History Of Car Technology

The First Car

To our best knowledge, the first car began as a toy built for the Chinese Empire by Ferdinand Verbiest. All the first cars were steam powered, even the first passenger capable car invented in the late 1800s. These cars remained only fashionable and not commonly owned for quite some time. During this time many parts were re-invented to perform better. From there public transportation was established in some places, but was scrutinized for safety and caused the Locomotive Act in 1865, requiring these vehicles be proceeded by a man with a red flag and blaring a horn.

Car Ignition System Parts

The first car ignition system seems to be one of the only hole-in-ones in car making history. The first patented design in 1883 by Siegfried Marcus was that of the magneto type, the same design used today!

The Hybrid Car

Although the efforts of the first hybrid car designers were side swiped by the success and efficiency of gas powered vehicles with consumers, the history behind the first hybrid cars is thick from year 1665 to 2000 when Toyota released the Prius, the most popular model to date. The actual first hybrid model to hit America’s mass market was a Honda in 1999. Side swiped again!

The Studebaker Brothers

The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company was ambitious to attempt to transition from wagons to automobiles like the rest of America and were successful for 50 years (from 1912-1962). They established a great reputation and were well versed in collaborating with other companies, partnering with several in it’s lifetime. It’s last partnership was with Packard, a luxury car manufacturer. They were dropped from partnership due to their impending financial doom. The Studebaker vehicle was produced in 1966, under their original ‘Studebaker Corporation’.

Vehicle Awards

It’s important to maintain these competitions and awards each year to understand where we are headed with them in the future. It’s certain they are not going away! Of Forbes’ car technology predictions, some of the most foreseeable concepts are active window displays (glass capable of displaying images) and active health monitoring (seat belts and steering wheels capable of taking your vitals).