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
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
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
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
Walk past a parked car after dark and the cabin can seem completely asleep, apart from one tiny red light pulsing on the dashboard. Blink. Pause. Blink again. Since red dashboard lights usua
The engine stops. The dashboard goes dark. The radio continues playing as though it has decided the journey deserves an encore. For a driver unfamiliar with the car, this can produce an immediate r
The window glides upward, touches the top of the frame and immediately retreats several inches. Try it again and the same thing happens. Up, nearly closed, then back down. It has the comic timing of a
Most people call it a headrest, which makes it sound like somewhere to relax during a long traffic jam. Its proper name is head restraint, and that description is much closer to its real purpose. T
Winter rubber mats are excellent at catching snow, salt and the gray slush that somehow finds its way into every corner of a car. The temptation is to place them directly over the carpet mats alrea
It is a cold morning. The windshield is cloudy, the cabin feels like a refrigerator, and the defrost button has just been pressed with all the optimism available before coffee. Then the A/C light come