As you would expect, yesterday’s vintage cars do not come with today’s technology. That means you aren’t likely to see features like smartphone remote-control features with it. In fact, the only technologies you are likely to find in vintage cars are power windows or eight-track tape players!
Do you own a vintage car? If you drive it on a regular basis, you might be missing some of the creature comforts you are likely to find in today’s vehicles. But don’t worry! There are plenty of ways that you can introduce 21st-century technology to your classic car. Here are a few examples for you to check out:
Brakes
Your car’s braking system is a key safety component. The thing about vintage cars is that they will have used braking technology that was only available to them at the time. By today’s standards, vintage brakes aren’t efficient or even safe!
It’s not all bad news, however. It is possible to upgrade the braking system on your vintage car. Doing so will make it just as good, if not better than what you would find in today’s modern cars. To start with, you need to replace the drum brakes with ones that use discs, pads and calipers.
Doing that usually means you will need to fit new hubs to accommodate such a setup. Classic car experts will be able to tell you what parts you will need for your specific car.
At the same time, be sure to fit the right servo and master cylinder to go with your new braking setup. Although not impossible, you could even retrofit an electronic ABS system too. But people seldom do this because it’s such a mammoth (and expensive) task.
Be sure to set up a dual-circuit braking system as vintage cars did not use such technology.
Electronic fuel injection
Also known as EFI, electronic fuel injection first went mainstream in the late 1980s. Part of the reason was down to stricter emissions laws in the United States. EFI is a more-efficient way of delivering fuel in an engine and is more reliable than carburettors.
Many motoring enthusiasts fit EFI to old engines in a bid to make their cars more reliable on the road. The pre-EFI days involved owners having to make constant adjustments on the carburettor. They also had to use a “choke” lever to increase idle speed until the engine got warm.
At the same time, upgrade to an electronic ignition. Don’t stick with the distributor-based system your car uses right now. That particular upgrade is the easiest and cheapest to perform on your car, and can get done by anyone with basic DIY skills.
Some folks splash out on a customizable engine management system, like the one offered by Dastek. With such a system, you can control every aspect of your motor by plugging in a laptop computer into the diagnostic port.
It’s the ultimate way of tuning your vintage car to its best potential. It also means you can make adjustments from the convenience of your laptop without getting your hands dirty!
GPS tracker
Some of you may know that I used to live in England many years ago, and in those days I had an old MG car as my “weekend” car. When you get quotes for vintage car insurance in the UK, one of the questions you get asked is whether the car has a GPS tracker on it or not.
The reason is the same for high-performance cars too: theft. If your vintage car is a valuable and desirable model, there is a high chance that someone will try to steal it from you. You can fit alarm systems and immobilizers to your car, but once it’s gone you have no way of finding out where it is.
To get one step ahead of anyone that does manage to steal your pride and joy, you can find out where it is by fitting a GPS tracker to it. They are gadgets hidden in your car that use a mobile data connection to transmit location coordinates.
You can then track where the car is using a web-based service and tell the police where it is. Fitting a GPS tracker to your vintage car is recommended, especially if it’s a high-value car.
Satellite navigation
Sticking with the theme of GPS, you could also fit a satellite navigation or “sat-nav” device to your vintage car. These handy gadgets cost no more than $200 for decent mid-range models and are a lifesaver!
They use maps saved onto an SD card, and you can update those maps on a regular basis by plugging in the SD card into your computer. The good thing about these gadgets is that they have internal batteries. So you can run them that way if you need to charge your cell phone, for example.
When you’re not using it, you can put it in the glove compartment or take it home with you. Most people tend to use these devices in their cars rather than paper maps.
Car stereo
Your vintage car will have no in-car entertainment or something ancient by today’s standards. Some people prefer to listen to the rumble and thunder coming from under the hood as they drive.
If you prefer to listen to some music on your travels, you need a car stereo in your pride and joy. Today’s modern car stereos have an array of features. Apart from playing CDs, some can link up to your smartphone with a wireless Bluetooth connection.
Most have aux-in ports to plug in MP3 players such as the Apple iPod. And the Bluetooth models can even get used as handsfree systems for your cell phone too! It doesn’t matter whether your favorite band is the Bay City Rollers or The Beatles. You need a decent car stereo in your life!
Prices start from as little as $50, so getting one for your vintage car won’t break the bank.