They say that «they don’t make them like they used to», but put your nostalgia aside for a moment, and you’ll see why new tools are being released all the time.
From ancient times to the modern day, humans have worked together to build and achieve great things. Structures like the pyramids at Giza and the Roman aqueducts as well as machines like the trebuchet and the steam locomotive demonstrate human ingenuity, cooperation, and determination. But something required to make all of these things, beside people, are tools. Without tools, nothing gets built or manufactured, or at least not nearly as efficiently. Fortunately, tools of all varieties have been with us through the ages, changing to meet the demands of new generations and the things they create.
Just as buildings change as populations swell and technology introduces ever-changing machines and devices to enrich our lives, the tools we use to build and repair things change with time. Implements once used on a pre-industrialization farm would be inefficient if not foolish to use today, just as hand tools made for mending a stagecoach would be woefully inadequate for tuning the latest 700-horsepower 2025 M5 from BMW. It is just a fact of life that tools will change, and to demonstrate just how much change has taken place during the modern period, here are five tools largely made for use on automobiles that are now deemed to be outdated, and what replaced them.Air tools
If you have ever walked past an auto repair shop with its garage doors open, you have heard the familiar sound of air tools in use; probably that of an impact wrench. Particularly helpful when removing or installing wheels, air-powered impact guns produce an unmistakable noise that is loud enough to be heard from some distance. Regardless, these are the workhorses of any garage, and they significantly cut the time and effort required when using hand tools. And yes, they are still in use, but their end is already in sight.
In most shops, technicians own their tools and flat rate labor pay provides an incentive to buy tools to save time on every job. Air tools have traditionally been the best bet, but recent developments in battery and motor technology have put cordless tools in an attractive position as an alternative. Although they require charging periodically and air compressors can provide consistent power for hours on end, the lack of a hose to become entangled with is a big advantage. Furthermore, these advancements, especially from brushless motors, have also put the power available from cordless tools at least on par with air tools. For these reasons and more, air tools have lost their once dominant position in the tool box.Engine analyzer
Automobile engines have come a long way over the last 100-plus years. What is now precisely controlled digitally by microprocessors used to be a wholly analog affair. Creating the optimal environment to achieve peak efficiency had to be achieved by a technician measuring various components and performing adjustments to extract as much energy as possible from every ounce of fuel burned.
