Detroit meets the Old West

Ever wonder why the front part of your car's interior is called a "Dashboard"?
It isn't a board and you don't dash around on it, so where'd that term come from? Well it is actually a westernism from the earlier days of transportation.
When a coach or wagon is pulled by a horse, or team of horses they tend to throw dirt up behind them which basically tosses it right into the face of the driver, especially when dashing around at at faster clips. The old timers often referred to these chunks of dirt as dash. The solution was to nail a long board or two in front of the coach at an angle upward to prevent the dirt or dash from flying up from the hooves into the driver. Thus the dashboard was invented. When the car was invented the term just carried over from the old buckboard and stagecoach days.

Ever gone to tailgate party. Ever been trailgated in traffic? Ever wonder why it's not called tail trunking or a hatch party? Once again we return to the days of yesteryear when the chuck wagon would stop and prepare dinner and coffee for the cowboys on the drive. (Trail drive= drive a car). The old chuck wagon had a gate on the back that the cook would lower so he could have flat area to serve off of. At night the cowboys would gather around the gate at the tail of the chuck wagon and drink coffee. Thus the tail gate party was born. Now we have tailgate parties to watch the Dallas Cowboys or the Chiefs or the Indians play. Seems like the older we get the more things stay the same.

Ever drop a friend off somewhere from your car. He didn't really drop did he? So why not say "let out" or "Push out?" Why "Drop Off? Once again we return to our stagecoach days. Back then, given the limited space inside most coaches, the poorer passengers often sat on top of the coach
or rode alongside the driver. When ever the coach came to a steep incline the passengers would have to "Drop Off" the top of the coach to lighten the load and would often help push the coach up the incline.

Finally once just has to watch the other vehicles on the rode to see the western influence on Detroit. The freeway is now filled with Mustangs, Cougars, Broncos, Cherokees, Trailblazers, Pintos, and Wranglers. Get the idea?