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Cars Had Ashtrays Everywhere Before They Found a Sensible Place for Coffee

A classic car could provide a cigarette lighter within easy reach of the driver, another for the front passenger and sometimes individual ashtrays for the people in the back. Yet bring a cup of coffee

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Those Giant 1970s Bumpers Were Built for Parking-Lot Crashes, Not High-Speed Safety

Look at an American car from 1971, then find the same model from 1974. The earlier car may have a slim chrome blade tucked neatly against its body. Three years later, the bumper appears to have lef

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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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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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A Fight Over European Chicken Created the Subaru BRAT’s Strangest Feature

The Subaru BRAT had a cargo bed, a tailgate and the general proportions of a very small pickup truck. American versions also arrived with two plastic seats bolted into the bed, facing backward and exp

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The Rearview Mirror’s Origin Story Begins Before the First Indy 500

The usual history of the rearview mirror is wonderfully neat. Ray Harroun entered the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911 with a mirror attached to his Marmon Wasp. He drove alone while his competitors

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Your 1980s Sports Car May Stop Counting at 85 MPH. The Government Told It To

Open the door of an American-market performance car from the early 1980s and something may appear terribly wrong. There is the dramatic driving position, a powerful engine and perhaps a body design

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Cars Survived Nearly a Century Without Cup Holders. Then America Refused to Drive Thirsty

The automobile conquered continents, crossed deserts and survived two world wars before anyone decided it desperately needed a secure place for a paper cup. For much of automotive history, drivers

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Your New Battery Did Not Break the Window. It May Have Made the Glass Forget Where to Stop

The old battery has been replaced, the engine starts with renewed enthusiasm and the dashboard clock has been corrected. Then the driver’s window develops amnesia. It still moves when the swi

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Concept
Acura Built an NSX-Worthy Sports Car, Then Said You Can’t Buy It

Acura has built a sports car that looks ready to steal the spotlight from the NSX, then immediately told us we can’t buy it. That may be the most frustrating part of the Nexera Vision, a dramati

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