Modern cars are more computer than machine, and the more gadgets and gizmos they have, the more computerized elements they require. Thus, when COVID-19 (and several other factors) caused a massive shortage of semiconductor chips and integrated circuits, it dragged down auto production just as surely as a glass, steel, or rubber shortage would have back in the vacuum-tube or transistor eras.
I’ve got a workaround, though, and it will surely make a lot of Hemmings readers happy: Quit stuffing new cars with so much unwanted technology. Leave off the touch screens (BMW actually did), reintroduce wind-up windows and manual door locks, and see what else we can get away without. Back in the ’tube era, radio-delete plates were nearly as common as actual radios—so let’s go back to vehicles without “infotainment systems.”
Or how about HVAC? Arguably, there hasn’t been an adequately decontented vehicle available since deleting the heater ceased to be an option sometime in the ’60s or ’70s. At one time, a windshield, top, and side curtains for your touring car or runabout were considered a luxury — now if you can’t wear your basketball shorts to 7-11 in mid-February, there’s something very wrong with your car. For sure, those of us in New England need a heater and defroster, but the SoCal market lived without for decades; likewise, Southerners may need AC, but most of us can just roll-down the aforementioned manual windows.
Am I dreaming? Absolutely. There’s no going back today—and maybe that’s why so many of my neighbors seem to prefer side-by-side ORVs instead of passenger cars. Making every car more or less the same simplifies production and all that “content” justifies a premium price. It takes nearly as much money to build a cheap car as an expensive one, so simple machines don’t have good profit margins.
Luckily, this wasn’t always the case, and the determined shopper can still find a low-content machines easily enough. Here are seven examples of low-content, high-quality vehicles automakers used to build. Which one would you want?
1917-’25 Ford Model T
1937-’41 Ford Standard
1949-’77 Volkswagen Type 1 Beetle
1951-’54 Henry J
1957-’58 Studebaker Scotsman
1958-’60 Rambler American
1959-’70 Chevrolet Biscayne
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