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Related: Culture Forums, Support ForumsWhat was your last car that had the dimmer switch on the floor?
For me it was my 1973 Levi Gremlin.
Do you wish they would bring back the floor dimmer ?
LuckyCharms
(22,384 posts)DURHAM D
(33,021 posts)LuckyCharms
(22,384 posts)DURHAM D
(33,021 posts)I had no idea.
LuckyCharms
(22,384 posts)and I think a significant percentage of DUers are older than me.
I'm just guessing though.
chicoescuela
(2,967 posts)I had others prior to Jeep also with floor dimmers
Another lost art
LuckyCharms
(22,384 posts)Before the Pontiac, I had a '65 Chevy Impala and a '66 Ford Fairlane that both had floor switches.
I can't even figure out the lights on our 2 current cars.
chicoescuela
(2,967 posts)Extra points for four points of contact and two feet.
chicoescuela
(2,967 posts)Beautiful car
hvn_nbr_2
(6,784 posts)I'm 78 and I don't even remember when they changed it.
I do think it's a good idea not to put other controls close to the gas and brake pedals.
Shellback Squid
(10,025 posts)Diamond_Dog
(40,295 posts)My present car has the dimmer on a lever (my son says proper terminology is stalk) and since I use the one on the left so rarely I always forget which way to push it. It goes up, down, and towards me. Id be happy if they put it back on the floor.
Dave in VA
(2,279 posts)instead of the little button it had a chrome piece that looked like a foot print! 👣
DURHAM D
(33,021 posts)Dave in VA
(2,279 posts)It had a matching gas pedal, too!
edited to add link
https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Speedway-Barefoot-Gas-Accelerator-Pedal-Dimmer-Cover-Kit,340072.html?utm_medium=CSEGoogle&utm_source=CSE&utm_campaign=CSEGOOGLE&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23022589191&gbraid=0AAAAAD8-Mcl-iLWC6jV05TgwFTxUxKKzw&gclid=Cj0KCQiAwYrNBhDcARIsAGo3u30flJ0ZPWnAm4XmZjPJLZr2qv2PzvWhgiTeGiHwW_BqnJzFofcuvGkaAuKyEALw_wcB
BigMin28
(1,846 posts)Gold Plymouth Duster. It died in a flash flood on Halloween 1981. It was sad to see her go, but I made it.
buzzycrumbhunger
(1,823 posts)This was in like 1985. The ragtop was duct-taped because the wood across the front had warped and because I lived in Iowa (heavy salt on the roads in the winter), the floorboards were rusted out and we could see the road whiz by our feet. Eventually, I had pressed the dimmer switch and it went straight through the floor.
Finally retired it. A guy from a monastery bought it off me for like $150 and they repurposed it into a garden tractor. Thought that was a pretty cool retirement!
DURHAM D
(33,021 posts)Eventually I could see the road under my feet. Loved that car.
buzzycrumbhunger
(1,823 posts)I learned to drive in a 63. My dad parked us up a hill out in the country and made me switch seats and get us out of there. Quickly grew to love a stick and miss those cars a lot--though my Hyundai is a manual, too!
Deuxcents
(26,420 posts)But the dimmer was on the floor, had a manual transmission and no gas gauge..it had a lever that was actually a reserve of fuel so when the car needed gas, ya just turned the lever and had plenty until ya filled up. Had to remember to turn the lever back so the whole tank got gas!
love_katz
(3,241 posts)The 1958 VW bug that was its replacement didn't have a gas gage ( it had the lever for the one gallon spare tank), and it also had the split rear window.
It was a fun car to drive. I learned to keep a notebook with records of fill-ups, number of gallons and gas mileage because the one gallon of spare gas was helpful, but you didn't want to push it too far.
Onthefly
(1,234 posts)Convenient to use floor dimmer.
SheltieLover
(79,451 posts)indigoth
(199 posts)Worst car I ever owned.
ABC123Easy
(197 posts)1968 Ford Mustang
SheltieLover
(79,451 posts)Loved it!
Enjoy!
ABC123Easy
(197 posts)My first car too!
6 cylinder 200 cubic inches. No power steering or brakes, haha. Those vent windows in the front took care of the "air"
WmChris
(693 posts)Which I currently have in the body shop for new paint.
chicoescuela
(2,967 posts)IcyPeas
(25,312 posts)I didn't even have cupholders.
Never heard of this floor dimmer .
FuzzyRabbit
(2,206 posts)Does your car have ashtrays? How come cars don't have ashtrays anymore? They were a handy place to put candy wrappers.
And wing windows for ventilation. And bench seats. Dating was a lot more fun with bench seats where your girl friend could move over next to you.
DURHAM D
(33,021 posts)gab13by13
(31,898 posts)Stick shift on the column.
FuzzyRabbit
(2,206 posts)Bavorskoami
(168 posts)1986 - Ford F150 Lariat
FadedMullet
(847 posts)Permanut
(8,258 posts)Dang, that was a long time ago.
doc03
(39,012 posts)walkingman
(10,669 posts)and weren't made out of plastic and who knows what....
Eugene
(67,025 posts)I haven't missed it.
FoxNewsSucks
(11,646 posts)That was such a fun car, until the turbo totally fucked up around 40k miles.
I'm used to it on the turn-signal stalk since then, so I probably wouldn't change it
duckworth969
(1,341 posts)Yeah, bring it back. Good with my feet.
kacekwl
(9,064 posts)and 73 Jeep Commando.
Aristus
(72,016 posts)I dont remember it having a floor dimmer switch. Im old enough to know what they are, though. They used to make after-market novelty metal feet to put over the dimmer switch. Just a fun little add-on. My grandfather had one of those in his car.
justaprogressive
(6,811 posts)Niagara
(11,657 posts)He let me drive his spare car all the time even though I had my own car. This cars interior had a permanent smell of coconuts. Even as I type this I got a whiff of the car while reminiscing about it. The last time it was operatable was in the fall of 1994 and an unfortunate tie rode incident happened. I don't remember what became of that car.
It looked like the one in this photo, only it wasn't a pristine cream puff.

In my older phase of life, I would prefer a dimmer control closer to my hand instead of my foot, especially my left foot. The car I have now has a Activsense HBC system setting for automatic dimmer/high beams but I turned that setting off because it was in fact high beaming other vehicles.
P.S. That now ex-boyfriends main car was Plymouth Duster and the interior didn't smell like coconuts.
LogDog75
(1,229 posts)Yeah, I had the Moon Mobile and regardless of anyone else's opinion, I enjoyed that car.
hunter
(40,594 posts)The pedal was the pump, it was not electric, your foot provided the motive force.
I remember driving cars like that but I don't remember the models.
Volkswagens had a water tank with a tire valve on it. After you refilled the washer fluid you pressurized the tank with air. You could use a small bicycle pump (my dad kept one in his VW van) but mostly you used the handy water and air hoses that every gas station kept next to the pumps. You didn't have to drive to the corner of the lot and put a quarter in some machine to get air or water; machines that are often out of order.
Ha, ha. I've turned into my grandpa. Thankfully I didn't have to start my first car by turning a crank on the front, but I did have to push start my cars occasionally which is no longer an option with modern cars.
DURHAM D
(33,021 posts)by pushing it. Thanks for the memory.