Cool things that are still being made

[SteveM(PA)]

Speaking of products that endure through several decades, I'd like to talk about a few things I like that are still around. The first is the the Mk1 VW Golf (or Rabbit). Did you know that this car is still being manufactured, in South Africa? The tooling apparently came from the plant here in Pennsylvania when it closed down in the early 80's (the same plant that manufactured the one I once owned, my first car :)). It looks a little different, but it is still true to the original Giugiaro design...a car that I'm sure many of us owned/drove.

http://www.vw.co.za/models/citi/

[photogdave]

Pretty cool! I drive an 82 Vanagon Westfalia and they still make the Transporter equivalent in South Africa too. A lot of Vanagon drivers buy imported accessories from there like quad headlight grilles and bush bumpers.
I just wish they still made the Mk I Scirocco! My favourite car of all time!

[einolu]

that is awesome, love the contrasting modern interior. i want one!

[fdigital]

I actually hired and drove a brand new mk1 golf when I last went back to south africa (born there) with my father - was an absolute blast! we thrashed the crap out of that thing and it was suprisingly very fun to drive!

Also, I had to answer:

Film
and
Those little polystyrene/foam airplanes that you put together and fly... theres like 30 of them - all old and new planes, and they cost something like 50c each! I remember them from at least 14 years ago

[Brad Bireley]

I had one of the GTI's when they 1st came out. What a fast little car!

[John Noble]

I was thinking along these lines a while back when I realized how many "old" designs I had within reach:

Zippo lighter
Fisher Bullet Pen
Moleskine notebook
Western Electric Model 500 telephone (yes, you can still buy the same basic phone)
Classic black handle Buck knife (factory used to be 3 miles from where I'm sitting)
Hewlett-Packard HP-12C RPN financial calculator

The "newest" of these designs is the HP-12C, which has been in production for more than 25 years. The rest have all been made more or less the same way for more than forty years. Great designs never get old.

[sienarot]

That's neat! Sort of like how the original Beetle was still in production up until 2003 in many countries such as Mexico.

[dexdog]

The car in that post looks just like my old 1978 Rabbit. My first car.

Other cool stuff still being made has to include Stanley planes for woodworking. Some of the designs are more than 100 years old, and are still being produced. Same goes for the Record planes made in the UK.

[erikhaugsby]

I just want a 1988 Porsche 911.
Vroom Vroom :D

[Film dino]

Hope they've improved the braking!

[ibcrewin]

John, it's so funny you mention the HP12C.. I have one on my desk. My coworker has one that's about 10-15yrs old and it's pretty much the same.

Necco wafers, not only are they the same as they were 50yrs ago. They still have the same packaging!

[Paul T.]

Levi's 501. Invented around 1873, some of them (not enough) are still being made in the US. In fact, you can buy replicas of the first pair. Still state of the art.
Fender Telecaster, Invented 1951, still produced in the US. Still state of the art.

And two weeks ago I went to buy a brolly, with my son (and believe me, you need one right now), from james Smith on New Oxford St: http://www.james-smith.co.uk/

[SolaresLarrave]

Fountain pens... nothing glides over paper better. I confess to eschewing address labels on envelopes just to write my return address with any of my pens. My wife just doesn't get it... and shakes her head in disbelief. :rolleyes:

[micromontenegro]

My all time favorite camera, the Rolleiflex.

[erikhaugsby]

Okay,
how bout Perrier? Bubbly since 1903!
or Coca Cola?
Dr. Pepper anybody?

[thomasw_]

chuck taylors since 1946 which were remodelled from 1908;

moleskine notebooks;

raybans;

schwinn cruisers

[ferider]

V-twins (60, 90 and 180 degrees :) )

[FrankS]

Parts for my old BMW bikes.

[ywenz]

weapons of mass destruction

[shadowfox]

Swiss Army knife and watches?

[einolu]

a lot of casio watches can be bought new that probably havent changed in about 20 years.

[venchka]

Vinyl records. Turntables. Vacuum tubes & the chassiae to hold them. Leica thread mount lenses after all these years. Who'd a thunk it.

Almost still being made and sorely missed: Konica LTM & M mount lenses and Hexar RF and AF bodies.

A 1930 something zippo just sold for $38k, + or -.

Very important: Skilled craftsmen and artisans making boats, furniture, pottery, glass, photographs, etc. the old way. One at a time. By hand.

[KoNickon]

Parker Jotter ballpoint pens. Sunfish sailboats. Vespas.

[Brad Bireley]

bamboo fly rods!

[Jamie123]

Nike Air Force Ones

[Spider67]

I've heard about a guy who manufactures parts for Morris Minors somewhere in Bangladesh.

