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That Cheap Ex-Police Car Has a History the Odometer Cannot Tell You

A retired police car can make an ordinary used-car listing look expensive. There is plenty of room, a purposeful set of steel wheels and the promise of hardware built for a harder life than the school

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Car News
Ford Put 1901 Racing Colors on the Mustang GT3 — And the Story Goes Back Before Ford Existed

Ford is celebrating its racing history with a pair of Mustang GT3 race cars dressed in colors from more than a century ago. The design honors Henry Ford’s first race in 1901, when he drove a car

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Hood Ornaments Started With a Job. Then Cars Turned Them Into Jewelry

Long before carmakers filled dashboards with screens, an important piece of engine information was displayed outside the windshield. Early automobiles often carried their radiator filler caps at

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Old American Cars Could Seat Six Without a Third Row. The Shifter Made It Possible

Open the door of a large American sedan from the 1950s and the front seat looks less like a modern cockpit than a particularly comfortable sofa. There is no center console dividing driver and passe

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Your Car’s 17-Character VIN Is Hiding More Information Than You Think

A vehicle identification number has the charm of a password printed by a malfunctioning office computer. It is long, awkward to recite and generally ignored until an insurer, parts supplier or registr

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Those Fake-Wood Station Wagons Were Copying Cars Built by Cabinetmakers

The woodgrain paneling on an old station wagon rarely fools anyone. Even when new, the printed vinyl was not likely to be mistaken for hand-finished mahogany. It was wood in the same way a kitchen

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Automakers Covered Millions of Metal Roofs in Vinyl, and Buyers Happily Paid Extra

Automotive fashion has produced few ideas quite as curious as taking a finished steel roof, covering it in textured plastic and charging the customer extra. For several decades, buyers did exactly tha

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A Fatal Hand-Crank Accident Helped Change the Way Every Car Starts

Starting a modern car requires so little effort that the action barely registers. Turn a key, press a button or let the vehicle recognize that its driver has climbed aboard. A second later, the engine

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People Once Wanted Car Radios Banned Because Listening While Driving Seemed Far Too Dangerous

A dashboard without a radio now looks unfinished. Even the most basic car is expected to provide music, news and something to fill the silence when traffic has stopped moving but the clock has not.

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The Seatbelt That Chased You Across the Door Was America’s Cheaper Alternative to an Airbag

Open the door of certain 1980s or early 1990s cars and a small buckle begins travelling along the roofline. Sit down, close the door and the shoulder belt glides toward the B-pillar, hopefully passi

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