So yesterday you all got the pitchforks and torches out as your railed against the biggest automotive rip offs of all time. Today we’re taking things in a more positive direction and asking you to use your powers for good and not evil. We’re wondering what the best innovation by an American car company has been. There have been thousands, maybe tens of thousands over the years. From Henry Ford taking the concept of the assembly line and extrapolating it into sizes and scopes no one dreamed possible to Charles Kettering inventing the electric starter and seeing it debut on the 1912 Cadillac, the possibilities are nearly endless. You could argue that Pontiac’s creation of the muscle car in 1964 with the GTO is significant in the genre we’re all interested in (then the Chrysler guys will yell at you and tell you the 300C was first…but whatever). Or maybe that the introduction of a cheap V8 engine really did more to change the automotive landscape than nearly anything before it.
I’m sure Chrysler invented or innovated some stuff. While we can’t give them credit for coming up with the idea of a hemispherical combustion chamber we can sure give them credit for taking that concept and turning it into a marketing and performance juggernaut that still helps the company today (even without the actual hemispherical combustion chamber). American Motors? Was the Pacer an innovation? It sure was something. Hell, what about the mini-van? Oh yeah, this is a BEST innovation question. Scrap that last one.
BangShift Question Of The Day: What Is The Best Innovation Created By An American Car Company?
Who’s bitching with pitchforks & torches yesterday?
I’m with you Kenneth, that’s a thread that would have made for great comments……Brian, can you post up whatever thread that was?
Intermittent windshield wipers, invented by Robert Kearns in 1967.
Yep, and as I recall, he had to fight for his financial reward.
British lightweight chassis & aluminum body mated with a *reliable* high-HP engine.
Carroll Shelby’s 1962 AC Cobra
Early Cadillac history has some good ones. Electric Starter is probably the best known one. Apparently they are credited with the way the drivers controls are laid out in modern cars as well as the sychromesh transmission.
Link with some of the interesting things they did. Like to see a Bangshift article on each manufacture’s (Or persons) contributions to the auto industry.
https://www.gearpatrol.com/cars/a150925/history-of-cadillac-automotive-innovations/
I know it’s not thrilling but , catalytic converters , they are still used worldwide .
Chevrolet, the 1st fully automatic transmission offered in the Cadillac. 4 speed fluid drive using a coupler, not a torque converter
1957-1959 Ford skyliner, retractable hardtop. It worked successfully.
The production line by Ford, changed the world.