For anyone who grew up riding in older cars, this small object may bring back an immediate memory. Long before vehicles had USB ports, touchscreens, and dozens of electronic accessories, dashboards contained simple mechanical features that drivers used every day. This little device was one of them, and younger generations may have rarely, if ever, encountered it.

The object is an old-fashioned car cigarette lighter. It fitted into a special socket in the dashboard. A driver or passenger pushed the lighter inward, where an electrical heating element at the end began getting extremely hot. After several seconds, the mechanism automatically released and the lighter popped outward, signaling that it was ready.

The circular metal coil visible on the end was the important part. Once heated, it became hot enough to light a cigarette simply by touching the cigarette to the glowing element. Because smoking was once far more commonly accommodated inside vehicles, manufacturers routinely installed these lighters along with ashtrays.

As technology and habits changed, the lighter itself gradually became less important. Interestingly, its electrical socket survived much longer. The familiar 12-volt car outlet was adapted to power everything from phone chargers and GPS units to portable air compressors and other accessories, even when no actual cigarette lighter was supplied with the vehicle.

So if you recognized this mysterious little object immediately, you were right: it is a push-in automobile cigarette lighter. Something that once seemed completely ordinary inside a car has now become a nostalgic object that can leave younger people wondering what it was ever supposed to do.