History of Motor Car / Automobile Inventions and Improvements
6.1 Brakes
6.1.1 Four Wheel Brake System
- In 1903 four-wheel brakes were fitted to the Dutch Spiker 60/80 HP model.
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The Scottish car company Arrol-Johnston fitted four-wheel brakes to the 15.9 hp model they produced in late 1909/early 1910. In 1911 the company no longer fitted four wheel brakes to their models.
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In 1910 Giustino Cattaneo of the Italian Isotta Fraschini Company designed a four wheel brake system. A patent was granted in February of that year.
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A year later the system was fitted to the new Isotta Franschini Tipo KM4 production model. 50 of these cars were built between 1911 and 1914.
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The car was fitted with internal-expanding front-wheel brakes and the rear wheels were retarded by two water-cooled contracting transmission brakes. Coolant was supplied to the inside of the drums from a pressurized tank.
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A pedal operated the rear wheel brakes, with a hand lever actuating via a cable the brakes on the front wheels.
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Mechanical brake systems typically consisted of up to 50 joints, 20 bearings and 200 mechanical parts.
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At the January 1923 New York Automobile Show only two manufacturers, Duesenburg (hydraulic brakes) and Rickenbacker (mechanical brakes) offered cars with four-wheel brakes.
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A year later the number had increased to 26 of the 72 manufacturers present; offering four-wheel brakes as standard fit or as an option.
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A report published in 1929 stated: “70% of British, US and Continental cars in Britain in 1924 were rear-braked only. By 1929 that figure had reduced to 1%”.
6.1.2 Hydraulic Brakes
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Malcolm Lougheed (American) designed a hydraulic braking system for cars, receiving 7 patents for his idea between Dec 1917 and July 1923.
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Cylinders and tubes were used to transmit fluid pressure against brake shoes that were then pressed against the outside of a brake drum.
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Note: In 1926 Malcolm legally changed his name from the old Scottish spelling of Loughead to Lockheed.
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In 1921 Lougheed’s hydraulic brake system was fitted to all four wheels of a Model A Duesenberg car. The system was however beset with leakage problems.
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Lougheed used rawhide cup seals to prevent hydraulic fluid leakage when the brakes were applied but these seals quickly dried out and shrank under heavy brake usage.
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Engineers of the Maxwell Motor Corporation (of which Walter P Chrysler was chairman) produced seals in the form of rubber cups that solved the problem.
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For $75 the improved Lougheed four-wheel hydraulic brakes were offered as an optional extra on Maxwell-Chalmers car from October 1923.
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In 1924 the American Chrysler Six Phaeton B-70 and the British Triumph 13/35 models were the next two production cars to be equipped with the improved, four-wheel, Lougheed hydraulic brakes.
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The 1926 Adler Standard model was the first German car to be fitted with (ATE-Lougheed) hydraulic brakes.
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In 1926, Stutz used a system called Hydrostatic Brakes; using water instead of hydraulic fluid. “Each wheel used one bladder and six brake pads”.
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The brakes hydrostatic system leaving the factory filled with a 50/50 solution of alcohol and water to prevent freezing.
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The system was only used for one year. In 1927 Stutz switched to Lougheed hydraulic brakes, the company producing kits to convert the 1926 models.
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By 1931 various US manufacturer’s, including Chrysler, Dodge, Desoto, Dodge, Franklin, Graham, Plymouth, Reo and Graham produced cars with hydraulic brakes.
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During the 1930s hydraulic braking systems became standard fit on most cars.
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In 1931 Lincoln introduced the Model K which was fitted with cable-operated Bendix Duo-Servo brakes.
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Two years later, in 1933, the Lincoln KB model featured four-wheel vacuum servo-assisted mechanical drum brakes.
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Other early models to use servo assisted hydraulic brakes include; in 1934 the Hispano-Suiza T6ORL, Chrysler Airflow, Mercedes 500K and LaSalle Series 50, and in 1936 the Cadillac Twelve and the Hotchkiss 486 (the latter for one year only before returning to mechanical brakes).
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In 1967 it became a requirement that all cars sold in the USA had to have two separate hydraulic circuits.
6.1.3 Power Assisted Brakes
- Power assisted brakes were first employed in 1903 when air brakes were fitted to a car called the Tincher that was developed by Thomas L Tincher (American).
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The pressure required to apply the foot operated four wheel drum brakes on the 1919 Hispano-Suiza H6 model was enhanced by a mechanical servo system that was driven by a special shaft from the transmission.
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On 19 October 1920 John Godfrey Thomas (British) submitted and on 9 January 1923 was granted US patent #1,441,545 for an invention which “enables the brake to be applied or the clutch to be engaged by power”.
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“A convenient source of (vacuum) power for the purpose is the suction pipe of the internal combustion engine”.
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On 2 February 1926 the patent was assigned to the General Motor Corporation.
- In 1928 a vacuum power booster braking system designed by Bragg-Kliesrath (USA) was fitted to a Pierce-Arrow car. What model? The Series 33?
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Sometime between 1927 and 1929 a Westinghouse designed vacuum booster brake system is reported to have been installed on the American Chandler cars; “Tripling the force applied to the wheels”. Confirmation required.
