When you could still travel "carefree" thanks to Bosch
07/09/2013
Just in time for the summer vacations of 1963, Bosch placed an advertisement in ADAC Motorwelt 7/1963 to recommend the "travel set" to motorists. "You always have to reckon with the object's little pitfalls. Such unforeseen faults usually occur at an inopportune moment - off the main roads, at night, abroad, far away from the nearest garage. The practical multi-page BOSCH travel kit now offers you peace of mind. It contains everything you need to fix 'minor accidental breakdowns': 1 Bilux bulb for high and low beam - 1 bulb for the indicators - 1 set of breaker contacts - 5 fuses and 2 spark plugs ..."
This "travel insurance" cost DM 14.90 for the Volkswagen Beetle, DM 15.75 for the Opel models and DM 15.90 or DM 16.10 for Ford vehicles, depending on the model. Other vehicles were not even included in the advertising, but Bosch probably also addressed the majority of the vehicle fleet at the time in this way.
Those days are over for two reasons. Firstly, cars today are becoming less and less prone to breakdowns. The magazine Auto Motor und Sport recently drove 100,000 km in a Toyota Auris without a single unscheduled visit to the garage. Not a single breakdown during this long distance, which was of course completely different 50 years ago. However, if a part breaks down today, and here we come to the second reason, a spare parts store worth a few euros/CHF is certainly not enough. Replacing a xenon light unit alone can quickly run into four-figure sums. And in most cases, you can't even diagnose the fault correctly yourself, as you need test equipment or even a link to the factory via a computer connection. What's more, even replacing a bulb in today's aerodynamically shaped vehicles is something for specialists ...
