11种消失的汽车功能

    7.横排长座

    可坐下三人的平坦的前后座是美式车的标准配置，直到1950年代出现了车型更小、更为运动化的汽车之后，这种局面才告一段落。通过在前排安装两个较小的桶状座椅，汽车厂商就能增加乘坐空间，同时为安装在车内地板上的排挡杆腾出地方来。尽管桶状座椅更有运动感，能提供更好的承托，还能使用安全带，但在一些大型车上，横排长座的地位依然不可动摇，直到21世纪的第二个十年它们才告别历史舞台——2013年，雪佛兰英帕拉（Impala）终于换上了新型座椅。而怀旧的人们则哀叹，这种座椅的衰落是与汽车影院的消亡同时发生的。

    8.硬顶敞篷车

    有时候这种车也叫“无柱式硬顶车”，它没有车顶的中间支撑柱，所以看起来就像一辆升起车顶的敞篷车。和尾鳍这类多余的设计一样，它们在20世纪50年代风靡一时。当时每年一变的风格要求设计师必须找到新创意，所以这种风格很快用到了四门车甚至是旅行车上。但这种硬顶本质上就不够坚固，所以必须要用更繁重的结构来支撑。20世纪70年代中期，硬顶敞篷车开始逐渐消失，部分原因是因为担心受到联邦行车安全法规的处罚。1978年出品的克莱斯勒Newport和New Yorker也就成了最后两款真正的硬顶车。而现在汽车厂商们喜欢把B柱刷黑，而不是取消它，以模仿这种风格。

    9.时速85英里速度计

    还记得“两个5”（Double Nickel）吗？这是1974年联邦通过的一项法案，它要求汽车最高限速不得超过时速55英里，以节省燃油。五年后，在卡特总统执政期间，美国公路交通安全管理局（NHTSA）要求速度计必须在55这个数字上加上特别标志，以让驾驶者注意法定时速上限，同时还不允许最大时速超过85英里。不过，这种限速速度计并未能绑住汽车飞驰的速度，而85英里的最高时速在雪佛兰科尔维特（Corvette）这样的车上显得傻透了。1981年NHTSA开始重审这项规定，因为它发现这个法案对改变驾驶者行为来说收效甚微。到了今天，速度计的最大刻度往往能达到时速160英里，不过真正允许的最大时速还不到这个速度的一半。

    10.备胎

    当汽车厂商开始设法降低成本、减轻车重时，全尺寸备胎就成了被踢出历史舞台的首选。车胎可能还是会瘪掉，但现在的车可能只会装一个“多纳圈备胎”（donut spare，即非全尺寸备胎——译注），或是维修工具，甚至干脆什么都没有！防爆胎要么有自动防漏功能，要么胎壁做了强化，所以有时候它能防止部分漏气。但这种胎要贵得多，而且驾乘品质会受影响。谁都不喜欢从面包车的下托架上取出一个脏兮兮的备胎换上，或是琢磨怎么用那个并不熟悉的千斤顶。但是不管什么时候发生爆胎之后，知道自己总能有办法回家的信心还是很重要的。

    11.铰链式通风窗

    为了把挡风玻璃立柱和活动车窗之间那块尴尬的空间填上，一些工程师就设计了这种倾斜的或所谓铰链式的通风窗。这种窗户格外受到吸烟人士的青睐，因为它能将烟雾吸出窗外。20世纪60年代，随着车用空调开始普及，设计师开始设法减轻车重，同时赋予汽车更整洁的外观，这种窗户开始从乘用车上消失了。对那些健忘的驾驶者来说，它们的消失值得惋惜，因为这让他们在把车钥匙落在车里后能方便地开门去取。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远

    7. Bench seats

    Flat, three-across front and rear seats were standard equipment in American cars until the arrival of smaller and sportier models in the late 1950s. By installing two smaller bucket seats in front, manufacturers were able to increase seating room and leave room for a floor-mounted gear shifter. Although buckets were sportier, offered greater lateral support, and provided secure seat belt anchors, front bench seats held on in larger cars until they became extinct in the second decade of 21st century when the Chevrolet Impala was replaced with a newer model in 2013. Sentimentalists noted that their decline paralleled that of drive-in movie theatres.

    8. Hardtop convertibles

    Sometimes called "pillarless hardtops," hardtop convertibles were built without a central roof pillar so they would look like a convertible with the top raised. Along with other design excesses like tailfins, they became popular in the 1950s when annual styling changes had designers searching for new ideas, and the style spread to four-doors and even station wagons. But hardtops are inherently less rigid, and they needed to be reinforced with a heavier structure. The hardtop convertible began to disappear in the mid-1970s, partly out of a concern about federal safety regulations, and the 1978 Chrysler Newport and New Yorker became the last true hardtops. Today manufacturers today like to mimic the style by blacking out the central pillar instead of eliminating it.

    9. 85 mph speedometers

    Remember the "Double Nickel?" That was the federal law passed in 1974 that prohibited speed limits higher than 55 mph as a fuel-saving measure. Five years later during the Carter administration, NHTSA required speedometers include a special emphasis on the number 55 to keep drivers focused on the legal rate and forbid them from registering a maximum speed above 85 mph. The speedometer limits didn't govern the speed of the car, though, and the 85 mph max looked pretty silly on cars like the Chevy Corvette. NHTSA began rolling back the regulation in 1981 after discovering it did little to change driver behavior. Today, speedometers routinely go to 160 mph, even though the maximum allowable speed limit is less than half that.

    10. Spare tires

    As manufacturers search for ways to reduce cost and weight, the full-size spare tire is headed the way of the passenger pigeon. Tires may still go flat, but cars will be equipped with donut spares or motorized patch kits or sometimes nothing at all. Run-flat tires, with either automatic sealing or reinforced sidewalls, can fill some of the void, but they are more expensive and compromise ride quality. Nobody enjoys extracting a dirty spare from the under-carriage of a minivan or figuring out how to operate an unfamiliar jacking system, but there was a certain security in knowing that you could always find your way home after a flat no matter the day or time.

    11. Hinged vent windows

    To fill that awkward space between the windshield pillar and the movable window itself, some engineer lost to memory created the tilt or hinged vent window. Much beloved by tobacco lovers because of its ability to suck smoke out of the car, they began to vanish on passenger cars in the 1960s as air conditioning became more popular and designers looked for ways to reduce weight and get a cleaner look. Their extinction would be mourned by forgetful drivers who used them for easy entry after locking their keys inside.