These Are the Unforgettable Details You Always Appreciate on a Car

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The large, rolling metal machines we have all grown to love in sometimes truly unhealthy ways are full of details. And as we know, delight is inevitably in those details. When we talk about any of the litany of cars on this earth, we typically find ourselves starting at our favourite parts. Is it the way the body lines melt into the rear fender? Or do we love a good venting treatment like some of our favourite sports cars from the '80s and '90s?

I asked you over the weekend to share the unforgettable details you always appreciate about cars and I'd like to start off with the fact that of course someone found a way to mention the "ball cooling vents" of yore. As a woman, I can't really comment on what that might feel like or the relief that might bring you. But it must be great because any time we ask you for a favourite detail or feature or whatnot, it comes up. Is it really that great? Does it even work that well?

As for the rest of you who truly understood the assignment, I enjoyed a walk down memory lane remembering the sight lines and some smells (hello old velvet seats) of the details you most appreciated. From older worn leather interiors that stood as a reflection of the money you spent keeping that car running to a nod even Torch would appreciate, these are the unforgettable details you always appreciate about cars.

BMW's programmable buttons

Those 8 programmable buttons that BMWs have; or used to have. I use them to navigate home, call my wife, check tyre pressure, display audio presets, etc. Super convenient to access 8 functions that are important to you without searching through menus.

From Scooter

Big, ornate tail fins

Fins! As a mid-century kid it was all about longer, lower, wider, big V8s and fins 😍

AND

Tail fins. I LOVE finned cars, always have since I was a kid. I will have one of them Caddy's with the biggest fins ever at some point.

From Jimboy II, The Sequel and cintocrunch1

Style and design

Style – the older cars drew from Art Deco for their styling, and the designers did not have bean counters standing in their way. Now we have "features" over a pretty boring styled cars. Oh, yeah, and colour. That's what I loved about the '60s cars – all sorts of colours.

AND

A cohesive design. Does it look like an artist's vision? (including the colour), or was it designed by a committee of bean counters and marketers?

From Azureblue and Radar Lover Gone

Wipers that returned to resting position after turning the car off

Every car I owned or drove would stop the wipers in place if you turned off the ignition while they were wiping. Until my 2006 GTO. You turned off that car while the wipers were wiping and it would let the wipers finish their motion and come to their regular resting place. It also had great visibility compared to the other muscle cars at the time with their bathtub interiors.

From fabey

Pontiac's illuminated chieftain hood ornament

A favourite detail of mine is the light-up Indian heads on Pontiac hood ornaments. Never been able to find an affordable one in decent condition. However back in the late '80s and through the '90s before eBay made everything skyrocket in price or disappear, I collected emblems I found beautiful or interesting on my many trips to Pick-a-Part junkyards while looking for parts for my various vintage cars and trucks. In some cases the guys at the yards who saw me often would just give them to me, but even full price was only a couple of quid back then for most. I started putting them on the petrol station sign I built for a TV commercial which is over my desk. They have also taken over my roll-around tool cabinets in the garage.

From Dan60

The thunk of a boot

I really miss the solid closing "thunk." (Technical term) All of the way through the mid-1990s, when you closed the door or boot lid of the German luxury and sports cars, mainly on a Mercedes-Benz, you knew you were closing the door on a solid rock of a car. They all made that particular sound. The doors were made of thick steel which latched to a thick safety cage and it spoke of quality and sweating the details.

I think the mid-1990s C-class (designed back in the early 1990s) was the last one that really made that sound and vibrated your hand when closing the door. By the time the late-1990s came along, cost cutting really started to hit Mercedes-Benz hard and they had lost that vault door feeling. It still had a presence on the road, but it was losing that Mercedes-Benz feeling.

I can't speak for the top-tier Mercedes-Benzes like an S-Class or G-Wagon and how they feel in 2026. But their "run of the mill" cars, the ones for us, the unwashed masses, get the end results of cheapening materials and design for almost 30 years now.

From Xavier96

Deep dish wheels

I miss deep dished wheels.

From Stephen Morgan

Smell of good leather

I really like the smell of good leather. I had a 2009 BMW 335 with ivory leather seats that still had a good aroma, like a new leather wallet, even after 10 years. However smelling like a wallet was appropriate considering how much it cost to maintain it...

From Joey L

Round tail lights

Round tail lights on '73 and earlier Beemer 2002s

(Also: rear hatch release for Volvo Amazon estates, that look like jet aeroplanes)

From DieselOx

Hidden petrol caps

Hidden petrol caps...

AND

Yes. This is the correct answer. Ferrari 308, Countach, all the '50s tail lights that open up.

From Nomoto and G-Reg