Tartan Travel Rugs and other Nostalgic Motoring Accessories

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

talking of which, do you remember those 'stick on' Heated Rear Windows that were 'everywhere' back in the 1970's....? My attempts at fixing mine came to nought in the end, so I'm after one; its a pain not having a working HRW this time of year.

[CitroJim]

talking of which, do you remember those 'stick on' Heated Rear Windows that were 'everywhere' back in the 1970's....?

I remember those very well Had several cars with them but none of them worked very well... If at all...

Even now I rarely use a heated rear window...

[Hell Razor5543]

I find the heated rear windows are very useful. They help keeps your hands warm when you have to push the car!

[CitroJim]

I find the heated rear windows are very useful. They help keeps your hands warm when you have to push the car!

That's a good old Skoda joke James...

I doubled the value of mine the other day... I filled the petrol tank to the brim

[Pug_XUD_KeenAmateur]

I remember those very well Had several cars with them but none of them worked very well... If at all...

Thanks Jim, seeing as that's the case, I shall 'dis-continue' my search

[van ordinaire]

Oh real ones - the BMW abominations are so big & ugly as to be beneath contempt.

However the thought occasionally crosses my mind that when they realise that as it now bigger than a Maxi, so they'll have to bring out a new small car beneath it, what on earth they're going to call it - unless, of course, they first buy Nissan.

[NewcastleFalcon]

When did wing mirrors disappear from wings?

What was the last crop of cars which literally had wing mirrors, or conversely which cars started the trend for "door mirrors"?

What was the last car...if you have ever had one with wing mirrors?

Yes the important questions of life!

Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

They're interesting questions Neil

Renault 4 for me I reckon... I know that it did and my next car, an R5 of '78 vintage had a door mirror...

Long before that you could get clip-on door mirrors.. I had one on my very first Mini...

[myglaren]

Renault 4 for me too.
Thought the Volvo or the Opel Kadette may have had but Google says no!

[NewcastleFalcon]

Looks like I have never owned a car with wing mirrors on the wing. edit Yes dug up some old pics and my 1994 Triumph GT6 did have chrome wing mirrors!

Have to go back to one of dad’s land crabs for a genuine set of proper wing mirrors.

regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

Nothing like a Desmo continental boomerang!





Regards Neil

[CitroJim]

That Landcrab is positively gorgeous

the worst thing about fitting wing mirrors was the job of making holes in the wings for them... The old trick of using a piece of masking tape to locate the drill bit and prevent nasty scratches if it wandered off was a good one...

Ditto drilling holes in the wings for aerials too...

I used to use a Q-Max cutter whenever I could...

uk.farnell.com

I have a small selection here and I note they are still available too...

The only way to make a really neat hole in thin sheet metal...

The other big thing people used to forget when fitting wing mirrors and aerials was paint the edges of the hole to prevent corrosion taking hold... One used to see loads of cars with rust around the wing mirrors and aerials because this simple but critical job was neglected...

[van ordinaire]

Must've been mid-'70's ('cos P6 Rovers came with either) except in Japan, where they were very late to adopt door mirrors because it required a change in the law.

1st car with door mirrors might well have been 2CV.

My last car that had wing mirrors was a Wolseley 6/110 (discounting the HA Viva as (a) I removed them, (b) gave it to my girlfriend)

[NewcastleFalcon]

Must've been mid-'70's ('cos P6 Rovers came with either) except in Japan, where they were very late to adopt door mirrors because it required a change in the law.

Never knew that about Japan....this article from the Japan Times gives a bit of background.

Regards Neil

[NewcastleFalcon]

That article from November 2013 indicated that at that time overwhelmingly Japanese Taxi Cars opted for wing mirrors even after the liberalisation of Japanese Laws to alow Door Mirrors in 1983.

Toyota dominate the Taxi market in Japan and one of their later offerings, still accomodates the wing mirror


Toyota JPN TAXI Nagomi (DAA-NTP10-AHXDN) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], by Tokumeigakarinoaoshima (Own work), from Wikimedia Commons

Regards Neil