11种消失的汽车功能

    3.手摇车窗

    一些低端裸配车型上还能找到这种装置，它们是被用来吆喝地板价的——前提是市场上还真有这种车型——但其实很少能看到它们了。没人会怀念这东西，除了那些老是忘了关窗只能重新启动的人。至于说电动摇窗机，它们现在早已根深蒂固、无处不在了，今年凭它的一把年纪都有资格享受老年医保了：要知道它们可是1948年就发明出来了。

    4.天线

    用来接收调幅调频收音机信号的强力外置天线、以及它那早就过气的表亲伸缩天线早已不见踪影了。它们的功能已被植入后挡风玻璃的装置或是车顶后部安装的鲨鱼鳍配件给取代了，这些装置还能接收GPS和电话信号。不过警车还是一大例外，它还是顶着一堆天线，分别用于接收扫描器、民用无线电和电脑的信号。这些天线的好处是能让警车更容易监测超速车辆。

    5.手刹

    手刹也叫安全制动器或紧急制动器，现在正日益被电子制动器取代，后者于2001年首次出现在雷诺（Renault）的威赛帝（Vel Satis）上。随着手排挡日渐式微，车主在斜坡上小心翼翼地踩着离合时再也不需要用手刹来稳住车了。而在爬坡过程中当车停下时，一项名为“坡道辅助系统”（hill hold）的新功能就会刹住车，等到司机踩下油门时才会让车重新启动。

    6.斜交胎

    在斜交胎上，帘线是按照行驶的角度来排布的，因此它们会纵横交织在一起。而相比之下，子午胎在轮胎弯曲时会避免胎面相互摩擦挤压，这样就能减小轮胎的滚动阻力，也能更加省油。1915年，第一个子午胎设计获得了专利，米其林公司（Michelin）1946年为乘用车开发了这种轮胎。但是底特律的车企们一开始却强烈抵制这种轮胎，因为它们成本更高，胎噪更大，还需要更昂贵的悬挂调校。1973年的石油危机爆发后，客户的要求迫使这些企业改变了想法。到了1983年，所有新车都装备了子午胎。和气囊及多气门发动机一样，斜交胎的消亡也是底特律三巨头抵制改革的象征之一。

    3. Crank windows

    You can still find them on stripper versions of low-end models used for trumpeting rock-bottom prices -- assuming that stripper version can be found at all -- but seldom anywhere else. Nobody misses them, except for those people who chronically fail to close their windows and thus must restart. As for electric window lifts, they have become so well-established, they became eligible for Medicare this year: They were invented in 1948.

    4. Antennas

    The power exterior antenna for am-fm radio reception and its retro-style cousin, the whip antenna, are long gone. Their functions have been embedded in the rear windshield or a shark fin-shaped enclosure that sits just above it on the roof and can also handle GPS and telephone signals. The big exception is the police car, which still spouts a variety of antennas for scanners, CB radios, and computers. On the plus side, that makes them easier to spot at speed traps.

    5. Handbrake

    Also known as safety or emergency brakes, handbrakes are increasingly being replaced by electric brakes that first appeared on the 2001 Renault Vel Satis. With the decline of manual transmissions, you no longer need handbrakes to hold a car on an incline while you delicately engage the clutch. And a new feature called "hill hold" takes over when your car is stopped while climbing and then releases when the driver pushes the gas pedal.

    6. Bias-ply tires

    In bias-ply tires, the cords were set at angles of travel, so they criss-crossed over each other. By comparison, radial tires avoid having the plies rub against each other as the tire flexes, thus reducing the tire's rolling friction and producing greater fuel economy. The first radial tire designs were patented in 1915, and Michelin developed them for passenger cars in 1946. But Detroit bitterly resisted their adoption because they were more costly, produced a harsher ride, and required costly suspension adjustments. Demands from consumers after the 1973 gas crisis changed its mind, and by 1983, all new cars came equipped with radials. Along with airbags and multivalve engines, the demise of bias-ply tires remains a landmark of the Detroit Three's resistance to change.