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There is a report that the Belgian 1928 Minerva model employed a DeWander designed vacuum booster. Confirmation required.
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A 1928 advert for the British Bean car stated: A sport model, the 14/70, was also available featuring a Dewandre brake servo. It also now had four-wheel brakes.
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In 1985 some cars produced by General Motors use an electrically driven brake booster. Which models?
6.1.4 Disc Brakes
- In 1949 Crosley Motors became the first American manufacturer to fit disc brakes.
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They were fitted to Crosley’s Hotshot model but discontinued the following year.
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Between 1949 and 1953 Chrysler fitted a type of disc brake to their fourth generation Imperial models.
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Disc brakes were further developed by Dunlop in Great Britain in the early 1950s and fitted to a Jaguar C-Type racing car in 1953.
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In 1954 an Austin Healey 100S became the first British production car to be fitted with disc brakes on all four wheels.
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Powered inboard front disc brakes were fitted to the 1955 Citroen DS model.
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In 1956
the front brakes on the Triumph TR3 model were changed from drum to disc.
- During the 1960s numerous manufacturers around the world started to replace drum brakes with disc brakes. Some of the first companies to do so in the 1960s were:
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1960 (Italy): The Lancia Flaminia model changed from drum to four-wheel disc brakes after the first 500 cars had been built.
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1961 (Germany): The Mercedes-Benz 220Se model was the first German production car with disc brakes.
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1962 (France): The Renault R8 model was supplied with four-wheel disc brakes,
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1963 (USA): Bendix produced caliper-type disc brakes supplied as standard fit on Studebaker Advant model and as optional extras on their Hawk and V8 Lark models.
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1965 (Japan): Nissan fitted disc brakes to their Datsun Silva model.
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1966 (Sweden): The Volvo 144 was supplied with four wheel disc brakes.
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1967 (Japan): The Toyota 2000GT was the first Japanese car fitted with four-wheel disc brakes.
6.1.5 Self Adjusting Brakes
- In 1925 Cole and Jowett models are believed to be the first cars to be equipped with self-adjusting brakes. For how many years did Cole & Jowett use these self-adjusting brakes? How successful were they?
- The self-adjusting disc brakes were supplied as standard fit on the Series 890 Cole model.
- Jewett’s self-adjusting brakes were fitted to all four wheels “at extra cost to the owner” on their Touring, Brougham, and Sedan models.
- For their 1947 model Studebaker replaced Lockheed brakes with ones produced by the Wagner Electric Co. which had a self adjusting feature.
6.1.6 Anti-Lock Braking (ABS)
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In 1936 Bosch filed a patent application in Germany for an “Apparatus for preventing lock-braking of the wheels of a motor vehicle”. Was a system installed and tested in a vehicle?
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ABS is derived from the German “Antiblockiersystem”, the name given to it by its inventors at Bosch.
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In 1978 Bosch introduced an electronic 4-wheel multi-channel ABS system. What ABS work took place at Bosch between 1936 & 1978?
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It was initially installed in the Mercedes-Benz S-Class model and shortly after in the BMW 7-Series.
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In 1952 the British Road Research Laboratory (RRL) adapted an aircraft anti-skidding devise called Maxaret and carried out trials using a 1950 Morris 6 car fitted with drum brakes.
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By 1958 RRL and Dunlop had developed a practical mechanical anti-lock braking system for a car and tested it on a Jaguar Mark VII fitted with disc brakes.
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It wasn’t until 1966 that the system was first fitted to a production model four-wheel drive Jensen FF sports sedan car.
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Ford offered an anti-skid system as an option on the 1954 Lincoln Continental Mk ll. It weighed and cost too much and was soon withdrawn.
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In April 1968 Ford introduced “Sure Trak”, an analogue anti lock brake system it developed jointly with Kelsey-Haynes. It operated only on the rear wheels.
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It was initially offered as an option on the Thunderbird and Lincoln Continental Mark III, becoming standard fit on the Mark III in 1970.
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The 1964 Austin 1800 model was fitted with a limited form of ABS, utilizing a valve which could adjust front to rear brake force distribution when a wheel locked.
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Chrysler fitted their new four-wheel “Sure Brake” ABS system into some of their 1966 models but it “did not perform up to expectations”.
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Chrysler entered into a joint venture with Bendix and developed a computerized, three-channel, four-sensor all-wheel ABS version of "Sure Brake".
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It was fitted to Chrysler’s 1971 Imperial model. The system functioned on demand when the car was travelling over 5 mph.
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In the same year Nissan offered a Kelsey Hayes Electro Anti-lock (EAL) system as an option on its President model.
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In 1984 Tevis in Germany commenced production of their new generation, microprocessor controlled, Mark II ABS System.
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It was initially fitted to the Lincoln Mark VII and in Europe to the Ford Scorpio.
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During the 1980s it was also fitted to the Pontiac 6000, Ford’s 89 Thunderbird Super Coupe and Buick’s 1988 Riviera and Reatta models.
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It was also installed in various SAAB, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Alfa-Romero, Buick, Ford and Porsche models.
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In 1998 Tevis became part of Continental AG of Germany.
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Features added over the years to the Tevis ABS system include a Traction Control System, an Electronic Stability Program and in 1999 a Sidewall Torsion Sensor system that was designed and developed by Continental AG.
