A BRIEF HISTORY


There are many reasons why you may feel the urge to buy a specific car model. It could be that you simply cannot resist its electric blue colour. Or it may be that a big, sturdy vehicle for weekly countryside trips is right up your street. Whatever the motive, drivers tend to purchase cars that best suit their needs and personalities. It’s scientifically proven that dogs look like their owners. Could we say the same about cars and their drivers?


Indeed, tech-savvy people are likely to drive vehicles that are rich in modern, futuristic features. From inch-accurate sat nav systems to smartphone-connecting panels, cars con- ceal a wide range of surprising in-built features. However, this has not always been the case. In the past, certain com- forts were hard to come by.


How have cars evolved over the decades? Motorparks, own- ers of dealerships such as Ford Croydon, take a look at some of the most impressive in-vehicle features that have been introduced over the years.


1910s


The Ford Model T was one of the first cars to make it on the market. Launched back in the 1890s and sold from 1908, it was one of the earliest efforts to produce a vehicle that everyone could afford. Since its charming debut on the streets of Europe and the US, newer counterparts gradually started to exhibit more interesting features.


At the end of the 1910s, motoring manufacturers began to realise that building normal glass into cars was a hazard. In the event of a crash, it could break into dangerous shards. Therefore, in 1919, the first ‘safety glass’ was developed and introduced. By shattering into tiny pieces, it posed – and still does – a limited risk.


1920s


It is fair to say that, in their early days, cars were to be driven to the sound of their engine. Perhaps motivated by the swing and Charleston tunes of the ‘roaring twen- ties’, manufacturers started to test in-built car radios.


By the end of the 1920s and the start of the 1930s, people could drive while listening to music playing from their Motorola 5T71 car radio. Although quite expensive at the time, it was certainly a cool and unusual item to have.


76


THE MOST IMPRESSIVE AND INNOVATIVE IN-VEHICLE 1930s


Indicators are a fundamental com- ponent of most vehicles. While it is only natural to find them built in modern cars, indicators were not actually introduced until 1933.


Indeed, credit goes to Morris Motors. During the first half of the 1930s, the motor company equipped its vehicles with semaphore arm direction indica- tors. A semaphore arm would both illuminate and raise outwards to tell fellow drivers in which direction the car was going.


1940s


If you have a soft spot for fast vehi- cles and racing cars, you certainly would have loved the Jaguar XK120. Launched in 1948, Jaguar introduced the fastest produc- tion car on the market at the time.


Reaching a top speed of 120mph, it was a must-have for all adrenaline junkies in the 1940s.


1950s


The 1950s brought a large array of car innovations. In 1951, for instance, power steering was introduced. Two years later, the first air conditioning system appeared too. It soon became of the trademark features of the Chrysler Imperial and came with three different settings – low, medi- um, and high.


In 1958, cars started to benefit from cruise control, which made driving easier, steadier, and more comfort- able – especially on motorways. By the end of the decade, in 1959, Volvo presented the three-point seatbelt. To


FEBRUARY 2022


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90