8 Obsolete Car Features We Feel Nostalgic About (3 of 5)

Dual Fuel Tanks

Gas stations are all over the place these days. In fact, there are around 145,000 across the US, if the American Petroleum Institute is to be believed. But if you took a time machine back to the 1960s, you would discover that this was not always the case. Sometimes you had to drive pretty far between gas station fuel (and potty!) breaks. Thus, a dual-fuel tank was often a necessity. With a flip of a tank switch, the “E” (which we maintain stands for “Enough”) on the fuel gauge indicator instantly went to “F” (which stands for “gimme a Five”), giving the driver a second chance to tempt fate. 

Drop-Down Fifth Wheel For Parallel Parking

Parallel parking has always been a daunting task for even the most experienced drivers. It requires a delicate combination of precision, timing, and spatial awareness. For those who struggled with parallel parking, there was a solution: a retractable fifth wheel installed on the rear of a vehicle. When the driver engaged in the parallel parking mode, the fifth wheel descended from the car and acted as a pivot point, allowing the driver to rotate the vehicle around that wheel, thus making it much easier to parallel park. Even though it worked great, it was too expensive and hard to set up. Not to mention announcing to the world that you’re a dork with lousy parallel parking skills.