Our Two Cents: Favorite Physical Controls In A Car
It’s once again time to ask the staff of Hagerty Media a question, one that will provide Our Two Cents for you, dear reader. In the last year or two we’ve seen more articles covering the rampant spread of touchscreens in automobiles in a worrisome tone. Change is coming for our dashboards, and pressure by Euro NCAP will almost certainly affect new vehicle designs for the EU. And thanks to all the component sharing in our globalized society, this will likely trickle down to vehicles in the U.S. by 2026. (Well, at least for cars sold on both continents.)
I reckon most folks applaud this news, as even the Tesla aftermarket sells physical buttons for their touchscreen-intensive vehicles. So we asked our staff about their favorite physical control in a car, and the answers will be both a surprise and a firm validation of things you likely appreciate in older vehicles.
Analog Transmissions
Gearshift lever-and-knob for a manual gearbox. – Joe DeMatio
Can’t be a list without this one! – Sajeev Mehta
Of High Beam Controls
Even if the touchscreen tides turn, there’s one that will still never return: the floor-mounted high beam switch. The chunky click that comes with a tap of the left foot to cycle the headlights either up or down is the best, and all without moving my hands. Sadly this is likely forever relegated to being a novelty despite being highly functional, if prone to rust and corrosion from being on the floor. The floor-mounted switch was possibly the peak of manual switches. – Kyle Smith
I suppose the obvious choice in physical controls is a manual gear shifter. Going less obvious, I always loved the foot-operated high-beam floor-button. Growing up I never knew just how ubiquitous they were, but we had one in our old Plymouth van, and it was always a source of confusion for anyone new to driving it. “What’s that thing do?” was a common question. – Stefan Lombard
I love that the default position for the high beam selector on the Lamborghini Espada is “on,” and if you want to turn off the high beams, you have to push the turn signal stalk way forward. That’s because a fast car needs good headlights and in Italy, in 1970, if you drove an Espada you owned the road and you didn’t care if you were blinding the peasants in their Fiat 600s. – Aaron Robinson
I Control My Climate
I love the old school, non-climate control HVAC controls. I don’t need to keep my truck at exactly 72 degrees and for it to find the exact fan speeds for me. I love the process of trial and error to find the Goldilocks setting and just leave it alone. Call me inept or just an old soul, but I don’t know how to use that function to my satisfaction and I suspect the majority of the population doesn’t either. – Greg Ingold
The three-knob HVAC control panel is probably my favorite thing in a car dashboard. Honorable mention to the three lever control panel, as sliding a slightly more complicated lever feels even better. These systems are so logical, and so easy to adjust! – Sajeev Mehta
Shortcut buttons
In new performance cars, my favorite button is the individual setting selector. I think personalization has gotten a little carried away. Yearning for simpler days sounds nostalgic, but it truly was simpler when you just hopped in and drove, or, at most, got to select between three damping modes.
Given all the variables inherent in today’s cars, I don’t want to hunt through menus every.single.time to get the setup that works for me. One button to quickly set them all, please! Fortunately, most manufacturers have caught on to this concept. – Eddy Eckart
Good point Eddy. Can we just talk about menus for a second? I know the logical move is to play with that stuff while at a stop, but we all know nobody does that, they’re scrolling through menus while doing 90 on the interstate… – Greg Ingold
The Ride Height Lever
Another favorite control of mine is the lever in the Citroen DS that raises and lowers the suspension. It’s down by your left leg and it’s set-and-forget, meaning you move the lever and then go on with your day as the car moves up or down at its own leisurely rate. Those also have a city/country horn selector, which allows you to toggle between a polite beep to scatter the pedestrians and a blaring scream for the motorway. – Aaron Robinson
When Pleasure Devolves Into Ergonomic Pain
My pet peeve is with sound system controls. I’ve had to consult the manual in some press cars to figure out how to turn it on, change stations, adjust the quality of the sound. I’m a serial channel-changer, and want to do that quickly, with a minimum of time to take my eyes off the road. Adding buttons to sound systems was the big trend in the late 80s and early 90s, to the point where I started a button-count on press cars. I believe the winner was a Pontiac Sunfire convertible (Monsoon audio), with 24 different buttons, knobs, and sliders for the equalizer. Going digital and touch-screen hasn’t helped this issue very much.
