-
Karl Benz invented the first car.
Karl Benz, the German mechanical engineer who designed and in 1885 built the world's first practical automobile, and Henry Ford, who improved the assembly line for automobile manufacturing and invented a car transmission mechanism, and others. -
Louis Renault invented the driveshaft.
In 1898, Louis Renault invented the first driveshaft. -
Frederick Lancheser patented disc brakes.
In 1901, British inventor Frederick William Lanchester patented disc brakes. -
Bendix patented brakes.
In 1910, Vincent Bendix patented the Bendix drive for electric starters, an improvement to the hand cranked starters of the time. -
Francis W. Davis invented power steering.
Francis W. Davis invented power steering. In the 1920s, Davis was the chief engineer of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, and he saw first hand how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. Davis quit his job and rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, MA. He developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering. Power steering became commercially available by 1951. -
Manufacturing Corporations invented the radio.
In 1929, American Paul Galvin, the head of Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, invented the first car radio. The first car radios were not available from carmakers. Consumers had to purchase the radios separately. Galvin coined the name "Motorola" for the company's new products combining the idea of motion and radio. -
Ralph Teetor invented cruise control.
Ralph Teetor, a prolific (and blind) inventor, invented cruise control.