6.1.7 Brake Energy Conversion
- Car brakes are based on the conversion of kinetic (motion) energy into other forms of energy, usually heat. Other, more recent methods include:
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Regenerative braking which converts much of the braking energy into stored electrical energy.
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Hybrid and electric vehicles using this technique to extend the range of the battery pack include the Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and the Chevrolet Volt.
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Another method converts the kinetic energy into potential energy; stored as pressurised air or pressurised oil.
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Another method transfers the braking energy to a rotating flywheel.
6.2 Car Radio
6.2.1 Before 1930
- In England in 1901 Guglielmo Marconi fitted a radio to a Thornycroft steam powered vehicle. The radio only received data, not sound.
- The tall roof mounted cylindrical aerial was lowered to a horizontal position before the vehicle moved.
- The first radios used in cars were battery operated domestic sets that were usually placed on the car’s back seat and typically used at picnic spots, etc.
- Later, more ruggedized versions started to appear which were built in weatherproof steel boxes that were mounted under the car or on the running board.
- As radios became smaller and car interior space became bigger, radios were mounted inside the car, often on the floor or bulkhead.
- Cables reached up to a small control panel on the steering column or dashboard.
- Note: This arrangement lasted with some cars into the 1950's. Complete single unit radios mounted inside the dashboard appeared in the late 1940's.
- The Westinghouse Company in the USA is reported to have produced their first “adapted portable battery radio” for use in automobiles in 1919. Additional information on this report is required.
- In early 1922 George Frost of the Lane High School radio club in Chicago, USA, installed a modified battery operated portable radio into a Model T Ford.
- A high impedance cone loudspeaker was fitted into the car’s passenger door.
- Note: The early loudspeakers were either ordinary horn or cone speakers. Sometimes sets were just equipped with headphones.
- In England a Marconi eight-valve receiver was fitted into the rear compartment of a Daimler Light 30 car in November 1922.
- A large frame aerial was installed on car’s roof.
- In addition to frame aerials, early car aerials came in differing forms; wire sewn into the roofing fabric, chicken wire concealed under the roof lining of closed cars, a length of wire threaded criss-cross fashion under the car, etc.
- Some very early installations used a wire stretched between two posts on opposite corners of the car.
- During the early 1920s a few motorists in England also fitted a Marconi V2A (cabinet radio) to the car’s running boards.
- In the US in 1922 it was possible to purchase a Chevrolet Sedan car fitted with a Westinghouse “two-step amplifying radio receiving set”.
- The radio was priced at $200.
- There is a report that in 1923 the first factory installed “Regular Production Option” car radio was carried out by the US Springfield Body Corporation.
- Additional information on this report is required.
- For a short period during 1923-4 Daimler in UK supplied a radio with some of their cars.
- The cost of installing the radio increased the car’s sale prices by about 25% and consequently the option was soon withdrawn.
- In Australia the first car radio was fitted in 1924 by Kellys Motors in New South Wales. The aerial was attached to the waterproof hood.
- The radio was fitted to a “Summit” car that had been designed by W T Kelly and assembled from American components. What type of radio?
- In 1925 William Heina of the US Heinaphone Company was granted a patent for a radio designed for use in a car. What is the US patent number?
- Another report states that “W.M. Heina applied for and received patent for the installation of radios in cars through his firm Heinaphone which also manufactured car radios”. Did the patent cover the design or just the installation of radios into cars? Patent information required.
- In the USA in 1927 C. Russel Feldman formed the Automobile Radio Corporation (ARC) to produce Transitone radios for installation in automobiles.
- The early Transitone models had two-dial tuning and were priced at over $150. Was it called the “Transitone TH-1”?
- In 1927 the Automobile Radio Corporation acquired the Heinaphone Company. To acquire the rights to William Heina’s 1925 patent? Were the first Transitone radios based on this patent?
- By July 1929 the Chicago Police in the USA were using a specially installed radio to receive messages via local radio stations.
www.radiomuseum.org/forumdata/users/1146/Police_1929.pdf
- The radio was a Sparks-Withington Co. model AR-50. It operated on the medium wave band.
- A radio designed by two Harvard professors was installed in the dash board of 1929 Packard 645 Convertible Coupe during the automobile’s manufacture.
- It wasn’t until 1927, with the invention of a method of suppressing ignition noise by Elmer Wavering in the USA, that a car radio could be listened to when the vehicle’s engine was running.
- Up to then the driver had to stop and turn off the engine before listening to the radio.
- Note: Another problem was the low audio power output of the early radios (typically less than half a watt) which was insufficient to overcome road and engine noise.
6.2.2 Austria
- In Austria Friedrich Horny’s company produced a car radio in 1934. Additional information required. Was it the first Austrian car radio?
6.2.3 Australia
- The first radio broadcast in Australia took place on 23 November 1923.
- The first car radio was fitted to an Australian car in 1924.
- Australian radios operated on the Medium Wave band of 550-1600Kc/s.
- Official FM services started in Australia in 1974, although experimental FM broadcasts took place from 1947 to 1961. When was the first car fitted with an FM radio?
- The three prominent car radio producers in Australia were Astor, AWA, and Ferris.
