Do you remember these automotive "gimmicks"???

vet said:
Any body remember auto bombs? You hooked one wire to a spark plug, the other to a ground. When the engine cranked, it would whistle, bang, and smoke would roll out from under the hood. Not a good idea on a greasy, grimy engine though.
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Those were fun to put on after a mechanic just finished working on a car and before he started it.
 
vet said:
Any body remember auto bombs? You hooked one wire to a spark plug, the other to a ground. When the engine cranked, it would whistle, bang, and smoke would roll out from under the hood. Not a good idea on a greasy, grimy engine though.
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If you used this now you would probably fry the ECM, coils, and cause like $7k in damage. I've seen these things in old movies.
 
vet said:
Any body remember auto bombs? You hooked one wire to a spark plug, the other to a ground. When the engine cranked, it would whistle, bang, and smoke would roll out from under the hood. Not a good idea on a greasy, grimy engine though.
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A few of my buddies and I bought a bunch of those while on a trip to the Carolinas. We all tried to surprise each other, but I got the worst of it. I was at my girlfriend's apartment late one night with my motorcycle, when a buddy wired one up. Leaving late and not wanting to wake up the neighbors, I coasted my bike across the parking lot and started it in gear as I was entering the road when the damn thing went off. Even though I knew what it was, it still shocked the heck out of me when it goes off between your legs.

Bill
 
Klasse Act said:
I thought "fuzz buster" was a nickname for a radar detector, learn something new EVERY day!

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I had an aunt that worked for Fuzzbuster in Tipp City Ohio I believe, she worked in the department that repaired the things and it was nothing to get in her car and see 4 or 5 FuzzBusters on her dash that she was testing out. Lol I don't think she ever broke the speed limit.
 
Anyone remember, "Fab-Spray?"

Was (is?) a spray-on fabric spray to change the color of upholstery. I never used it, but do remember other guys trying it out, seemed to actually work as advertised.

Bill
 
BillE said:
Anyone remember, "Fab-Spray?"

Was (is?) a spray-on fabric spray to change the color of upholstery. I never used it, but do remember other guys trying it out, seemed to actually work as advertised.

Bill
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Not sure if its the very same thing but my buddy used a fabric spray on his EVO VIII seats to eliminate the blue in the center, worked great, so that product lives on in some way shape or form.

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BillE said:
Anyone remember, "Fab-Spray?"

Was (is?) a spray-on fabric spray to change the color of upholstery. I never used it, but do remember other guys trying it out, seemed to actually work as advertised.

Bill
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I used it once to change the multi colored cloth on my seat to black. It eventually wore off.
 
While watching a classic car auction this weekend I thought of a few other things that you don't see much anymore, that might qualify as gimmicks:

Side pipes
Brodie knobs
Dagmar bumpers
Chrome chrome and more chrome
Tail fins (with 1959 being the peak year)
Hood ornaments (though they had a pretty long run, and used to be functional)
Window-mounted evaporative cooler (in the pre-AC days)
 
SR99 said:
While watching a classic car auction this weekend I thought of a few other things that you don't see much anymore, that might qualify as gimmicks:

Hood ornaments (though they had a pretty long run, and used to be functional)
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What was the function of a hood ornament?
 
SR99 said:
Oops, I guess I forgot the original intent of this thread was gimmicks that you REMEMBER, not gimmicks that you learned of later. Sorry.
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It's ok, I'm glad I learned something about hood ornaments, although when you mentioned radiator cap that rang a bell for me.
 
Some good ones here but some ones that weren't really gimmicks, keep em comings guys, nice to have a thread that's not about what sealant/wax to use or something about a Rupes!

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Klasse Act said:
Some good ones here but some ones that weren't really gimmicks, keep em comings guys, nice to have a thread that's not about what sealant/wax to use or something about a Rupes!
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Aw c'mon, just saw a Wipe New commercial!
 
SR99 said:
While watching a classic car auction this weekend I thought of a few other things that you don't see much anymore, that might qualify as gimmicks:

Side pipes
Brodie knobs
Dagmar bumpers
Chrome chrome and more chrome
Tail fins (with 1959 being the peak year)
Hood ornaments (though they had a pretty long run, and used to be functional)
Window-mounted evaporative cooler (in the pre-AC days)
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Ah, 'brodie knobs'...Especially the one with 'neeked women' in the center cap...LOL! I read somewhere, someplace that they are now considered 'illegal', any idea that would be?

Those evap coolers, how could I have forgotten those; having grown up in SoCal in the 50's. Ya know, those things DID work.

Bill
 
I think the Highway safety council deemed them as a hazard in a crash. Also people were using them, and ''if it broke or came off, it could cause an accident''. Some of the knobs had a flip switch that allowed it to fold down even with the steering wheel. When power steering became the norm, they were probably destined to fall from popularity any way. I'm thinking of getting one for my lawn tractor. (No nekked lady though).

These are the same people who deemed spinner hubcaps a danger because the spinner could come off.

One of our neighbors had an evap cooler on his '57 Ford. His wife had asthma or a breathing problem of some kind. I'm sure it worked for them.
 
vet said:
I think the Highway safety council deemed them as a hazard in a crash. Also people were using them, and ''if it broke or came off, it could cause an accident''. Some of the knobs had a flip switch that allowed it to fold down even with the steering wheel. When power steering became the norm, they were probably destined to fall from popularity any way. I'm thinking of getting one for my lawn tractor. (No nekked lady though).

These are the same people who deemed spinner hubcaps a danger because the spinner could come off.

One of our neighbors had an evap cooler on his '57 Ford. His wife had asthma or a breathing problem of some kind. I'm sure it worked for them.
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Yea, guess that makes sense 'bout the knobs. I know when I was driving 'trucks' those puppies were almost mandatory, something like 20+ turns lock to lock (we won't bring up 'Brownie Boxes'-lol).

Remember when stealing spinner hub caps off of the mid 50's Oldsmobile's were common? No, I didn't, but any Old's was sure fair game to many of the 'hoodlum' types.

Gawd, I feel old sometimes...but remembering is fun.

Bill
 
They were almost a necesstiy on trucks. Darn handy on the old John Deere 'A' that dad had too. If I remember right, that one was built in the steering wheel at the factory.

Speaking of hub cap theft, there was a cable device that went under a lug nut and hooked to the hub cap some way. The thief needed more than a screwdriver or jack handle to steal hub caps.

Did anybody mention the Columbia overdrive rear-ends? They were pretty good for gas mileage, but a lot used them for more top end speed.
 
I remember the overdrive units that were on Baldwin-Motion cars as my Uncle had old Hot Rodding/Hot Rod and Car Craft mags that I looked at a lot before I was a teenager, funny how certain things stick with you over time! Basically a Z/28 would have a 4.88 rearend and you'd pull the lever inside the car and have a 3.42.

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