Air conditioning
Remember those childhood summer holidays, when in-car temperatures climbed to greenhouse levels and your bare thighs were burnt by the vinyl seat upholstery?
Modern seat fabrics are more forgiving, certainly, but air conditioning – now standard in all but the cheapest entry-level models – has to be the single most important contributor to in-car comfort since the heater, needed the rest of the year.
There's a driver safety aspect, too: keep the cabin cool on a hot day and you're less likely to nod off at the wheel.
First fitted in Nash and Packard models in the late 30s, until recent years it was too expensive to fit in any but top-end luxury and executive cars as standard.
Remember those childhood summer holidays, when in-car temperatures climbed to greenhouse levels and your bare thighs were burnt by the vinyl seat upholstery?
Modern seat fabrics are more forgiving, certainly, but air conditioning – now standard in all but the cheapest entry-level models – has to be the single most important contributor to in-car comfort since the heater, needed the rest of the year.
There's a driver safety aspect, too: keep the cabin cool on a hot day and you're less likely to nod off at the wheel.
First fitted in Nash and Packard models in the late 30s, until recent years it was too expensive to fit in any but top-end luxury and executive cars as standard.
Demisters
When you have a closed, glazed passenger compartment, steamy windows are inevitable, even if there isn't any heavy breathing going on in there. Quite apart from the build-up of condensation, the implications for road safety are heavy: you can't see out through a window that's steamed up.
Front windscreens are generally demisted using targeted hot air jets, but the challenge, especially in cheaper, older cars without extensive ventilation systems has been to keep the rear screen clear. By the 60s, electrical systems with visible metallic elements in a maze-type pattern were available in many mainstream cars, at least as an optional extra. Many of us remember the stick-on aftermarket demisters common in the 70s, white grids attached to the inside of the rear window that obscured vision, were appallingly ineffective and usually burnt out mid-winter. It took until well into the 80s before that basic design was improved upon (you can still buy paint-on metallic varnish to 'join up' damaged filaments) and the elements became more or less invisible; modern-day demisters are just fantastic in comparison.
When you have a closed, glazed passenger compartment, steamy windows are inevitable, even if there isn't any heavy breathing going on in there. Quite apart from the build-up of condensation, the implications for road safety are heavy: you can't see out through a window that's steamed up.
Front windscreens are generally demisted using targeted hot air jets, but the challenge, especially in cheaper, older cars without extensive ventilation systems has been to keep the rear screen clear. By the 60s, electrical systems with visible metallic elements in a maze-type pattern were available in many mainstream cars, at least as an optional extra. Many of us remember the stick-on aftermarket demisters common in the 70s, white grids attached to the inside of the rear window that obscured vision, were appallingly ineffective and usually burnt out mid-winter. It took until well into the 80s before that basic design was improved upon (you can still buy paint-on metallic varnish to 'join up' damaged filaments) and the elements became more or less invisible; modern-day demisters are just fantastic in comparison.
Electric seats
In the old days, if you couldn't see over the steering wheel, you sat on a cushion and, if your legs were too long to stretch out, you just had to bend them. Nowadays, car seats can adjust for height, distance from the pedals, seat angle, back-rest angle, lumbar support and head-rest height, all at the touch of a button – and even in humble shopping superminis.
A luxury once reserved for golf-club Jaguars and bank manager Bentleys, the electric seat has been democratised so everyone can find their ideal driving position. Massaging and vibrating seats, as in top-end Mercs, are still a little more exclusive, however.
In the old days, if you couldn't see over the steering wheel, you sat on a cushion and, if your legs were too long to stretch out, you just had to bend them. Nowadays, car seats can adjust for height, distance from the pedals, seat angle, back-rest angle, lumbar support and head-rest height, all at the touch of a button – and even in humble shopping superminis.
A luxury once reserved for golf-club Jaguars and bank manager Bentleys, the electric seat has been democratised so everyone can find their ideal driving position. Massaging and vibrating seats, as in top-end Mercs, are still a little more exclusive, however.
Sunroof
Less of a must-have feature in these days of near-universal air conditioning, and some way off providing a full wind-in-the-hair open-top experience, but still a way to reduce in-car claustrophobia. Best with a glass roof (and sunblind for dazzling days), the sunroof remains in style: attempts to rebrand it, when tinted, as a 'moonroof' have failed dismally. It's less good in an elderly second-hand car, when it invariably jams open or leaks.
Less of a must-have feature in these days of near-universal air conditioning, and some way off providing a full wind-in-the-hair open-top experience, but still a way to reduce in-car claustrophobia. Best with a glass roof (and sunblind for dazzling days), the sunroof remains in style: attempts to rebrand it, when tinted, as a 'moonroof' have failed dismally. It's less good in an elderly second-hand car, when it invariably jams open or leaks.
Velour seat covers
Before velour, the cheapo alternatives to leather seats were plastic leatherette or vinyl, both of which looked pretty terrible and had the side-effect of absorbing heat from sunlight. Kids of the 60s and 70s remember – with pain – having to sit on beach towels to avoid burns to the backs of their legs.
Nylon and other synthetic fabrics were little better and looked even worse, but then came velour: the posh option if you couldn't stretch to animal-hide, and suggesting plushness even in a common Escort or Cortina. And who can forget the likes of the softly-upholstered Renault 5 Monaco, the cash-strapped lady's limo? Of course, velour didn't have quite the same impact in a poverty-spec Jag XJ...
Before velour, the cheapo alternatives to leather seats were plastic leatherette or vinyl, both of which looked pretty terrible and had the side-effect of absorbing heat from sunlight. Kids of the 60s and 70s remember – with pain – having to sit on beach towels to avoid burns to the backs of their legs.
Nylon and other synthetic fabrics were little better and looked even worse, but then came velour: the posh option if you couldn't stretch to animal-hide, and suggesting plushness even in a common Escort or Cortina. And who can forget the likes of the softly-upholstered Renault 5 Monaco, the cash-strapped lady's limo? Of course, velour didn't have quite the same impact in a poverty-spec Jag XJ...