Pay-no-mind appliances? That's modern cars for you.
Motor Trend|October 2021
The Big Picture
Angus MacKenzie
Pay-no-mind appliances? That's modern cars for you.

The check engine light. It’s one of those weird cultural artifacts, like the all-seeing eye on a dollar bill. I mean, look at it: a glowing outline of what looks like a 1960s Chevy small-block, complete with a radiator fan sticking out from the water pump drive and a pancake air cleaner over a downdraft carburetor. There hasn’t been a new car sold in America with a carburetor for about 30 years now. And other than at a classic car show, I can’t recall the last time I looked under a hood and saw a radiator fan physically connected to the engine.

Most people never give the eye on the dollar bill a second thought. Same with the check engine light, it seems.

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