2006 F250 Lariat 6.0 diesel I purchased new (big mistake) off lot had power takeoff provision option and no trailer hitch. I asked the dealer manager why he ordered PTO for a luxury pickup when that is a fairly rare option used for bucket trucks, dump trucks, etc. He said that it provides extra power on takeoff and they get that on all their trucks. I thought he was joking, but sure enough all 20 or so trucks on the lot had the PTO option!
Calling all car "nerds": strangely optioned vehicles you've owned?
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3.0 Super Cab? The 4.10 gears are the most unusual part, but probably a good idea on a 3.0 4wd automatic, which was an uncommon configuration, and Ford may have defaulted to that in a 4wd auto 3.0 Super Cab. My 2wd 3.0 Super Cab has 3.73 gears. 3.27 and 3.55 are common on 4.0s. Usually 4.10 would be found in an FX4 Level II or something, but 3.0s need all the help they can get with an automatic and 4wd. Super Cabs got the larger drums by default. I think there are exceptions like cab/chassis models, but generally only 4.0s got the 8.8 rear end (all 4.0s have 8.8s).
While sometimes listed as an option, I've never seen a 90s or later automatic Ranger without an aux trans cooler...they certainly needed it. Oddly enough a lot of manuals have a power steering cooler, but I haven't seen it on automatics that I can remember, not sure what's up with that.
The XLT package didn't add a lot of content to start, mainly carpet, cloth seats (optional on XL), nicer interior door panels, and 4 speakers (optional on XL with cassette or CD), and until 2004 or so chrome bumpers and grille. After a while even the chrome was part of an additional appearance package. Ford was big on putting together regional preferred equipment packages on Rangers. Mine has a Southeast region package that added tilt/cruise/leather wrapped steering wheel, sliding rear window, rear tint, and chrome faced steel wheels. The dealer optioned it with the combo CD/cassette radio, but that was the only thing outside of the regional package. No power windows or locks.
I remember around 2007-8 going to a rural NC Ford dealership that was largely unchanged from the late 1950s. They had about five regular cab 4wd 3.0 XLTs, and pretty well optioned. Body color bumpers, fog lights, power windows/locks. I wanted the blue one so bad.
My 2008 Suburban was ordered as a 3/4 ton 4WD, and from there got an optional 3.73 limited slip differential, the required 6 speed auto with manual control, the heavier duty transfer case and 14 bolt rear end and the 6.0 LS engine that came with the 3/4 ton check mark. The 17 inch wheels it came with were an option at that time. It also came with the optional DVD player and ceiling mounted screen, trailer mirrors and trailer tow package. Not really weird but more like hard to find. 
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I wish I could remember more on that.
The 4 speed shifter was ½ inch steel bar with a huge knob. First gear was compound low. We usually started off in second gear.
82 Diesel Suburban 2wd 3.07 gears, Bench Seats Manual Transmission, OEM CB radio,
Lots of people hated air conditioning. Plus back in the day it was driven by a single A/C belt so it costs you hp. I remember driving a car around once where the a/c belt had shredded, the butt dyno said the car had an extra 5-10 hp or at least felt like it.
My dad bought a factory delivered 1967 Mercedes 200 D with the optional shoulder belts but no AC. It also had a chain that you pulled to roll a cover over the radiator so you didn't freeze to death in the winter. I don't know if that was an option or standard.
My 2005 Silverado air conditioning sucks way more power than my 84 Oldsmobile Cutlass, I assume because the air conditioning could probably keep your lunch refrigerated in the Silverado and it's barely adequate in the Cutlass.
Reminds me of the old S-10 pickup I had for a few years. The AC was so cold I needed to wear a jacket so i wouldn't freeze to death! It was like a rolling meat locker. That R-12 was good stuff! But yeah it was not a quick truck especially when the AC was on.
Just something else I thought might be worth adding to this...
After the 406 above I had a '02 Peugeot 406 Saloon. This 406 was equipped with a 90hp 2.0 common-rail turbodiesel engine. Now all the technical documents, emissions information, parts data etc for the Peugeot 406 show only the 2.2 HDi as having a DPF. But low and behold, one day driving I had a message on the MFD telling me to top up the PATS (Eolys) fluid. Low and behold, a look under the car there was a DPF, PATS fluid tank and everything else that goes with it. Nobody could ever answer that one.
82 F100 - 300 6cyl. No Radio. No power steering. No power brakes. 3 on the tree. Poverty hub caps. If I’m remembering correctly it had a 2.47 gear ratio. Wouldn’t pull a greasy string out of a cat’s arse. Felt like starting off in 2nd gear all the time. Did ok on the highway of course but that’s it. Smoked the clutch trying to help out my BIL by trailering his little cub tractor. Useless pickup truck. Sold it before 40k miles.
My own '63 Valiant Signet two-door hardtop was likely considered "nicely equipped" at the time with radio and heater, maybe whitewalls.
It sure seems odd a top-of-the-line [below the Signet convertible, deluxe bucket seats, sporty hardtop, ] would be so sparsely equipped: 170, three-speed on the column. Not sure if power steering or brakes were even available. I think it may have been specifically ordered in this manner though.
