Last Updated on July 30, 2025 by Colby Droscher
Cars have come a long way over the decades. While we often celebrate classic designs and nostalgic details, not every feature from the past is worth remembering. Some car features faded away quietly, and most drivers didn’t even bother to wave goodbye.
From awkward safety experiments to pointless gadgets that never quite worked, these forgotten add-ons may have once seemed like the future, but today, they just seem absurd. Here are 10 car features that disappeared, and frankly, nobody’s shedding a tear over their absence.
1. Automatic Seat Belts
Once hailed as a safety breakthrough, these belts would slide into place when the door closed. But they were more annoying than helpful, often choking passengers or malfunctioning entirely. Thankfully, modern airbags and traditional seat belts rendered them obsolete.
2. Car Phones
Before smartphones ruled the world, car phones were the ultimate status symbol. Bulky, static-filled, and barely mobile, they were more trouble than they were worth. Now, Bluetooth and hands-free systems make them feel like relics of a different era.
3. Pop-Up Headlights
Cool in theory, impractical in reality. These lights were stylish but prone to mechanical failure and costly repairs. Their demise came as car designs shifted toward sleek, aerodynamic lines, and drivers breathed a sigh of relief.
4. Cigarette Lighters and Ashtrays
Once standard in nearly every vehicle, these features faded with the decline of smoking. Now replaced with USB ports and cup holders, their disappearance made room for cleaner, healthier driving environments.
5. Bench Front Seats
Sharing the front seat with your sweetheart might sound romantic, but bench seats were awkward, less safe, and limited customization. Bucket seats offer better support and have become the modern standard for good reason.
6. Manual Window Cranks
Rolling your window down by hand used to be normal. But after years of sore wrists and broken handles, power windows took over. Most drivers today wouldn’t trade the convenience for anything.
7. Tape Decks and CD Players
They were once the heart of every road trip playlist, but now they just gather dust in forgotten dashboards. Streaming and Bluetooth audio have made physical media nearly irrelevant in cars.
8. Hood Ornaments
Elegant but dangerous, hood ornaments were a hallmark of classic luxury. Over time, safety concerns and theft risks led to their phase-out. These days, you’re more likely to see a minimalist logo than a gleaming metal sculpture.
9. Hidden Gas Caps Behind License Plates
In a strange game of automotive hide-and-seek, some cars once tucked the fuel cap behind the license plate. It was quirky and inconvenient, and no one really misses fumbling to find it.
10. Headlight Wipers
Meant to keep headlights clear during bad weather, these tiny wipers often caused more problems than they solved. They broke easily and added unnecessary complexity to the car’s front end.
Explore more nostalgic car memories:
While some car features are gone for good (and good riddance), others have become the stuff of collector dreams or retro fascination. If you’re in the mood to cruise down memory lane, don’t miss our roundup of 20 Classic Cars Collectors Say Aren’t Worth the Cost Anymore, take a look at 20 of the Ugliest Cars from the 1980s, or explore 15 Vintage Inventions That Never Took Off, some of which belonged under the hood rather than in a museum.
