25 Automotive Firsts Inventions That Changed the Car Industry

22. Monocoque – Lancia

Today, almost all cars have unibody construction or monocoque, as they sometimes call it in Europe. But for a long time, most cars had a sturdy, heavy, ladder-type chassis. But that type of chassis affected handling, making cars taller and chunkier than they needed to be. The first unibody car was the 1922 Lancia Lambda, which revolutionized the construction of passenger cars.

23. Disc Brakes – Citroen

The invention of disc brakes happened early in car history. However, drivers had to wait almost 50 years for Citroen to present the DS. The DS was the first mass-produced car to feature this type of braking, among other notable features. Today, disc brakes are the norm and almost nobody remembers the drum brakes of yesterday.

24. Safety Glass – Tucker

The car safety glass that shatters into small pieces to avoid cutting passengers is the standard for decades. But once upon a time, cars had real glass, which was dangerous in the case of a crash. The ill-fated Tucker Car Company invented safety glass to use on their Torpedo model. The car never got a chance to compete with the Big Three. But, safety glass lives on, and not just in cars, but in many other items.

25. 25. CD Player – Lincoln

After the radio revolution, car manufacturers started installing newer, better sound systems. Also, they added updated stereo speakers as well as eight-track and cassette players. But the first factory-installed CD player was in the 1986 Lincoln Town Car. After that, almost all luxury manufactures offered CD players as part of their standard equipment.