10 Incredibly Useful Classic Car Features We Want Back In Modern Cars

With each model year,

new cars
are marketed as the epitome of progress, touted for their advanced designs, cutting-edge technology, and state-of-the-art

safety innovations
. Logic dictates that these advancements should make driving not only safer but also more efficient. But let’s face it. The reality is that, as our vehicles have become increasingly reliant on software and electrical signals, they’ve also become increasingly

prone to bugs
and other issues. Remember, Tesla

did issue 15 recalls
in 2024 alone.

Now that’s not to say that we’re set in our Luddite ways or are against the development of modern solutions to common driver problems. On the contrary, we’re all for evolution — especially if it makes for better driving. Still, there are a number of innovations

from back in the day
that failed to withstand the inevitable march of time, and we feel that they deserve a place in today’s vehicles. Keeping this in mind, we rounded up 10 incredibly useful classic car features that we want in modern cars. Read on to see what we’ve picked.

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Call us old-fashioned, but there’s something captivating about switching on your car’s high beams with a flick of your foot. We’ll admit that it’s an imperfect system — prone to weather damage, among other issues — and a pick that’s nostalgic at best, but it’s one that we wouldn’t mind seeing in new cars all the same. If anything, maybe more drivers would actually be able to find the switch for their brights with a large button under their foot.

Foot Dimmer Switch Pros And Cons

9

Ignition Key

In the age of push-button starts, there’s something especially satisfying about the click of a key and an engine turning over. It’s a tactile experience that signals the start of the drive. Keyless entry systems came into fashion around Y2K, and with those, the need for an ignition tumbler has been made increasingly redundant.

Though we can understand that a push-button system makes sense for folks with arthritis and other mobility challenges, there’s something about a traditional key that just works. Being both easier to hack and more expensive to replace, electronic fobs bring unwanted headaches of their own.

Ignition Key Pros And Cons

8

Hideaway Headlights

As much as we’d like to make a case for the merits of pop-ups, we recognize that they

fell out of fashion
for a reason. Instead, we’d like to propose that hideaway headlights make a comeback, as (if nothing else) they’re useful for their aesthetic benefits. Be it a Camaro Z28, a

Dodge Charger
, a Ford Torino, or a

Mercury Cougar
, the combination of an uninterrupted grille and some flip-out bulbs is an instant value-add in our book. Of course, advances in lighting design have made large lamps redundant (just look at the thin strips dominating car design today), but we still feel that hideaway headlights would translate well to the EV age. Think Dodge’s

Charger Daytona EV
but with some added mechanical pizzazz.

Hideaway Headlights Pros And Cons

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7

Hood-Mounted Gauges

For all of their flaws — exposure to the elements, potential for theft, you name it — hood-mounted gauges like those found on Pontiac’s GTO Judge are useful, if only because you can keep your head up and your eyes on the road in front of you. With neo-retro designs ever on the rise, we’d love to see a hood-mounted tachometer or speedometer incorporated into a low-slung open-topped roadster. Even if it’s a feature that’s not fit for modern cars beyond the concept stage, it’s a piece of classic automobilia that’s so quirky it’s cool.

Hood-Mounted Gauges Pros And Cons

6

Drip Rails

Once upon a time, drip rails ran along the perimeter of a car’s roofline, directing rain and snow down the A-pillar and away from the interior. You’ll still see these on some boxier SUVs (like the

Jeep Wrangler
) today, but they have generally been phased out in favor of more aerodynamic body designs. Nevertheless, we’d be willing to make some concessions when it comes to drag and wind noise for the ease of roof rack installation. Nothing beats the simplicity of popping a set of brackets into your vehicle’s rain gutters.

Drip Rails Pros And Cons

5

Headlight Wipers

The Swedes first made a statement with headlight wipers on

Saab cars
back in the 1970s, and they were eventually offered on more upmarket vehicles from the likes of BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and even Range Rover. Though the feature eventually gave way to pressurized fluid applicators, we can still make a case for

mechanical blades
in some climates. After all, assuming that your headlight lenses are caked in snow and mud, a set of wipers makes for a much more efficient cleaning solution than spray alone. Admittedly, we’d like to see these return as much for their novelty as for their utility, especially because improvements in manufacturing would mean that they would at least be better looking — if not also more effective.

Headlight Wipers Pros And Cons

4

Front Bench Seats

Though you’ll occasionally find bench seats in fleet vehicles and large pickup trucks today, there was once a time that they were offered as a common option on consumer cars, too. Now,

bucket seats
are obviously far superior from a safety and drivability perspective. However, there’s something to be said for the flexibility and convenience that a three-abreast configuration enables. Clearly, a handful of automakers feel similarly, as Road & Track reports that Chevrolet, Land Rover, and even Hyundai are planning on reintroducing the front bench seat. Until we see the layout offered in cars, though, we don’t see it as having made a comeback.

Front Bench Seat Pros And Cons

3

Dual/Auxiliary Fuel Tanks

Chevrolet and Ford built a number of

pickup trucks
during the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s that boasted an auxiliary fuel tank to extend range, and it’s a feature that would obviously still pay dividends now. Now, the application — of course — depends on the powertrain, as you could make a case that hybrids and other energy-generating vehicles can be seen as having a backup fuel supply. Had Tesla not pulled the plug on its Cybertruck range extender, that too would have been a modern analog. As ICE powerplants are here to stay, bi-fuel vehicles could offer another expression.

Dual Fuel Tank Pros And Cons

2

Wing Vent Windows

Okay, so even though the drag from forward-mounted wing windows did a number on a car’s fuel economy, they were excellent at funneling fresh air into the cabin. As such, we feel that they deserve a place in modern vehicles — especially retro-inspired releases like the

Ford Bronco
and

Volkswagen ID.Buzz
— as you can’t beat the feeling of opening up your windows and taking in the sights. After all, if you’re looking to maximize your MPGs, air conditioning is usually the answer.

Vent Windows Pros And Cons

1

Manual Handbrake Levers

The disappearance of handbrake levers is a fairly new phenomenon, but it’s a trend that we would like to stop all the same. For one, electronic solutions are prone to faults, and a failure usually means the lock-up will leave you without a roadside fix. Arguably more ‘tragic,’ though, is that we’ll no longer be able to execute

well-timed drifts
and handbrake turns. Even recognizing that few among us actually use a manual handbrake for such purposes, this is one piece of the car’s interior that could have just as easily been left alone.

Manual Handbrake Pros And Cons