Here's a question: does anyone still supply tool kits (not just tire changing stuff but tools like wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.) with new cars anymore? The last time I had a car that had an actual tool kit was an old 75 Toyota Corolla. The kit had one of those tubular spark plug sockets that you stuck the screwdriver through to turn. I used that a lot when the plug wells kept filling up with oil.
Seeing some threads where guys talked about motorcycle tools got me thinking. I haven't seen this sort of thing since the 80s.
Your post brought back memories...let me guess, you had the 2TC engine with the plugs lined up down the center of the valve cover, didn't you? There were 4 rubber seals that went over the plug towers before you bolted the valve cover on, and if they got old and hard the plug wells would fill with oil. We had two of those beasts, a 1971 and a 1974 and I remember buying those seals whenever I adjusted the valves.
As for onboard tools, here's a shot of the trunk mounted toolkit in our 2003 BMW 330ci. I fleshed out the blank slots with the Euro-supplied tools that BMW deleted on USA bound cars, I guess they deemed Americans too stupid to use them, but the tray is now properly full. On the extreme right is a bare slot for the wheel lock tool, it would always come out of the slot and rattle around so I wrapped it in foam and stuffed it into the end of the spark plug socket. No more rattles:
I know they used this toolkit up through 2005, but not sure if the E90 and later cars had them. That's when they took away the dipstick and the spare tire, so onboard tools became pretty superfluous by then.
I think the **** just copied a Chrysler Hemi and chopped it in half.