- Astor Company
- The Astor Company started making car radios in the mid 1930's.
- The company was formed in the 1920s and was originally part of the Radio Corporation of Australia, before finally being absorbed by Philips (Australia) in the late 1960's.
http://www.milesago.com/Industry/astor.htm
- In the 1950s the company was chosen to supply radios for Holden cars made by General Motors in Melbourne.
- Astor fitted its 'Diamond Dot' and 'Air Chief' car radio models to Holden cars.
http://thebakeliteradio.com/page7/page98/page98.html
- In the late 1950s the company supplied the “Vanguard set” for the Standard Vanguard car.
- The Vanguard model was a hybrid set using transistors for the audio stages and valves for the other parts of the radio.
- In the early 1960s Astor was, along with AWA, the largest producers of car radios in Australia.
- In addition to Holden the company also made radios sets for other types of cars, including Ford, Chrysler and Buick. The radios were essentially all the same, but with different dial mechanisms for different cars.
- When did Astor cease producing car radios?
- AWA
- In 1913 Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company and the Australian Wireless Company merged to form Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd (AWA).
- When did AWA start producing car radios?
- An advert for an AWA car radio in the Sydney Morning Herald of 7 July 1953 included the following information:
6 High Gain Valves, Automatic Volume Control. Universal model £45.15.0, Special models £47.16.6. Installation charge of £2.0.0.
- This advertised radio was made with different faceplates/dials from about 1953 to 1965, with some minor changes in circuitry over that period.
- It was a popular design that was fitted to many makes of car, but particularly VW.
- In the 1950s Holden cars produced in Sydney were fitted with AWA radios. Note: Holden cars produced in Melbourne were fitted with Astor radios.
- The last all valve vibrator car radio set produced in Australia was built by AWA in 1965.
- In the mid 1960s AWA produced the PF 11B-6V all-transistor car radio. Two models were available; a "standard" model with a single-ended audio output and an up-market unit with a push-pull audio output stage.
- AWA produced over nine different radios models which Ford in Australia installed in their Falcon cars. Between what years?
- These car radios were mainly fully transistorised from the Falcon XM-XP era but the older radios fitted to the Falcon XK and the XL models were valve/transistor hybrids.
http://www.stormloader.com/falconccwa/radiohint.htm
Circuit diagram for the Ford, 5-Star Push Button Radio that was used on the 1960-66 Ford Falcon models.
- AWA ceased operating in the late 1980s. Did it cease in 1988?
- Ferris
- In 1936 Chum Ferris registered a company called Ferris Bros. Pty. Ltd. and started to produce experimental car radio sets.
- At the start of 1938 the Sydney based company produced its first car radio; the Ferris Fultone model 56.
- Ferris produced their first portable car radio; the 74 model in 1947. It contained 6 indirectly heated valves.
- It was designed to be removable from the car so it could also be used in the home. It operated on 6 or 12 VDC or 240VAC.
- A 1949 advert for the 74 model included the following: “Australia’s First Portable Car Radio (FERRIS). Especially useful for the family man, country people and commercial travellers”.
- Between 1947 and 1954 eight major portable car radio models were produced, including the 83 model (1949) and the 94 model (1950).
- The first fully transistorised car radio, the 134 model, was produced in 1959.
- Another innovation introduced by the 134 model was its ability to slip into a cradle mounted under a vehicle dashboard.
- The 134 model is also believed to be first all-transistor portable car radio operating from its own dry battery and/or a car battery.
- The Company produced series of transistorised car radios during the 1960s including the 7 transistor 234 model, the 727, the 8 transistor 184 and the 9 transistor 254, 284 and 204 models.
- These fully transistorised models contained dry cells for power when away from the car and became known as the "Picnic Portable".
- In 1969 the company was purchased by Hawker Siddeley Electronics Ltd.
http://www.dhub.org/object/161315
- Walbar
- A company called Walbar, with branches in Sydney, Newcastle and Brisbane, specialised in producing car radios and aerials. Between what years? More information on Walbar required?
6.2.4 Canada
- In 1932 the Canadian General Electric Company launched the medium wave band M-30 car radio.
6.2.5 France
- Ducretet in France produced a medium wave/long wave car radio in 1935. Was it the first French car radio? Additional information on car radios in France required?
6.2.6 Germany
- In Germany in 1932 the “Ideal” company (which became known as Blaupunkt in 1938) produced their first car radio, the Autoradio AS 5 model; fitting the first model to a Studebaker automobile.
- It was operated in the long and medium wavebands from steering column mounted controls.
- It was priced at 465 Reichsmarks; representing about one third the cost of a car.
- In 1934 Philips Radios in Germany produced two medium wave band car radios; the 241B and 243B models. Additional information required.
- The Becker Company was established in the late forties in Germany, producing their first car radio in 1949.
- In 1963 the company produced the first solid state radio and, in 1985, the first car radio with integrated CD player. Check those claims.
- By the end of 1953 40% of cars in Germany had a car radio.
6.2.7 Great Britain
- For the history of car radios in Great Britain prior to 1930 see Section 6.2.1.
- In Britain in 1933 Crossley Motors became the first British car manufacturer to provide a factory fitted radio. It was offered with their 10 hp models. Was it supplied as an option extra? What type of radio?
