Panoramic windows are one of the signs of a real American classic. The peak of technology in the middle of the last century, “bent” glass largely shaped the appearance of the “Detroit Baroque”. Naturally, their use forced the front pillars to move back.
There were even racks with a negative slope in fashion, which were called “dog’s leg”. Only later it turned out that in addition to the inconvenience of boarding and disembarking, such racks significantly reduced safety. It is curious that nowadays almost all windshields and rear windows are “bent”. But all this has nothing to do with American “dog legs” and other design follies.
There are no problems with starting the engine in American cars (not SAAB, tea!), but not everyone and it is not immediately clear the purpose of the outstanding “poker” attached to the steering wheel on the right. In fact, this is nothing more than a selector of the “automaton”. It is not easy to manipulate it from habit, it is even more difficult to find an arrow pointing to a very thin and medium–sized letter – first to P, but if everything goes according to plan, then to D.
Even if nothing happened after the successful switch to drive, it’s time to fumble at the left knee – somewhere there should be a lever to turn off the parking brake. And it turns on with the third pedal – most often it is located significantly higher than the others and close to the left side. Such an arrangement of the parking brake can still be found today on many models created mainly and primarily for the American market. However, judging by the new Volvo XC90, the Americans intend to wean them off the foot brake. They have weaned the same from the “steering” stage of the checkpoint – now even on the “Americans” for the local market, traditional selectors are increasingly found.
