It used to be – or so I can assume from looking through car magazines from before even my time – that there once was a whole ton of aftermarket performance parts available to bolt onto your car. Hell, Popular Mechanics used to advertise a ram jet-powered go-kart! But looking at the chronology, something happened in the ’70s – and auto accessories changed from adding to your go to only accentuating your show. It wasn’t much longer after that before catalog accessory offerers like MG Mitten and Villem B. Hann went out of business. But that’s not to say that the ’70s were bereft of automotive accessories, and in fact there were a few of them that, while not popular today, might warrant a comeback. Sheepskin seat covers became huge in the seventies, a possible reason being the discovery by auto makers of vinyl as a thigh-searing substitute for leather or cloth. Having a dead sheep’s outer vestments under you butt could make even the crappiest of car seem luxurious. Not to let your feet feel left out, Sisel mats also became an accessory that seem seventies defining. But the one aftermarket accessory that is destined too be tied to the disco era is that of the Citizen’s Band radio, good buddy. Following the popularity of such ’70s cinema staples as Smokey and the Bandit and Convoy, the add-on two-way popularized both a new lingo and a pre-Internet social network on the road. All of these accessories are still available today, but rarely do you see them either advertised or actually applied to anyone’s car. That seems a shame because, if the ’70s gave us anything, it was ways to make us feel less depressed about the shitty nature of our cars. Even if cars today aren’t that bad, what ’70’s accessory do you think could make them even better?

Image source: [alliance car accessories]