Events in Automobile History
1903
Debut of the enclosed car and glass windshield.
1904
Steering wheels replaced tillers.
1908
The first rumble seat. It was part of a Packard two-seater
called the "Honeymoon car."
1909
Introduction of the compressed air self-starter. It never worked
well.
1912
The electric self-starter we use today was perfected by Charles F.
Kettering.
1914
Henry Ford started paying his employees a daily minimum wage of five
dollars. He thought that his employees should be able to afford the
cars they built.
1916
Something for women; cars would feature vanity cases, clocks, crystal
flower vases, telephones to "instruct" the driver and smelling salts.
1917
Car heaters started to appear on several models.
1920
The pneumatic tire was introduced allowing the new possibility of
flat tires.
1922
The Wills-St. Clair featured a back-up light.
1925
The first rental car: the Hertz "Drivurself."
1926
Shock-proof" glass on Stutz and Rickenbacher models.
1927
The year of the chrome trim.
1930
The first front-wheel drive cars offered to the public were the
Gardner, the Cord and the Auburn.
1931
Sun visors for the interior of the car became available.
1933
The billboards first announcing mileage appeared in displays due to
concern for fuel economy.
1937
Batteries were moved to a new position, under the hood, and the first
automatic transmission (as we know it) appeared on an Oldsmobile.
1938
Buick made turn signals available.