To me the ideal setup was on the 1990 Lexus LS 400, which, shockingly, had a huge round knob to turn the sound system on and adjust the volume, and a big rocker switch to change stations. It was a shocker at the time; the brand-new ground-breaking Lexus brand had gone back to the future for its sound system controls, but I never heard anyone who owned an LS 400 complain. – Steven Cole Smith
Turn It On, Turn It Up!
Knobs for volume and manual radio tuning, please! If I can only have one physical, non-touchscreen control on the whole dang car, it would be a volume knob.
If I end up in a self-driving car someday with no steering wheel and the UI can read my mind, set temperature and other comfort settings automagically, massage my feet, make me a sandwich, and do my taxes while it transports me across town…I still want a physical volume knob. – Ben Woodworth
The Headlight Popper
It’s not the most useful thing in the world, but I love the button on the dash of an NA Miata that raises/lowers the pop-up headlights, without turning them on. There are practical reasons for such a button (changing a bulb, making frequent stops at night), but the main purpose it serves is as a universal “hello” from one Miata owner to another. – Andrew Newton
The Relief In Finding The Bubble
I firmly believe my co-workers here at Hagerty Media took all the good ones, which was a relief. Until I realized they put an upward pressure on me, a bubble that rises to heights I will struggle to achieve. What is a boy to do?
When looking for interior innovations, I usually start with cars that advanced the genre. (Especially ones that I remember vividly.) So I eventually remembered the switchgear in the 1986 Ford Taurus that was activated by pressing on a bubble, and turned off by depressing a relief on the other end of the switch.
I remember using these buttons and enjoying them, as it was easy to determine which relief to press with just a gentle touch of a finger to scan the button pad. No eyes were needed, and the driver’s side window switch was set higher than the other buttons. The whole affair was logical and simple, but the bubble had to burst at some point.
Now we have pull/push type levers for windows, and steering wheels full of flat buttons, impossible to discern without taking your eyes off the road. Bring back bubbles, they will be such a relief! – Sajeev Mehta
I agree with Kyle on the dimmer switch. They were handy and always right there. The stalks did not always function the same.
They could make a button that did not get gunked up but with the auto dim now it really dosn’t matter.
The Volume and radio controls on the steering wheel is great.
One knob I don’t miss is headlamps. The auto lights are just so natural unless you have a brand that still lack it.
Near to that foot powered dimmer switch was the button I depressed for the windshield washer! No electric motors on the bag back in the 60’s on my first car in 1967 – a used ’62 Dodge.
I had a 56 Monarch with a switch next to the floor dimmer which would change the station on the Wunderbar radio. Look Ma, no hands.
The OFF KNOB ON THE RADIO. My driving is mostly short trips in the city. Therefore no distraction while driving in traffic.
Sorry, but speaking of Auto Dimming –
IT SUCKS! Driving, especially at night, on a well lit roadway, street or highway, these things just default to HIGH and stay there. There are lines of oncoming cars with High Beams that give me a headache and deplete my night vision. When I flash my Hi Beams, no one responds – like they have no clue. Pride in one’s driving is a lost art.
I agree with all of the staff’s inputs except Aaron Robinson’s – those are just weird…😜
Weird? The DS was nothing short of revolutionary at the time – it had features that would take decades more to reach American cars.
I just put an improvised choke cable in my 72 Ford because the automatic one doesn’t seem to want to cooperate. Push it in, pump the pedal, pull it out just a hair, and fire it up. Maybe two more adjustments as she warms up and I have full tactile feedback that it is full open when I want it full open.
Did nearly the same thing on my ’66 Pontiac. Kind of mounted on the lowest curled part of the dash, and under the steering column, so it’s not intrusive to the look of the classic dash/instrument panel (and no drilling and trying to match knobs). I absolutely love the control I have, and no worries about a gunked-up, sticking, or otherwise malfunctioning automatic choke.
Pretty much always want a manual choke, especially on an a car with carbs that needs a little attention as it warms up. Honorable mention to Mazda, who in the RX7s, had a manual choke that would pull itself shut automatically if you forgot as the engine warmed up. Really nice feature. Not sure why no one else ever thought of that.
the 2nd gen ford courier had this (ok, it’s a badge engineered mazda truck). i always heard it referred to as a semi-automatic choke. it would shut ‘off’ (choke valve would open) after the engine warmed up sufficiently.
Did the same on my ’78 Jaguar XJ6.
