some more favourites:
those clip-on aerofoil things on wiper blades that looked like three squares of plastic sticking out of it at an angle.
blacked out rear lights - sometimes done so 'well' the lights couldn't be seen.
the original high level brake lights held onto the inside of the back window by half a roll of sticky tape each side.
and not forgetting the original AM CB radios and their aerials on springs.
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those really cheap non flexible after fit mudflaps, that would split rather than bend if you reversed into a kerb
steering wheel covers that looked like they would move and the steering wheel wouldn't if you tried an emergency manouver, unless you had the leather deluxe version which you had to spend a whole morning threading around the steering wheel
the really hideous cheap plastic hub caps that you fitted if you'd lost an original one and were too tight to buy the manufacturers one
and the 'coup de gras'...the after fit centre console for cars that didn't have one..the one size fits all model that never really looked right, but gave you somewhere to store your cassettes and made you look 'cool' because you now had a centre armrest!
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and the 'coup de gras'...the after fit centre console for cars that didn't have one..the one size fits all model that never really looked right but gave you somewhere to store your cassettes and made you look 'cool' because you now had a centre armrest!
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My Capri was treated to one of those! Finished in Walnut and leather (ok then, tastefully coloured plastic) It sat on the trasmission tunnel at a jaunty angle, complete with oil pressure gauge and another clock of some description that I never got round to wiring up. (Mainly because I didn't have a clue how to)
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unless you had the leather deluxe version which you had to spend a whole morning threading around the steering wheel
threading very carefully, I nearly put my dad's Viva into a lamp post when I was learning because the thread had come a bit undone and got caught round the indicator stalk.
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and not forgetting the original AM CB radios and their aerials on springs.
Forget? what do you mean forget, I have just fitted my Firestick with optional chrome spring base to the Altea.
The black K40 mag mount looks better but slides off at 100mph.
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I recall seeing a rear view mirror in the 1970's that went from one side of the car to the other, made up of about 7 or 8 mirrors in a black plastic casing.......a bit lie Roy Orbisons glasses.
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You mean a Panaview. Every time you got passed on a dual carriageway, your eyeballs went into overdrive.
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My Uncle had one of those clip over headrests on the front bench seat of his Zodiac. My dad called them 'Herbert Headrests'.
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most useless in car accessory ever: LED clock (with stopwatch and light!!) mounted on the top of a Mini 850 gear lever....
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>>My Uncle had one of those clip over headrests <<
Ha! i had two in my Hearald, and i had one of the first "lockable" ariels that you had to insert a key into the top of, twist and then pull it up,which I soon up-graded to an electric ariel,(with a motor the size of a modern day alternator) operated from an up n down switch hung under my parcel shelf! - oh! and one of the first "Immobilisers" a wire from the L.T terminal of the coil, to a "hidden" (everybody knew it was under the dash or in the glove-locker!) switch, and back to the coil again.
Billy
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1971 - I though I was the bees knees with my 8 track stereo in my 1968 Hillman Imp - I recall a Neil Diamond cassette - Tap Root Manuscript - brill!! I also jazzed the Imp up with, wait for it, 2 big round Lucas Driving Lamps and a tartan rug in the back to keep me and she who became SWMBO covered when we parked up and.................
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Got my first car- Viva HC 1300 GLS in 1988. Straight round to halfords for the hero kit: chrome tailpipe trim, 'limited edition' sticker and confederate & chequered flags for the dash. I even moved the front number plate to one side, so the mesh 'air intake' beneath could be seen. Little did I know that Alfa would copy me so many years later. Further horrors were one of those horrid foam spoilers screwed to the bootlid, and a cheap equaliser/ amp to make the Goodmans radio more obnoxious!
Ah, happy days!!
Alex.
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Well I remember my first car, a Mark 2 1.3 Escort , "L" I think.
This got the following:
Front fogs, the rectangular ones that screwed into top of bumper and had the mesh over them. Had less power than the headlights and vibrated with the car so that you had a disco in front of you at night! Kept blowing fuses if I remember.
Then it had the two rubber straps with built in reflectors hanging down from the back.
Rear suspension jacked up witht he chrome look on it.
After market mudflaps fitted, each with their own reflector on it.
Extra stick on reflectors across the back bumper.
The big parcel shelf box speakers that said "Goodmans" across them. Escort back shelf sloped down so that when I mounted the speakers, the sound was directed firmly into the back seats. Never mind, the importance was the fact that everyone could see the Goodmans..
It also had the thin white stripes across the rear lights (don't know where that craze came from!).
Inside, the Goodmans radio cassette that sat on top of the transmission tunnel as there was no space in the dash for it.
And not forgetting, this was all protected with a MOSS alarm that also had a panic button on the dash that you could press and it would sound your alarm. And to think I used to feel cool pressing it pretending I was the police as I drove along.....
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And, just remembered, the MOSS alarm was fitted after thieves tried to break in. Evidently they were not put off by the "Radio Shack Car alarm installed" stickers which also came with a false stick on keyhole!
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Spray on vinyl roofs used to be popular in the 70's.
The kit consisted of a roll of thick plastic tape (for the longitudal seams) and a large can of black spray on underseal.
Clip on white tyre sidewalls were available, and the little 'Dyno label' machine was useful for the absent minded.
One accessory that seems to have stood the test of time is the chrome plated K&N air filter. Apart from aesthetics, has it ever been any use ?
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Ultimate in naff - suction mounted notepad complete with plastic pen with its own(post office - style) coiled lead. And 1.5v battery powered light (as much use as the "front light" on contemporary Hoovers).
Two years I had that car I never once had cause to write down a note, while driving or parked, least of all in the dark. That's probably because mobile phones hadn't yet been invented and i didn't have an SWMBO to call me at odd hours to ask me to pick up a packet of sprouts on the way home.
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What about those rear windscreen stickers which spelt out the model of car (usually "ESCORT" if my memory serves me correctly!) using a series of horizontal stripes. They started out red but always faded to orange then yellow and finally white in no time at all!
P.S. I never had one, by the way, I just remember them being popular when I was a child.
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they also had stickers with "the escort touch " or whatever model lol
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I had a MK3 Cortina, and spent many hours fitting the 4 air horns to enable a lovely 'Dukes of Hazard' tune which enthralled the neighbourhood. Trouble was that if I played them at night, when my 4 massive rally lights were on, the car would stagger to a halt as as it bled the electical current dry!
I also had a skeleton head gear knob set in clear plastic. Pure class.
DK
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Circa;1975...jacked up rear suspension with a red light illuminating the back axle. Particularly popular on the Ford Anglia (boy racers car of choice in this era) Also those boot lid protectors shaped like trapped fingers ..Hilarious!
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