The first capacitor discharge ignition system was the Holley-Huff Magneto installed on the Ford Model K in 1906. An engine driven, direct current generator charged a capacitor that was discharged through the ignition coil's primary winding thereby increasing the top speed of the six cylinder cars by about ten miles an hour.
The Robert Bosch company pioneered the first electronic capacitor discharge (CD) ignitions and the high-voltage magneto during the second world war.
Léon Bollée built his first automobile, a three-wheel tandem driven by a single-cylinder 3 hp engine, in Le Mans, in 1895. The law, restricting motor vehicles to 4 mph on British roads, was repealed in 1896 and a celebratory 'race' was organized from London to Brighton. The first and second place automobiles were Bollée cars. Bollée's next vehicle was a four-wheel car with independent suspension in 1899. Other developments included leaf springs on the suspension, four-wheel brakes and all steel bodywork. His transmissions and throttle controls were widely copied.
Safety glass was patented by John Wood in England in 1905 although it did not become standard equipment until 1926 (on a Rickenbacker).
In 1903, Jacobus Spijker built the first four-wheel drive racing car. It featured a 60 hp, six cylinder engine and the first four-wheel braking system. Four wheel drive was not used on a civilian production car until the 1965 Jensen FF.
In 1903, more than 30,000 cars were produced in France, representing nearly 50% of world automobile production that year.
By 1906, steam cars were among the fastest road vehicles. That year the Stanley Steamer Rocket race car set the world land speed record at 127.7 miles per hour (205.5 km/h) and Alabama set the state maximum speed limit at 8 miles an hour.
The first Japanese car company was formed in 1907 Japan. It was renamed in 1951 as Daihatsu.
The first automobile race around the world occurred in 1908. German, French, Italian and American teams started in New York City on the 12 February 1908 with three of the competitors ultimately reaching Paris. The Thomas Flyer, built in the USA, with George Schuster driving, covered 22,000 miles in 169 days to win the race.
In 1909, Rambler became the first car company to equip its cars with a spare tire mounted on a fifth wheel.
The heyday of the high-wheel motor buggy, between 1907 and 1912 in the United States, ended when Ford started using an assembly line. By 1913, Ford was producing 146 Model T cars per hour. These used planetary gear transmissions with a pedal-based control system. Between 1908 and 1927, Ford sold over 4 million Model T's.
In 1912, in the United States, Hupp, and in Britain, BSA, pioneered the use of all-steel bodies, followed in 1914 by Dodge who made Model T bodies for Ford.
The production of Toyota automobiles started in 1933 under Kiichiro Toyoda. Its first vehicles were the A1 passenger car and the G1 truck in 1935.
Between 1900 and 1907, in London, England, Walter Gordon Wilson built several car models with engines up to 4 L (4000 cc) displacement. Notably they used two epicyclic (planetary) gear trains to provide four forward gears. The planetary gears were in constant mesh and moving the gear change lever mechanically locked or freed the outer ring of each epicyclic gear with an internal brake/clutch. The vehicle also had a foot pedal operated cone clutch that could be latched in position to keep the engine running when starting or stopping. Like later automatic transmissions helical gears were used to reduce noise, and were sealed inside an oil-filled gearbox.
Planetary gear transmissions were used on Ford's Model T of 1908. It featured a two speed plus reverse transmission with straight cut gears controlled by foot pedals to select the desired gear.
In 1919, hydraulic brakes were invented by Malcolm Loughead (co-founder of Lockheed). Invented early in the 20th century, the fluid coupling solved the problem of how to avoid stalling the engine when the vehicle was stopped with the transmission in gear. This was incorporated into an automatic gearbox to make General Motors Hydra-Matic of 1939, the world's first mass-produced automatic transmission.
Shatter resistant glass was invented in1903 by French chemist Edouard Benedictus after he accidentally dropped a glass flask filled with a dried collodion film. He found that the glass coated with the film cracked, but kept its original shape. However, laminated glass would not be used automobiles until the 1920s.
In 1962, Wisconsin was the first state to pass a seat belt law, requiring all automobiles to be fitted with seat belts.
In 1974, air bags became a new car safety option.
In 1984, New York state became the first state to make the use of seat belts mandatory.
The satellite based Global Positioning System (GPS) was introduced in 1995.
In 1996, zero-emission electric vehicles came back to auto showrooms. (The first electric vehicles had been designed in the early 1800s). The first Toyota Prius hybrid was sold in Japan in 1997.
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Combustion
Non-FictionN.Otto was selling 634, 3 hp piston engines a year by 1875 and, between 1908 and 1927, Ford sold over 4 million Model T automobiles. In 1903 the Wright Brother's engine produced 1 horsepower for each 17 pounds of engine weight. In 1943, the Rolls...
