1911 Electric starter introduced (Charles Kettering introduces the electric starter. Until this time engines had to be started by hand cranking. Critics believed no one could make an electric starter small enough to fit under a car’s hood yet powerful enough to start the engine. His starters first saw service in 1912 Cadillacs. 1913 First moving assembly line for automobiles developed (Ford Motor Company develops the first moving assembly line for automobiles. It brings the cars to the workers rather than having workers walk around factories gathering parts and tools and performing tasks. Under the Ford assembly line process, workers perform a single task rather than master whole portions of automobile assembly. The Highland Park, Michigan, plant produces 300,000 cars in 1914. Ford’s process allows it to drop the price of its Model T continually over the next 14 years, transforming cars from unaffordable luxuries into transportation for the masses. 1914 First car body made entirely of steel (Dodge introduces the first car body made entirely of steel, fabricated by the Budd Company. The Dodge touring car is made in Hamtramck, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. 1919 First single foot pedal to operate coupled four-wheel brakes (The Hispano-Suiza H6B, a French luxury car, demonstrates the first single foot pedal to operate coupled four-wheel brakes. Previously drivers had to apply a hand brake and a foot brake simultaneously.
1922 First American car with four-wheel hydraulic brakes (The Duesenberg, made in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the first American car with four-wheel hydraulic brakes, replacing ones that relied on the pressure of the driver’s foot alone. Hydraulic brakes use a master cylinder in a hydraulic system to keep pressure evenly applied to each wheel of the car as the driver presses on the brake pedal. 1922 First American car with four-wheel hydraulic brakes (The Duesenberg, made in Indianapolis, Indiana, is the first American car with four-wheel hydraulic brakes, replacing ones that relied on the pressure of the driver’s foot alone. Hydraulic brakes use a master cylinder in a hydraulic system to keep pressure evenly applied to each wheel of the car as the driver presses on the brake pedal.1926 First power steering system (Francis Wright Davis uses a Pierce-Arrow to introduce the first power steering system. It works by integrating the steering linkage with a hydraulics system.1931 First modern independent front suspension system (Mercedes-Benz introduces the first modern independent front suspension system, giving cars a smoother ride and better handling. By making each front wheel virtually independent of the other though attached to a single axle, independent front suspension minimizes the transfer of road shock from one wheel to the other.1934 First successful mass-produced front-wheel-drive car (The French automobile Citroën Traction Avant is the first successful mass-produced front-wheel-drive car. Citroën also pioneers the all-steel unitized body-frame structure (chassis and body are welded together). Audi in Germany and Cord in the United States offer front-wheel drive.
1935 Flashing turn signals introduced (A Delaware company uses a thermal interrupter switch to create flashing turn signals. Electricity flowing through a wire expands it, completing a circuit and allowing current to reach the lightbulb. This short-circuits the wire, which then shrinks and terminates contact with the bulb but is then ready for another cycle. Transistor circuits begin taking over the task of thermal interrupters in the 1960s. 1935 Flashing turn signals introduced (A Delaware company uses a thermal interrupter switch to create flashing turn signals. Electricity flowing through a wire expands it, completing a circuit and allowing current to reach the lightbulb. This short-circuits the wire, which then shrinks and terminates contact with the bulb but is then ready for another cycle. Transistor circuits begin taking over the task of thermal interrupters in the 1960s.1939 First air conditioning system added to automobiles (The Nash Motor Company adds the first air conditioning system to cars.1940 Jeep is designed (Karl Pabst designs the Jeep, workhorse of WWII. More than 360,000 are made for the Allied armed forces. ( (Oldsmobile introduces the first mass-produced, fully automatic transmission.1950s Cruise control is developed (Ralph Teeter, a blind man, senses by ear that cars on the Pennsylvania Turnpike travel at uneven speeds, which he believes leads to accidents. Through the 1940s he develops a cruise control mechanism that a driver can set to hold the car at a steady speed. Unpopular when generally introduced in the 1950s, cruise control is now standard on more than 70 percent of today’s automobiles.1960s Efforts begin to reduce harmful emissions (Automakers begin efforts to reduce harmful emissions, starting with the introduction of positive crankcase ventilation in 1963. PCV valves route gases back to the cylinders for further combustion. With the introduction of catalytic converters in the 1970s, hydrocarbon emissions are reduced 95 percent by the end of the century compared to emissions in 1967.
1966 Electronic fuel injection system developed (An electronic fuel injection system is developed in Britain. Fuel injection delivers carefully controlled fuel and air to the cylinders to keep a car’s engine running at its most efficient. 1966 Electronic fuel injection system developed (An electronic fuel injection system is developed in Britain. Fuel injection delivers carefully controlled fuel and air to the cylinders to keep a car’s engine running at its most efficient.
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