For every automotive first, there has to also be an automotive “last.”
Many car features began with great popularity and fulfilled a common need, to then disappear only a few decades later.
Column-shifted manuals are a great example. From their introduction in the 1930s to help fit more people on the front seat, they were largely on the way out by the early 80s and gone from most markets by the 1990s with a couple of holdouts. They can be fun to row through the gears, keep the floor clear and pair nicely with a bench seat for a trip to a drive-in movie. The downside is that they get temperamental when the linkages wear out and so they went away eventually, along with the front bench seat in most markets.
Now that manual transmissions in general are becoming endangered, will the final vehicle with ‘row-your-own’ be a rough-and-tumble commercial vehicle, or a rare exotic, destined forever to live in a glass case?
Cassette decks are another feature that is all but gone, largely wiped from new vehicles in Western countries by around 2010 with the Lexus SC430. The G50 Toyota Century held onto the long-passed technology until 2017 and the model series ended, due to the music that older Japanese listen to being available still on cassettes. Apparently cassette tapes are back once again in Japan, so maybe the current-gen Century sedan and New Century SUV will also be rockin’ the tech again with the next refresh!
Vent windows were supremely common and on almost every vehicle up until the early 1970s as standard. The feature started disappearing as air-conditioning became more common and was largely also gone from most vehicles by the early 1990s. A simple pivoting mechanism with some spring tension so they would stay open at highway speed, they work great whilst in motion and mean you can still have fresh air and some cooling without lowering the main door glass.
As both of my Valiant utes don’t have a heater/blower motor, these little windows also make for half-decent demisters during wet weather, at the expense of some water sometimes dripping onto your leg!
Sometimes the mechanism wears out, so you gotta get a bit agricultural!
There is a good chance that the 70 Series Landcruiser will be the last vehicle on the market with these little pivoting windows, having just been refreshed to remain on market for another few years.
This feature only appears to still be available on the base-model utility in single-cab configuration along with manual window winders (!), if the A/C dies I’m sure the Aussie farmers would appreciate the directional airflow!
(check 2:45 on the video above for some footage of the little chromed beauties!)
I know the Autopian Hive Mind is absolutely loaded to the gunnels with automotive trivia, so here’s your chance; what car or vehicle had the last of a certain feature?
Photos by author unless noted.
I believe the VW Type 2 Kombi was the last air-cooled car produced, it ended production in Brazil in 2013. The production line is still making most replacement parts, as far as I’m aware, and they still use it for national mail service.
I don’t know the answer, but I’m curious what the last US car with rear seat armrest ashtrays was.
There’s probably another article just on this feature… hidden (pop up) headlights…any current cars still have them? Seems like they went away with all of these dramatically shaped high tech headlights. I realize that Miata Is Always The Answer.
I think the C4 corvette was the last to have them in ’96
C5 Corvette in 2004.
How about three 12v power sockets inside about one square foot of dash space? Two on the front face where the radio lives and one more in a tilt out at the lower left.
1997 Ranger and possibly Explorer.
None of them are switched FWIW
I think the Wrangler (as of 2023) may be the last vehicle with hand crank windows in the US market. I’d guess they’re still soldiering on around the world.
https://www.thedrive.com/news/2023-jeep-wrangler-sport-and-gladiator-sport-still-have-crank-windows
I bought a Corolla in base trim about a dozen years ago with hand crank windows. Hard to believe they’re nearly gone.
Interestingly, the Wrangler may have also been the last car without standard A/C in the US as well.
https://www.kbb.com/car-news/you-can-no-longer-buy-a-new-car-without-air-conditioning/
I think the Ford Super Duty line may be the last vehicle with manually locking hubs in the US. They have both an auto setting and a manual lock, in case of failure. I can’t find another vehicle with a manual hub in production.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1712609-locking-hubs.html
I’m curious about cars without standard cruise control. I think some Ford work truck trims don’t have it, which is surprising. Does anyone know which cars come without standard cruise control?
Not sure when the practice stopped, but cruise was added as a part of the “configurator” when I bought my 2003 R53 MINI. I didn’t get it cuz I didn’t think I’d be travelling in mine. Immediately took a trip to east Tennessee without it, but I lived…
96 ford f series and bronco were the last vehicles in the US to have vent windows.
I had a 94 Bronco and loved them!
Headlamp wipers…
The last vehicle might be 2006 Volvo S80.
Wire wheel covers. There, I said it. Two-tone paint and landau roofs are chiming in now, too. Lee Iacocca, may God rest your soul
I see new cars with two tone paint all the time, usually with an awkward demarcation in mid D-pillar.
“Gee, as long as the D pillar is a dumpster fire of design, combining awkward looks, and crappy visibility, why don’t we make it change color halfway up nobody will notice”
“ I don’t know still looks ugly to me, why don’t I just slap a big fake window over that space so that the changeover is smaller?”
“Yeah, that works.”
My 2004 Tacoma base model 2wd/4 cylinder/5 speed reg cab, lowrider(not a pre-runner) might make the last of list with a couple oddball things. I think the only options it had were a/c, carpet with plush floor mats, and a tape player.
The parking brake that sits above your right knee and pulls out of the dash to engage. Easier to use than the left foot style parking brake with the manual.
One piece bench seat that didnt recline with no arm rest. Maybe the s-10 and ranger held on longer to that piece of crap. The redesigned 2005 Tacoma regular cab did have a bit of room behind the seats so you could recline.
Mechanical odometer, no trip meter, no tenths of a mile either.
