Whistles and bells in ‘50s cars are artifacts today

In the 1950s young boys played seasonal sports on neighborhood school grounds, climbed huge trees and told ghost stories at night, talked about girls who ruled the hallways in junior high, and argued about the best car a fellow could own.

A boy’s favorite car was usually the one his dad drove and in the 1950s most dads drove Ford, Chevy, Buick and Oldsmobile. Occasionally someone would mention Pontiac, Mercury, and Packard among the highway’s elite vehicles.

No kid in his right mind argued for DeSoto or Hudson. And nobody I knew had a dad who could shell out $4,000 for a Cadillac when they barely could afford $1,800 for a Chevy.

According to “Motor Trend” magazine and others, Chevrolet topped Ford in 1950s unit sales 13,419,048 to 12,282,492. Plymouth was a distant third at 5,653,874. Buick and Oldsmobile rounded out the top five at 4.8 and 3.7 million respectively.

You’ll notice by today’s car, truck and SUV mountainous options, ‘50s choices were pretty cut ‘n dried. Where major manufacturers today offer many different models featuring add-ons like titanium, auto pilot, lane watch, rearview camera mirror, Bluetooth, safety braking, or eco this or that, in 1950 you simply bought a Ford, a Chevy or another make. Extras back in the day are now pretty much obsolete.

Crank windows were standard; noisy power windows were extra. You paid more for factory air that blue lukewarm, power steering and an eight-trac player. Whitewall tires were also optional for many years. Of course, if you wanted fender skirts, curb feelers, rearview mirror dice or a sexy girl steering wheel knob, you visited a local car shop.

There are vintage auto features that are virtually lost in the ‘50s today. Retractable and whip antennas . . . gone. Hydra-Matic and Powerglide automatic transmissions . . . gone. Bench seats . . .  gone. Wraparound windshield . . . gone. The hardtop . . . gone. The landau roof, thankfully, . . . gone. The 85 mph speedometer . . . gone. The dial style AM radio that reached a distance of about 4.5 miles . . . gone. Crank windows . . . gone. Stick shift . . . almost gone.

On the flipside vehicles today are built far better. The typical 1950s auto visited shade tree mechanics often and many engines died before 80,000 miles. The new norm for distance with proper care is easily 200,000 miles, and you no longer have to unfold a huge Texaco paper highway map to find your way to the Grand Canyon. Hit the GPS and go.

It seems odd that although there is no comparison about the quality of vehicles today to yesterday, the modern car or truck will never match the classics of the 1950s. Car enthusiasts can easily tell you what a “57 Chevy hardtop looked like but who remembers Honda’s 2004 Accord body style?

Ideally, I would like to purchase a fine 2017 vehicle and take a long, peaceful drive. I’d like to tap a screen where a radio used to sit and listen to Ronnie Millsap sing “Lost in the ‘50s tonight.”

Ted Buss, a native Wichitan, is a former writer for the Times Record News. You can email him at tedbuss@hotmail.com