Drivers are recalling a ‘forgotten car button’ and figuring out ‘exactly’ when it ended

Reddit car enthusiasts have resurrected a forgotten car button that previously existed because of once-loose manufacturing regulations and vacant space.

The mentioning of this now-extinct feature, known as a floor high beam switch, triggered a discussion as to when vehicle manufacturers decided to ditch its use.

This Reddit forum’s original poster asked: “What’s the last car to have the high beam switch on the floor?”

Floor high beam switches became popular in the 1920s — when there were no regulations on where automakers had to put high beam activation features.

Car manufacturers often chose to install a high beam switch that a driver would press with their foot on the vehicle’s floor since the button was easy to install and cheap, according to Shooting Cars.

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The rise of automatic transmissions also created a vacant spot for car makers to install the switch where a clutch would typically go.

Floor-mounted high beam buttons began disappearing in the 1970s when front-wheel drive vehicles came into play — but some manufacturers continued using the feature, as discussed in this Reddit forum.

One Reddit user wrote: “Ford pickups had it at least until ’91.”

This Redditor’s answer also appears in a post in Car Talk, where a user similarly cited Ford pickups as the last vehicles to contain this light switch.

Another Redditor got more specific in their reply: “’92 was also when the [Ford] Econoline was redesigned and lost its floor dimmer.”

A third Reddit account reminisced: “I still miss my 57 Chevy pickup with the starter button on the floor. None of that poking around on the dash nonsense.”