- A purpose built car radio was fitted in 1934 during the production of the British Hillman Melody Minx car.
- From 1938 in the UK cars fitted with a radio required a radio licence. A UK 1955 advert announced: “£1 for a motor car wireless licence at a Post Office”.
- In 1947 the UK Treasury introduced a purchase tax of 33% on car radios.
- In England in 1945 a company called Smith and Sons (Radiomobile) Limited was formed jointly by EMI’s Gramophone Company and.Smiths Motor Accessories Ltd.
- The aim of the company was to “market car radios manufactured and developed by Gramophone Ltd”.
- The newly formed company produced their first car radio, the “Radiomobile 100”, in 1946. It was priced at £40.
- The car radios produced have been marked “HMV radiomobile”, “Smith radiomobile” or “Radiomobile”.
- Models produced include types 201X, 202X, 203X, XB, XC and XD (1956), RC, RA, 203X, 230R, 30X and XC (1957), 22X (1960) and the 500T (1961). Note: The dates of models underlined may not be accurate. www.radiomobile.co.uk
- The company reformed as “Radiomobile“ in 1953. Is that statement correct?
6.2.8 Italy
- In Italy in 1935 Allocchio Bacchini produced a car radio. Additional information required. Was it the first Italian car radio?
6.2.9 Japan
6.2.10 USA
- For the history of car radios in the USA prior to 1930 see Section 6.2.1.
- In the late 1920s Elmer Wavering and his friend William P. Lear (of Lear jet fame) were contacted Paul Galvin of the Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago to assist in a car radio design project.
- Production of the resulting car radio commenced in 1930 with the Motorola model 5T71, which sold for between $110 and $130.
- It is considered by many to be the first commercially successful car radio.
www.motorola.com/content.jsp?globalObjectId=8432-10811
- A car radio patent was issued to William Lear on 3 August 1931. Soon afterwards Lear sold his patent to Paul Gavin.
- “William P Lear, Chicago. Ill, assignor to Grigsby-Grunow Company, Chicago”. US Radio Apparatus Patent No. 1,944,139”.
- The Gavin Manufacturing Corporation, which was formed in September 1928, changed its name to “Motorola” in 1947.
- Note: Elmer Wavering later became President of Motorola, the company which created a radio for NASA's Lunar Rover. In what year was the NASA radio produced?
- In December 1930 the Philadelphia Storage Battery Company (Philco) purchased the Automobile Radio Corporation and created a subsidiary called the “Transitone Automobile Radio Corporation”.
- In about 1931 Philco launched a new Transitone car radio, the Model 3. It was priced at just below $100. www.philcoradio.com/history/hist3.htm
- Note: The Philadelphia Storage Battery Company, which began in 1906 producing batteries for electric vehicles, formally changed its name to Philco in 1940.
- The company produced its first domestic “Philco” radio in June 1928. “An A.C Electric, light socket set”.
- In 1929 or 1930 “United American Bosch”, a subsidiary of Bosch, Germany, introduced a car radio called the “Motor Car Receiver 80”.
www.radiomuseum.org/r/americanbo_80.html
- By 1924 the US Crosley Corporation had become the largest radio manufacturer in the world.
- In 1930 the company produced their first car radio, the “Crosley "Roamio".
www.maisonconnoisseur.com/crosley_radio_history.html
- The Crosley Radio Corp. started to produce radios for Chevrolet/GM cars in 1935.
- The following year, in 1936, the company was purchased by General Motors who launched the Delco Radio Division.
- Delco Radio, which produced its millionth car radio in 1940, 30 million by 1961 and 50 million by 1968, ceased operating in 2005.
- In 1931 Cadillac became possibly the first to offer a radio as an option.
- The controls were mounted on the steering column. Dash mounted controls were introduced in the 1933 General Motor models.
- Up to the early 1930s the car’s battery provided power for the radio’s valve heater/filaments and bulky and expensive dry batteries or noisy genemotors providing the radio’s high tension voltage.
- The first vibrator (a device which converted the car’s 6.3v battery supply to 250v) was introduced in about 1932 to provide the high tension voltage.
- These early vibrators were unreliable but by 1935 reliability had improved and the vibrator was a standard feature in American car radios.
- A car radio could now operate entirely off the existing car battery. It was one of the most significant developments in car radio technology.
http://www.radioremembered.org/vpwrsup.htm
- By 1932 over 100 different car radio models were available in the US.
- A report states that by 1933 about 100,000 cars in the US were fitted with a radio.
- In the USA between 1930 and the start of 1936 the number of cars equipped with radios increased from 34,000 to three million.
- Car radios in the USA in 1936 were typically priced from $16.50 to $89.50 and ranged from “compact four-tube models to the advanced built-in 8 and 10-tube models”.
- By late 1935 improvements in car radio design had resulted in the virtual elimination of spark interference and the introduction of automatic volume and automatic frequency control.
- Ford in the United States became, in 1937, the first to use a steel rod as aerial.
- Prior to this car manufacturers frequently installed wire aerials in the car’s roof with some manufacturers starting to fit “under car” aerials.
