given with Tata Safari as a welcome freebie, but I was also gifted by the dealer as a friendly gesture.

As many of the members rightly pointed out, older cars had a character of their own, and each car used to have unique kind of problems. However, for true car lovers, once they understood the character of their vehicle, it was very easy to manage, because those days cars were really a simple machine, not like the complex gizmos of today. So it was a golden age of FNGs unlike now, when finding a competent FNG itself is a quest.

[fiat_tarun]

Originally Posted by sunikkat

- No more lifting antenna while playing music. Remember my Zen day's when reception was bad used to lift the antenna while driving
.
.
.

I still need to do this in the Alto K10 at home , the bright side is that we barely listen to FM anymore so don't realise it so much.

[Shreyas Aterkar]

I agree with the problems that most of you have listed here. Would add one issue that we used to face in our Fiat - stranded on the roads in heavy rains and water logged roads (or shall i say non existent roads).

On the flip side, used to enjoy those outstation drives in our Fiat - 6 seater in those days, boot full of luggage, no AC but never used to feel uncomfortable. May be expectations were minimal - exposure to information was also much lesser.

[aniketi]

Originally Posted by GTO

Attachment 2267934
Inspired by Jalopnik thread



- No safety. No crash testing. No airbags. No ESP.

Ambassador's, Fiat's were not tested for safety for sure but those were cars which were way more robust than todays tin cans, I can bet on it.

[Satish Pari]

This is actually not a car problem but I'm sure many would have faced this situation. Our second car was a new Maruti Omni (1994) and due to it's demand, we had to pay a premium (forgot the exact amount) for it.

Lack of braking especially when crossing waterlogged roads. I still remember in 1997 had taken the Omni to college since it was raining. The roads outside the college were waterlogged and man did I have a tough time braking - the only way was to keep on pressing the brake pedal hoping it would stop.

Any long road trip had to be planned meticulously. I still remember that the 4 way roads were there only till Villupuram if I'm not wrong and beyond it was all two lane roads till Madurai. Driving in those two lane roads did require a lot of skill especially when overtaking or when giving way when there was an overtake from the opposite direction.

Using the choke during a cold start or pushing and starting the car when there were starting issues.

Lack of power steering and man was it hard driving the Omni especially in narrow roads.

[RGK]

Ambassadors come with ordinary bulbs and one of my friends took delivery at Stanes Motors, Coimbatore in the evening. They were coming back home (80 km away) and to their surprise (what surprise ) one of the headlight bulbs got fused. They managed to reach home safely as the traffic was not high those days. The next day he replaced it with a new one. Today PDI process is bundled with delivery.

The advantage of older cars is you get better components than the OEM.

[SnS_12]

Better brakes..

Back in the day the term brake failure was so common because of the brake line going kaput ever so often..

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by Guna

...
- I don't have to hand over the keys to the guys at petrol bunk to open the fuel lid cap

You'd still have to hand over the key in a modern day Thar The fuel lid intentionally comes with key lock to make the soft top variant more secure.

Cars were novelty back in those days and there was a certain charm in outstation trips on those relatively empty single lane tree lined highways. Driving and trips feel more mundane these days.

It would take forever to reach the destination with those underpowered engines. Almost dawn to dusk driving to cover 350km even in an 800.

Also lack of AC in most cars mean't driving with windows open to get relief from the scorching afternoons.
Remember those tilt-able quarter glass panel on the front windows? They were a life saver by directing a blast of refreshing cold air on the middle front occupant
Also the unfortunate front middle occupant had to bear with the steering mounted hand gears and the driver's elbow.

It feels ridiculous thinking about how cars used to get decked and covered with flowers during weddings not even sparing the windshield area. Thankfully these decorations are more minimalist these days.

Thank god, things like music/sound while reversing, metal wheels with funky wheel covers, bull bars, extreme dark tints, half blacked out headlights are all history now.

[Aravind_M92]

Here are bits of stuff which I found problematic. I was a kid and I had kid problems with cars!
- In old 800s, closing the door from outside with the lock pressed and door flap not raised, would unlock the door again! You had to keep the door handle pulled in order to close the door!
- The manual roll down windows!
- 800 had grill on the rear quarter windows!
- The long crank! The carburettor gasping to push the air
- No AC with full load in car. The car barely pulled. And full family in the car sweating up
- The tube tyres. Punctures always meant a visit to the puncture shop. No self repair
- There was always a stock of grease, engine oil and distilled water in the car. Wouldn't no what would go wrong
- Getting finger stuck in the door
- 'Are we there yet?' was something literal!
- Carjacking was quite easy! No immobilizer

[ajaiD]

We had an Ambassador and thing would not go up a incline with 4 people inside. Thus all the children had to come out and walk till a area with no/less incline.

BTW These inclines were of Shimla, HP aka home and around 30-40 degree incline.

[kovilkalai]

My dad owned a 1973 model Amby that he bought in 1983 and he drove it till 2000 - even after the fuel tank had rusted and fallen off (thanks to a 5-litre can and a rubber hose). The one term I frequently heard when the car visited the mechanic was "tinkering". I had no idea what it was and I still don't. I have owned cars for 26 years now and I have not had to "tinker" anything in my car.

Will anyone familiar with 70s and 80s car terminology describe what this tinkering was?