Human Drivers of Yesterday

   In our modern world, the pleasure of driving has changed since the 1960’s. There was a time when the nostalgia of the wide-open road was much more of a reality than a fantasy. Drivers would drive from one city to another across open highways listening to the wind whip past the open window. In the 1960s, cars were not equipped with Global Positioning Systems, Bluetooth cell phone receivers, and satellite radio. In the 1960s, driving was about the pure uninterrupted joy of being “one” with the “simple machine” and the road. Today, our “simple machine” has lots of safety features, electronics to keep the driver and passengers entertained, and makes driving almost a daily chore of a complicated life.

    In the 1960s, there was always an open road. Back then, not many working adults could afford a car. When someone did finally buy one, the car was a way to escape daily life and entertain themselves with where ever the road led them and whatever adventures the road would bring. Driving was the ultimate form of affordable escapism. Families would load the car with packed lunches that Mom made with love and drive to the park. Teenagers would drive to meet their friends and hang out. Whatever reason a driver would have to get behind the wheel was good enough for them. There were no cell phones to distract drivers. All a driver in the 1960s had was the conversation of another passenger and the scenic views that passed by mile by mile.

    The driving culture of our modern day makes driving almost seem like a chore. We have to get up early in the morning to get ready for work. Rush hour commuters know that the earlier they leave for work, the easier finding a parking spot will be. My Mother gets up at Five o’clock in the morning and she only lives 12 miles from work. All she must do is get her ready for work and drive out, yet the early morning “rush hour” traffic is so horrendous that she leaves early so she will not be late for work. The number eighty-two is an express city bus that drives on the freeway early in the morning. When I ride on the number eighty-two bus, and I look out the window while in traffic, I almost never see any happy faces. Every driver stuck in traffic looks drowsy, frustrated, or irritated.

    The automobiles of the 1960s were a lot larger than the cars of today. For example, the 1965 Chevy Impala, 1963 Buick Skylark, and the 1966 Pontiac Bonneville are just about as long as full-size trucks of today, but those cars were two door models. The 1960s automobile were constructed with thick sheets of machine pressed steel. When a driver closed the door, he or she heard the door slam shut that reminded him or her of a vault door being shut. The motors were simple and easy to maintain. One glance under the hood and the first thing a driver would notice is the vast amount of space in the engine bay. Working on the car was something a father would teach his son in the 1960s. Lessons were not just about automobile maintenance but family bonding between father and son.

    Today’s automobiles are complex computer driven machines that have zero tolerance for tinkering. One look under the hood and a driver will be overwhelmed with what he or she is looking at. To me, the modern car engine compartment looks like a giant metal octopus covered in plastic wrapped in a cocoon of wires.  They are equipped with high tech gadgets such as tire pressure-monitoring sensors, ceramic composite cross-drilled disc brake rotors, and dual-zone climate control systems.  Other equipment found on today’s cars is simple things that we take for granted like the air and fuel mixture sensor that automatically adjusts your fuel injection system; nevertheless, drivers make random attempts to do their own repairs that usually leads the drivers to the nearest repair center. The repair manuals for most of these cars are printed in a binder so large the reader would need a physician’s approval just to lift it. Now I understand why car mechanics charge thousands of dollars for engine repairs.