- The first telescopic type aerial was used in 1938. Who invented it and what was the first car to be fitted with one? Was it invented in USA?
- By the end of the 1930s, 20 percent of all cars in the USA had built-in car radios.
- Motorola produced the first 45 rpm disc player for cars in 1956. A system called "Hiway hi-fi" was installed by Chrysler.
- In 1965 Ford became the first automobile manufacturer to introduce (dealer-installed) eight-track players as an option on many of their models.
- From 1970, when they were introduced by RCA, to the mid 1970s Quadraphonic eight-track cartridges were briefly popular as part of a car’s radio-stereo system.
6.2.11 Other Links/Web Sites
6.3 Cruise Control
- The first cruise controls fitted to cars were based on the centrifugal governor, a technique invented in 1788 by James Watt and Matthew Boulton (British) for use on locomotives.
- They were first fitted to cars sometime between 1900 and 1910.
- In 1945 Ralph Teetor (American) invented the modern cruise control.
- In 1958 a Chrysler Imperial became the first car to be fitted with his cruise control system.
6.4 Door Locks
- Information required.
- Which car model had the first doors and an enclosed compartment and in what year ? Was an enclosed compartment first fitted to protect only the passengers but not the driver ?
6.5 Fuel Injection
- In 1955 a mechanical fuel injection system was developed by Bosch in Germany. Two years later, in 1957, General Motors in the United States produced a mechanical fuel injection system.
- The “Electrojector” developed by Bendix in the United States during the mid 1950s was one of the first electronic fuel injection systems. From 1957 it was offered as an option by Pontiac, De Soto, Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth.
- However, it was not reliable and was only fitted to about 35 cars.
- Note: The Bendix fuel injection system was originally used on aircraft during the Korean War (1950-53).
- Bosch later obtained patent rights to Bendix’s Electrojector system and during the 1960s Bosch developed their own “D-Jetronic” electronic fuel injection system.
- This was first fitted to the VW Type lll in 1968. Between 1970 and 1973 the system was also used by Volvo, Saab, Renault, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz.
- The D-Jetronic version was last used in 1976. Bosch introduced improved versions, including the L and K-Jetronic systems.
6.6 Gauges
6.7 Ignition
6.8 Lights
6.9 Paint
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In 1920 DuPont in the USA produced a thick pyroxylin lacquer that was quick drying, durable and could be coloured. It was originally called Viscolac®.
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In cooperation with General Motors DuPont refined the product further and renamed it Duco.
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Duco was first used by General Motors as a durable, quick-drying finish on its 1923 Oakland models.
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It reduced paint finish time from two weeks to two days and soon became the standard finish on cars.
- It remained in use until the late 1960s.
6.10 Power Steering
- Sometime between 1920 and 1926 Francis Davis and George Jessup (Americans) invented a hydraulic power steering system.
- In 1926 it was tested in a Pierce-Arrow vehicle.
- The Chrysler Imperial became the first production vehicle to be fitted with a power steering system in 1951. The system was called “Hydraguide”.
6.11 Radiators
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The radiator was invented and patented by Karl Benz for use on his first horseless carriage in 1885.
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It overcame the problem of evaporation cooling, which was boiling away a gallon of water for every hour he operated his single cylinder engine.
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The first honeycomb radiator was designed by Wilhelm Maybach and fitted to the 1901 Mercedes 35 hp model.
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Anti freeze became available in the USA in 1905.
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The Union Carbide & Carbon Corporation in the USA was the sole producer of ethylene glycol up to 1914. Initially it was used as an anti freeze.
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The use of ethylene glycol as an engine coolant was first proposed in England in 1916.
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A patent was granted in the USA in 1918 for the use of ethylene glycol to lower the freezing point of water in car cooling systems.
6.12 Steering Wheel
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The first cars were steered with a tiller.
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The first car fitted with a steering wheel was a French Panhard & Levassor model in 1898.
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The first American car to be fitted with a steering wheel was the second car built by Packard in 1899.
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Left hand steering wheels were first fitted to American cars in about 1908.
6.13 Suspension
- Independent front suspension was first fitted to a Lancia car in 1922.
6.14 Transmission
6.15 Turn Indicators
6.16 Windows
- The first shatterproof safety glass was invented in France in 1909 by Triplex.
- Window winders were introduced in about 1925.
- Power operated car windows were fitted in the USA in 1946.
6.17 Windscreen Wipers
Great Britain in 1911.
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William Folberth was granted a patient in 1922 for the first automatic (vacuum powered) windshield wiper mechanism.
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Electric windscreen wipers were introduced in 1922.
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A Studebaker car was fitted with windscreen washers in 1937.
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In 1940 Chrysler provided models with two-speed wipers.
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Note: Headlight wipers were first introduced by Saab in 1970.
6.18 Tires
6.18.1 The Inner Tube
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The American Philip Strauss of the Hardman Tire & Rubber Company is though generally credited with inventing the first practical tire fitted with an inner tube in 1911. What US patent number?
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He applied an invention of his father Alexander Strauss and produced “a combination fabric reinforced hardened rubber tire and rubber inner tube”.
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Note: On December 2, 1890, Alexander Strauss and Joseph F Bromley were granted US patent 441,820; “Tire for Vehicles and Wheels”.