Pelikan fountain pens
strange that many of the cheap plastic toys I used as a kid (35 years ago) are still being made

[chris000]

Water and Air


Yes but are they "still being made" or just recycled?

[foto_fool]

Water and Air

Water - maybe. Net loss to space offset by excess combustion processes. Air - not.

Baskin-Robbins ice cream. Weekly treat for the kids, just like 45 years ago for me. Served up by sometimes-sullen teens today - not like the little old ladies way back when.

- John

[amateriat]

Well, for me, two items fall into categories.

Bikes:

- Steel frames with lugs, forks with crowns

- Down-tube shifters

- Non-clipless pedals, toeclips & straps


And:

Double-edge razors and blades.


As far as specific things, from specific companies go:

Lamy 2000 fountain pen: Yes, they've tweked it a bit here and there, but in essence it's the same pen they introduced in 1966, and stands out as a modern design that's stood the test of time, and remained in continuous production. While other companies have reintroduced certain "classic" designs, most of these have been adulterated in certain ways (a Parker "51" with just cartridge/converter refill?). The basics of the piston-fill-only 2000 have never been messed with.

Kodachrome 64: Enough said.

Sanford Sharpie: Essential for scribbling on film cassettes, among other stuff.

Domke bags: Yep, I'd be an unhappy camper if they stopped making them.

Hamilton Khaki Field Mechanical wristwatch: The company has gone through wrenching changes, and isn't quite the same Hamilton that existed up till 1969, and the movements aren't made in-house anymore (although the industry joke is that, since Hamilton's parent company, Swatch, also owns ETA, the major Swiss manufacturer of mechanical and quartz movements, Hamilton's movements are "in-house":rolleyes:), yet the current Hamilton does a better-than-credible job in offering good value for money, and honors its heritage without getting cheesy. The Field Mechanical, which is manual-wind, is a nice example of this. (Of course, if the Hamilton name does nothing for you, you could always buy IWC's version of the field watch, the Mark XV, at a price an order of magnitude higher than the Hamilton's, with a movement that's highly-finished and tweaked, but ain't "in-house" either.)

Filson bags: See: Kodachrome

McDermott pool cues: Well, I really like mine. Don't get to use it enough.

All the above are items you can buy brand-new, as opposed to battling the throngs on eBay and the like for relatively-intact specimens.

That's all that comes to mind right now. Which is just as well; just how long a list do you really want to read here?


- Barrett

[thomasw_]

bamboo fly rods!

good one, brad. btw i just caught a 7.5 lb rainbow on my old bamboo fly rod four days ago! nothing beats the casting action of the bamboo....

[Terao]

Had a Mk1 Golf GTI in Mars Red, absolutely stonking car. Pared down to the minimum, completely optimised for its purpose in life (primarily to corner on three wheels, make your g/f scream, and leave a huge grin on your face). Have a Mk2 now, that car is almost as good. Luxury in 795kgs, unbelievable. Both completely bulletproof.

Other cool stuff still made:

The Biro
The Omega Speedmaster "moonwatch". Three long years until I get mine
Old lens designs in new bodies (I'm looking at *you* Zeiss/Cosina :p)

[JimG]

Boston Whaler boats. The best.

[ChrisPlatt]

Had a '79 Rabbit, bought brand new. It never ran.
Worst car I ever owned. Never again...

Chris

[Michael I.]

leicas,rolleis,vynil albums,red meat,mature scotch,smoking women.

[dmr]

Coca Cola?

The Coke they sell now is not the cool stuff they should still be making. :(

Try the Coke that comes out of that fountain in the Coke exhibit in Atlanta. Not the same as what you buy on the street. :(

KforP Coke or some imports come close.

Dr. Pepper anybody?

Actually, I've kinda developed a taste for Diet Dr Pepper lately. Never really cared for DrP until a few months ago. No reason, actually.

I did find out that you can still get Boylans and Masons root beer if you order it via web.

Green River, anyone? :)

[wray]

Abba Zabbas

[JimG]

[QUOTE=dmr]The Coke they sell now is not the cool stuff they should still be making. :(

If you buy coke at a Mexican tienda 'Coka Mexicana' it still comes in those 16 oz real glass bottles It is imported from Mexico and it is the real thing.

[wray]

[QUOTE=dmr]The Coke they sell now is not the cool stuff they should still be making. :(

If you buy coke at a Mexican tienda 'Coka Mexicana' it still comes in those 16 oz real glass bottles It is imported from Mexico and it is the real thing.

Well, it used to be. The real Coke should be made with cane sugar which the Mexican stuff used to be. Last time I bought a Mexican coke it was made with high fructose corn syrup just like its American cousin.

[Mikael.N]

Royal Enfield Motorcycle 1950s model still made in India