But it set the template for my car purchases for the past 40 years.
It sure seems odd a top-of-the-line [below the Signet convertible, deluxe bucket seats, sporty hardtop, ] would be so sparsely equipped: 170, three-speed on the column. Not sure if power steering or brakes were even available. I think it may have been specifically ordered in this manner though.
But it set the template for my car purchases for the past 40 years.
I did not own one, but this year a Toyota dealer I went to for parts had in stock a Tacoma extra cab with utility package delete option. I think the advertised price was 26,900 or something. Deletes the rear seat back, rear headrests, rear seatbelts, intermittent wipers, and a couple other differences. It’s $1715 off but really who wants only the bottom half of the rear seat?
I drove a 79 f150 with that engine and an automatic. I agree 100% it was the most gutless vehicle I've ever driven and made my 83 grand prix I had in highschool seem quick and it had a 231 Buick v6.
I drove another 79 with a 3 on the tree and it was significantly better than the automatic but still terrible. Met the guy who owns that truck today, the engine ended up with a ton of blowby and had to be swapped out. Didn't quite hold up to the reputation of those engines. The rest of the truck seemed to be in great shape still. Unsure of mileage but it was still being worked regularly (I saw it around full of brush the odd time).
My friend has the same truck with a 351w and it works great. He swapped in that after the 302 blew a piston one day, then he upgraded to an aod trans.
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I looked at a 1980 Cutlass Supreme several years ago in excellent shape. It had been purchased and spent all its life in northern Ohio. I was surprised to find it had non-tinted glass all the way around. Living in the South, I remember calling classified ads for 50's and 60's cars and specifically asking if they had tinted or non-tinted glass, but I would have thought that option was long gone by 1980.
I was the third owner of a Plymouth Duster that supposedly had been a dealer showroom model in Colorado Springs. It had the high-impact "In Violet" paint (that I called Plum Crazy for years until learning that Plymouth gave it a different name) and a floor shifter for the 3-speed manual.
Everything else was plain-Jane: Slant-six, rubber flooring, bench seat, manual steering and brakes. It did have 2-speed wipers, but the washer system, long gone when I got it, was activated by pumping a rubber bulb with your foot. When I got it, the paint looked really nice under the trunk lid and in the door jambs. It must have been jetted for altitude, because a little bigger carb jet gave it a lot more power on the highway near sea level.
I ordered my current daily driver, a 2001 Silverado, as sort of an oddball. It's a base model 2WD shortbox, 5.3, 3.42 gears for mileage, tow package for the trans cooler and the dream of occasionally towing a race car, locking rear, traction control, and power locks but not windows. Wouldn't you know it, I had to replace one of the window regulators and both have always been hard to roll up and down.
Everything else was plain-Jane: Slant-six, rubber flooring, bench seat, manual steering and brakes. It did have 2-speed wipers, but the washer system, long gone when I got it, was activated by pumping a rubber bulb with your foot. When I got it, the paint looked really nice under the trunk lid and in the door jambs. It must have been jetted for altitude, because a little bigger carb jet gave it a lot more power on the highway near sea level.
I ordered my current daily driver, a 2001 Silverado, as sort of an oddball. It's a base model 2WD shortbox, 5.3, 3.42 gears for mileage, tow package for the trans cooler and the dream of occasionally towing a race car, locking rear, traction control, and power locks but not windows. Wouldn't you know it, I had to replace one of the window regulators and both have always been hard to roll up and down.
Five different export market Ford Crown Victorias/Mercury Grand Marquis' optioned like a Crown Victoria Police Interceptor (heavy duty steering, alternator/battery, engine oil and ATF cooler, etc.) with factory H-pipes, but with factory catalytic converter/oxygen sensor delete, factory 40/20/40 front seats with rear AC and a speed warning chime.
I love oddly optioned cars. The oddest I remember was the first Chrysler we had in the family, I was really young but somehow being a car nerd I can remember all the odd options it had. 1983 Reliant 2 door base model, silver with 13" steel wheels. 2.2 auto, had A/C, am/fm, cruise/tilt and a half landau top. No rear defrost (we lived in the northeast). I remember my dad making fun of the cloth on the bench seat, the pattern looked like a lined sheet of paper but I remember it being super soft.
Someone hit the side of it and it was gone for a few weeks and we had a bunch of bizarre rentals, I think my dad went through 4 before settling on a Colt. I remember a Newport that was too big, and an LTD he dramatically claimed would stall every morning when he tried to merge onto the parkway
We were driving home from vacation in the middle of the night one summer and the voltage regulator went out. The battery light glowed the entire way home but we made it.
Someone hit the side of it and it was gone for a few weeks and we had a bunch of bizarre rentals, I think my dad went through 4 before settling on a Colt. I remember a Newport that was too big, and an LTD he dramatically claimed would stall every morning when he tried to merge onto the parkway
We were driving home from vacation in the middle of the night one summer and the voltage regulator went out. The battery light glowed the entire way home but we made it.
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I had a 280zx that did the same thing, the first time it said 'your door is open' actually not fully closed it freaked me outMy 1986 300ZX turbo would talk to you
