Red light on speedometer

high beam light?

No, no no.


Some vehicles, especially those sold to questionable drivers, such as youngsters with complicated driving records, large edits on their insurance, and who had Fathers which were on certain calming medication, were ordered with the optional equipment known as "firewall abatement."

This consisted of heavier, progressive springs on the throttle, special dealer adjustments on the throttle to prevent WFO operation, and the mentioned warning light in the dash. Also, special equipment was installed in a special lockbox in the trunk area. This box was analogous to the "black box" in an aircraft, except it also contained a special printer mechanism based on WWII surplus model 15 RTTY teleprinter parts. This device would print the appropriate speeding ticket if the red warning lamp stayed on for more than a few seconds, would actually post these tickets into envelopes.

Not many people know of this little known option, but fathers of the child sure did. At certain service operations, such as replacing broken transmissions, U joints, or axle parts, or at other maintenance such as oil changes, the mechanic would extract the printed material and drop it off to the mailbox.