6.18.2 The Cross or Bias Ply Tire
- In 1915 the Palmer Tire Company in Detroit produced the first cord “cross-ply” tire using a "sandwiching" construction technique that significantly reduced tire wear. Note: Cross-ply tires are also called Bias-ply tires.
- The fabric was no longer woven; strands of cotton cord were used and laid parallel to each other and pressed into sheet rubber.
- The carcass of the tire being produced by laying sheets of cord material cut on the bias/angle and laid across each other.
- A tire’s framework is called the “carcass” and consists of the entire inner layer of cord fabric. It acts to support air pressure, vertical load and absorb shocks and is composed of multiple layers called plies or belts.
- By 1919 the British Palmer Tire Company had seven offices in Great Britain, one in Paris and another Amsterdam and was advertising its new cross-ply tire.
- In the 1930s rayon replace the cotton in cord belts. In 1943 nylon cord was introduced; steel-cord in 1959 and fiberglass cord in 1963.
- From the late 1940s until the early 1960s most car tires were classified 4-ply; 2 layers, or 2 pairs of plies.
- In 1965-66 the American Armstrong Tire and Rubber Company introduced the first belted bias tire. Layers of fiberglass were laid under
the tread of a conventional bias-ply tire. Further details about this tire required.
- In 1967, also by adding a fiberglass belt to a bias-ply tire, Goodyear introduced a commercially successful “bias-belt” product called the Custom Superwide Polyglas.
- Belted bias tire are produced by adding two or more belts that are positioned between the bias plies and the tread rubber and run lengthwise around the circumference of the tire.
- Note: Over the years the degree of bias used by differing manufacturers has varied from about 30 to 55 degrees relative to the rim of the tire’s rim.
6.18.3 The Radial Tire
- There are reports that the concept of radial-ply construction was patented by in 1913 by Gray and Sloper of the India Rubber, Gutta
Percha and Telegraph Works Company in Silvertown, England. What was the patent’s number?
- They “proposed bracing the radial casing with a restraining belt to provide stability”. Their submission acknowledged that they weren’t the first to consider placing reinforcing cords radially in the body of the tire.
- In America on 21May 1915 Arthur Savage of the San Diego Savage Tire Comp any filed a patent for designs of a radial tire. He was granted US patent 1203910 on 7 November 1916; which expired in 1949. 1946?
- Savage and Gray & Sloper did not though produce a radial tire based on their patents.
- The first all-steel reinforced radial tire was produced and patented by Pierre Marcel Bourdon of Michelin in 1946.
- In the new radial tire the reinforcing cords were at 90 degrees (radial) to the wheel. A steel wire restraining belt, located over the radial cords and under the tread, running around the circumference of the tire.
- In 1948 the company introduced the “Michelin X” radial tire. A Citroen was the first car to use the steel belted radial. Which model?
- For 20 years, Michelin’s method of using steel wire mesh in the restraining belt was carefully patent protected.
- Unable to use steel mesh until about 1968 other manufacturers initially produced textile-belted radials. In addition to Michelin the early major radial tire producers included Bridgestone (Japan), Pirelli (Italy) and Continental (Germany).
- Due to costly production implications the introduction of the radial tire ultimately resulted in the worldwide closure of more than 50 tire plants.
- In 1965 the B F Goodrich Company, with the introduced of the “Silvertown Radial 900”, became the first American tire manufacturer to produce radial tires. Were they textile-belted radials?
6.18.4 The Balloon Tire
- In America on 3 October 1894 Edward E Pennington submitted a motor cycle patent application No. 524, 833 which included reference to the use and advantages of “a pneumatic tire of an extra
large diameter”.
- “The larger the diameter of the tire the less the pressure per square inch”.
- In 1896 he produced a two wheeled gasoline powered “Motor Cycle” machine which was equipped with extra large diameter “balloon” tires.
- On 29 December 1896 a “motor-vehicle specification forming part of letter patent No. 574,262” was granted to Edward J Pennington.
- Prior to the balloon tire early pneumatic tires had to be pressurised to 70 psi (4.8 bar) or greater in order to prevent them leaving the rim at speed. A figure as high as 85 psi has been reported. Is that correct?
- The pressure used on Goodrich’s 30 x 3 ½ inch tires was typical; 60 psi for a 400 lb load or 70 psi for a 500 lb load.
- When commercial production of car balloon tires started in the 1920 they were typically pressurised to 35 psi (2.4 bar) and 4.5 inches (114 mm) wide.
- Michelin and Firestone were the first balloon tire manufacturers.
- In the early 1920s Michelin developed a 115mm (4.5 inch) wide balloon tire called “Comfort”, producing over one million by October 1924. When did Michelin produce their first balloon tire?
- The Firestone Tire and Rubber Company started production of balloon “gum-dipped cord” tires in April 1923.
- By the end of 1924 over 60% of the 111 different car models available in the USA were supplied with balloon tires.
- By 1926 4.40 inch (112mm) wide balloon tires were supplied as standard fit on the Model T Ford (and as a $25 option in 1925).
- In the 1940s a more comfortable “super balloon” tyre was produced which had a larger volume of air. Who first produced this tire?.
