Today's Cars: Bench Seats Benched, Ashtrays Extinquished? 1Larry Printz doesnโ€™t give his opinion, but my hunch is that the automotive writer for the The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va., is a throwback kind of guy โ€” at least with regard to his cars. And in many ways, Iโ€™m with him.

In a recent piece Printz details traditional car features and gadgets no longer offered or rarely offered. Itโ€™s the equipment he writes thatโ€™s โ€œabout to join vinyl LPs, shag carpet and typewriters in the dustbin of history.โ€

Bench seats: โ€œThe popularity of minivans and SUVs, many with seven passenger seating, have killed the front bench seat, which allows sedans to carry six passengers.โ€

Ashtrays: โ€œOnce commonly found in all cars, the space once reserved for ashtrays is becoming a slot to hold an MP3 player and a power point. Some cars, such as those from Chrysler, offer an optional smokers package. By contrast, most of Nissan’s vehicles no longer have one, even as an option.

Crank Windows:ย  “People talk about it, but to regress to that type of feature, you’d have to special order it,” says John Linked, automotive editor at Consumer Reports.

Mechanical Locks: โ€œMany cars now use remote keyless entry as a way of locking or unlocking a car or truck. Most cars have one mechanical lock, usually on the driver’s door, as a back up in case the case the electronics fail.

Column-mounted Shifters: Cars with bench seats use transmission levers located on the steering column. Despite the space that a column-mounted shifter can save, automakers have switched to center console-mounted transmissions used in vehicles with bucket seats.

Nice piece, Mr. Printz. Iโ€™m an adamant non-smoker, but I miss the ashtrays โ€” great place for spare change.

Article Last Updated: February 26, 2008.

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