Hand operated windshield wiper(s), 41-45 Willys MB and Ford GPW
This is why I love my 2016 KIA Soul. Brick simple, everything you need, nothing you don’t. Even the BT hookup is intuitive and takes no time. Three big knobs for HVAC. Big slap shifter between the seats. Decent stereo for a S-box.
For me, the Tick shifter on the T56 in my Kid’s 06 GTO. Holy buckets, what a snick-snick-snick improvement. Stock shifter was like a hot knife in a bucket of soft butter.
Manual lever to pop the headlights on an Opel GT…… Give it a yank and they roll over. That’s physical…
Kim
So you chose the “headlight popper” of the Miata OVER the “headlight popper” of the Opel GT?….really? It’s one of the most satisfying levers ever pulled….
The old cars with the console “three by the knee” manual transmissions. Good memories of my old 65 Ford van with the loose shifter linkage.
My favorite feature wasn’t a control itself, but related to it: the scan function on my Audi A4. It lasted longer than most, maybe 4-5 seconds, but it gave you enough time to really hear what was on that station and if you wanted to stay there. On any other car, I recognize what’s playing too late and have to go back.
Second favorite is the air blend feature on the dash vents of my wife’s E46 BMW, which allowed you to go a bit cooler with the air near your face while keeping the rest of the car at the same temp.
My girlfriend in high school had a Capri, and the button the floor wasn’t for the headlights but the wipers. That was pretty useful, I thought.
How about rack and pinion steering? I miss the old manual “feel of the road”. Now that we have electric steering controlled by a computer and automatic braking I know the eventual if not the final step in the “evolution” of the automobile will be cars on the interstate being spaced apart by satellite controlled speeds and spacing while the drivers stare at their electronic devices, or nap..
Amen Wald!! In addition to physically controlled rack & pinion, I hold high admiration for the old (ancient?) GM Saginaw recirc ball steering boxes. Especially in quick ratio form. GREAT road feel and feedback. You always knew your hands were connected to the contact patch between your tires and the road. Today? Well you have to hope the computer is doing that well for you.
We have a new VW Tiguan , the cruise control is set up to keep you safe distance from the vehicle a head of you is nice but a little bit disconcerting.
I like the manual heater controls, if you’re warring gloves the temp sensor in the heater controls can not pick up the temperature from your fingers
Ford Trucks used to have a standard for controls that they could be used while wearing gloves. My 1999 f250 is great in that respect. My 2023 f150 not so much.
Seems like nobody mentioned Parking Brake or Emergency Brake. Lots of new cars/trucks just have a little button/lever that is electrically operated (no sense of touch or feel) that is on or off, In an emergency, you need that sense of touch or feel if you end up in a skid……… IMHO.
The new VW ID.4 doesn’t have one at all. Pressing the Park button engages the brake.
We recently drove a car in Great Britain, a manual transmission with auto start/stop (push-button) and an electric parking brake with can only be released whilst pressing the brake pedal. Rubbish!
How about the “Wonderbar Radio” floor controls in the ole Buicks
Had that in my 1956 Oldsmobile Super 88 convertible. Loved it! However it was an AM radio only!!!!
The horn switch on my 73 Capri is on the turn signal stalk.
You push it in towards the steering column.
My dad’s 78 Fairmont had the same setup. Fortunately he didn’t have it long enough for any of us to miss it !!
The floor headlight dimer is nostalgic for sure, but personally I was delighted when that moved to the steering column stalk, not so much as to take it away from the foot but now I had the ability to “FLASH” the hi beams to communicate for any number of circumstances. Yes, the child in me still wants to pretend I’m on the Mulsanne Straight and flashing a slower car to move over, or that I’m Luke Skywalker zapping the enemy with my laserbeams, but in reality having that flasher really does come in handy to both warn other drivers, let them know they are seen, get their attention… the list goes on and on.
1957 Chrysler push button transmission I had in 1965
AMEN To Chrysler’s push button transmission selector and its location on the dash to the left of the steering wheel. Loved the distinctive sound it made when any button was depressed. No need to build an enormous console to house a fake electronic shifter or rotary knob. A flip-down armrest and/or middle seat was much more practical.
Hi end Edsels had the selector in the Center of the steering wheell
I bought a ’58 Dodge at Ft. Lewis, Washington in ’64 from another G.I. for 200 bucks. I loved the push button trans. Then drive a Jeep and reach for the push button. Get back into the Dodge my foot would be feeling for the clutch. That car saved my sanity, to get away from the army and see civilians!