- Tires width’s increased significantly over the years. By 2011 the Rolls Royce Phantom L model was, for example, fitted with 265mm (10.43 inch) wide tires.
6.18.5 The Tubeless Tire
- The first tubeless tire was patented in 1903 by P W Litchfield of the Goodyear Tire Company. What was the patent number?
- On October 22, 1918 US patent 1,282,197 was granted to Frederick B Cumpston “to improve tubeless pneumatic tire casing and improve rim and locking”.
- The early tubeless tires were not though a commercial success.
- The B F Goodrich Company filed a patent application on December 14, 1946 that “relates to pneumatic tires and is advantageous especially where it is desired to use the tire without an inner tube.”
- It wasn’t until February 26, 1952 that the company was finally granted US patent 2,587,470 for their tubeless tire design.
- The Packard Motor Car Company was the first manufacturer to use the new Goodrich tubeless tire, which was offered as an option on their 1954 Clipper range.
6.18.6 Use of Carbon Black
- In 1904 S C Mote, the chief chemist of the India Rubber, Gutta Percha and Telegraph Works in Silverton, England, discovered that the carbon black used as a pigment in ink could strengthen rubber.
- The Diamond Rubber Company obtained the rights to use Mote’s process and in 1912 they successfully blended carbon black with rubber to produce tires with significantly improved strength, wear resistance and durability.
- Note: Up to 1912 zinc oxide was the primary reinforcing agent in rubber.
- The use of carbon black creating, as a consequence, the typical black tire.
6.18.7 Spares & Repairs
- In 1903 the addition of cord to the tyre made them more robust but horses were still very common and horseshoe nails on the roads remained a major cause of punctures.
- In 1904 Walter and Tom Davies (Welsh) patented a spare wheel that could be attached to a wheel with a punctured tyre by adjustable clamps.
- The “Stepney Spare Wheel” was a spokeless wheel rim onto which a tire of slightly larger than usual diameter was mounted.
- In 1906 they formed the Stepney Spare Motor Wheel Company and within three years it had been fitted to more than 75,000 cars.
- By 1910 the company had agencies in Europe and North America; including the Stepney Motor Wheel of Canada Limited.
- The American Thomas B. Jeffery Company was the first car manufacturer to offer a spare tire. Note: In 1909 the company was the second largest car manufacturer in the world.
- In 1909 their five passenger Rambler 44 model sold for $2,250 and for an extra $74 an extra wheel and inflated tire was provided.
- Mountable rims were introduced in 1904; allowing drivers, because the early tires where much softer than modern ones, to remove, replace/repair their own flat tires. Who invented mountable rims?
- In Germany in 1908 Continental AG invented a detachable rim for sedans which made changing a tire much simpler.
- In about 1910 the Danish postal service noted that in Copenhagen their cars could expect a puncture every 491 km (307 miles) and possibly every 200 km (125 miles) in the countryside.
- A “Continental tire” is the name given to an upright, externally mounted spare tire located behind a car’s boot (trunk) compartment.
- It derives its name from the 1939 Lincoln Continental model it was first fitted to.
- In 1941 (WW2) and in 1951 (Korean War) spare tires were banned on new cars the USA.
- In the 1950s spare wheels started to be carried in a recess in the floor of the luggage compartment or 'boot'.
- Note: In Europe “Boot” derives from the use made of the sturdy chest that was used to carry valuable goods which also served as a foot/boot rest for the driver of a horse drawn coach. In America the same space was used to carry a trunk, not a chest.
- The Dunlop Company introduce safety tyres in 1972 which sealed themselves after a puncture.
- The compact spare tire was designed by P. Fletcher for the Volkswagen Automobile Company in the 1980′s. In what year and for what model?
6.18.8 The Tread
- In 1904, the Continental AG Company in Germany produced the world's first automobile tire with a patterned tread. See Section 9.1.
- Frank Seiberling of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company invented grooved tyres with improved road traction in 1908.
- Sipes are the small slots that are cut or molded into the surface of a tire tread to increase traction on wet, snowy or muddy road surfaces.
- On November 2 1920 John F Sipe filed a US patent application for “Elastic Tire and Method of Making Same”. It related to a solid rubber tire.
- “A rubber thread tire having a series of incisions made in its tread pattern without substantial spaces produced by said incisions”. On April 2 1923 he was granted US patent 1,452,099.
- On January 2 1923 he filed a related patented application for “Solid Elastic Tire for Road Vehicles”, receiving US Patent 1,455,361 on May 15 1923.
- It wasn’t until the 1950s, when improved tread compounds were developed, that the sipe process was applied to tires on a large scale.
- The US National Safety Council reported in 1978 that siping improved stopping distances by 22 percent on glare (black) ice.
- Research note: The 1904 Dictionary of English Dialect includes the word sipe: “to sipe out of the way, or drain of moisture.” An odd coincidence?
6.18.9 Interesting Facts & Figures
- About 300,000 tires (and 4,200 cars) were produced in the USA in 1900.
- Car manufacturers ceased using solid tires in 1929.
- By 1998 over 250 million tires were produced annually in the USA and over 416 million worldwide.
- The size of a tire was originally established by measuring the outer diameter. This was later changed to measuring the inner rim diameter. In what year?
6.18.10 Links