No tach with your 5 speed. In fact other than the font the gauges looked almost identical to my 1985 Toyota pickup(also a 5 speed with no trip odo)
I really miss that little truck, very short guy friendly. Easy to load/unload the bed. Did 25mpg no matter how you drove it or how much weight was in the bed. Wouldnt pull a greasy string out of a cats ass if you towed with it though, but it was pretty stable even with a 3500lb boat behind it. Just floor it downhill and go 80, downshift to 4th at the bottom of the hill, keep it floored, watch your speed drop down to 60 at the top of the hill, wash rinse, repeat.
I bet my 1995 Mercury Tracer was one of the last ones with automatic seat belts.
I believe the 2012 Colorado/Canyon twins were the last GM product to have the cruise control controls on the turn signal stalk. I think GM had those there for the longest time from the ’70s up until 2012.
CD changers will be gone soon, as they wear out with overuse (for those that use them) way earlier than the car does. I know mine did, and I decided to replace with an A/V system that would interface with an iPod. It also had a shelf that hid the iPod, which was great. Except that it also fried the iPod when left in the car in hot weather.
What about rear drum brakes? Cars still have these? I wouldn’t buy a car with them, since there is a safer brake option. So, what about front drum brakes? What car had those last?
Nothing wrong with rear drums, other than maintenance. They are coming back on some EV models as disks are unnecessary.
Drum brakes can be much more fuel or battery efficient than disc brakes.
Disc brakes always have some drag, but you can adjust drum brakes to produce no drag at all.
One of the challenges of automotive ‘lasts’ is it’s very difficult without limiting it to a specific market. I’m sure there is still at least one place in the world that is still cranking out some ancient car with a carb.
The last factory SUV with V8+manual was the Porsche Cayenne.
I’m not sure it counts as a “feature”, but there is something odd about my ’80-’81 Jeep J10. The whole thing is built and sold as a USA “full size” pickup. The engines sizes and vehicle weight prove that. Yet, the whole thing is sized closer to the mid-sized Dakota. All the while, made until 1988 (’91 for the Wagoneer version.) Now, I know it started in ’63, but don’t have much experience with ’60s trucks, so was that the normal size of ’60s pickups? Still, seems it may be the last full-size pickup with mid-size dimensions.
The ’86 Toyota Tercel 4wd wagon of mine has a 6-speed manual. In reality, it’s more of a 5-speed with an additional low gear. Did any other, and if so, the last, to incorporate the 4wd low directly into the main transmission in the same way?
(Not like trucks with extra low 1st; I do mean as stand in for the 4wd low range.)
Porsche had renamed the first gear as “Gelände” in its 959 as to bypass the strict noise regulations in the Switzerland and some countries.
My 1953 GMC 3-ton has a two-speed rear end (differential). It’s like low range in a 4wd transfer case. Eventually, more powerful engines would deem it unnecessary. However, it would be a few decades as lower power options would continue on. What I don’t know is what was the last medium duty truck to have it?
I’m pretty sure my 1993 Isuzu Pickup was one of the last carbureted vehicles sold in the US.
It was. Younger me was positive the Grand Wagoneer held that honor in 1991 until I did the research.
+1
Was gonna mention the last year of the carb… But I too thought it was the Jeep Grand Wagoneer. I forgot about the old Isuzu pickup.
Ehh, maybe four wheel vehicle. Harley’s had carb until the mid-2000s, and KTM was making dirt bikes with carbs until 2019.
I think the V10 Touareg was the last car to eat its own camshafts.
2013 Impala was the last sedan with a bench seat.
1996 Cadillac Fleetwood and Buick Roadmaster were the last sedans to offer factory vinyl tops.
Incorrect about cassette decks in the west, i know 2012 lincoln town car still had them
And their rebirth is not just in Japan. They’re the new cool in the U.S as well.
I understand nostalgia and being retro and stuff, but I don’t get trying to revive cassette tapes. You can’t claim better audio quality, you can’t skip songs, they wear out… the only good feature they ever offered was being easier to play in a car than vinyl.
They’re fun. Like manual transmissions, which are also not better at anything.
Except fun….
No, the Panther cars lost the cassette option around 2007. Ford did offer 8-tracks in them till 1984, though, but that was just to use up leftover inventory, 1983 was the last year you were absolutely guaranteed one of those if you wanted it
Fleet town cars had them up until the final 2011 year. I had one for work
There were only two trims made for the final model year, Signature Limited and Signature L, both had an in-dash 6 disc CD changer standard with no other audio options, Ford no longer had any cassette decks available to put in them. Fleet model Crown Victorias (which was all Crown Victorias except the ones exported to the Middle East) didn’t have any audio player at all, just a plain am/fm radio, the Grand Marquis had a single disc CD player
I can’t account for your experience, but it was a total impossibility for a 2011 Town Car to have left the St. Thomas factory in that configuration, if it was indeed a 2011 and did indeed have a cassette deck, someone else had to have put it in there
They made executive L cars up until 2011. It had the cassette deck and the single cd player. Same radio since 2004
I drove extensively a 2004, ’05, ’07, and ’11. Hated the stupid head rests in the 2011 that needed to be put in for whiplash protection
Not sure if truly “last” but I know that when my wife bought her Silverado in ‘21, they could be ordered without AC.
I’m sure Porsche has a current 911 that will come with no AC if you pay them enough extra money.
If not Caterham and Morgan certainly sell new cars with no AC.
Last gas powered car that was worth buying: Volkswagen Beetle
Gosh.
I can’t imagine what your criteria for buying a gas car must be if you’ve discounted the 2CV, NSX, Panda, Elise, Jimny, Miata and the Beetle Coupe/911.
Think the 90s Ford Super Duty’s were some of the last with the high beam button on the floor.
Dodge Neons might have been the last with 3 speed automatics.