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The Telescope Shock Absorber Developed
C. L. Horock designs the "telescope" shock absorber, using a piston and cylinder fitted inside a metal sleeve, with a one-way valve built into the piston. As air or oil moves through the valve into the cylinder, the piston moves freely in one direction but is resisted in the other direction by the air or oil. The result is a smoother ride and less lingering bounce. The telescope shock absorber is still used today. -
Period: to
The Automobile
Major improvements of the Automobile. -
Olds Automobile Factory Starts Production
The Olds automobile factory starts production in Detroit. Ransom E. Olds contracts with outside companies for parts, thus helping to originate mass production techniques. Olds produces 425 cars in its first year of operation, introducing the three-horsepower "curved-dash" Oldsmobile at $650. The car is a success; Olds is selling 5,000 units a year by 1905. -
William Durant Forms General Motors
William Durant forms General Motors. His combination of car producers and auto parts makers eventually becomes the largest corporation in the world. -
Electric Starter Introduced
Charles Kettering introduces the electric starter. Until this time engines had to be started by hand cranking. Critics believed no one could make an electric starter small enough to fit under a car’s hood yet powerful enough to start the engine. His starters first saw service in 1912 Cadillacs. -
First moving assembly line for automobiles developed
Ford Motor Company develops the first moving assembly line for automobiles. The Highland Park, Michigan, plant produces 300,000 cars in 1914 -
First Car Body Made Entirely of Steel
Dodge introduces the first car body made entirely of steel, fabricated by the Budd Company. The Dodge touring car is made in Hamtramck, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. -
First Single Foot Pedal to Operate Coupled Four-Wheel Brakes
The Hispano-Suiza H6B, a French luxury car, demonstrates the first single foot pedal to operate coupled four-wheel brakes. Previously drivers had to apply a hand brake and a foot brake simultaneously. -
First Air Conditioning System Added to Automobiles
The Nash Motor Company adds the first air conditioning system to cars. -
Jeep is Designed
Karl Pabst designs the Jeep, workhorse of WWII. More than 360,000 are made for the Allied armed forces.
Oldsmobile introduces the first mass-produced, fully automatic transmission. -
Cruise Control is Developed
Ralph Teeter, a blind man, senses by ear that cars on the Pennsylvania Turnpike travel at uneven speeds, which he believes leads to accidents. Through the 1940s he develops a cruise control mechanism that a driver can set to hold the car at a steady speed. Unpopular when generally introduced in the 1950s, cruise control is now standard on more than 70 percent of today’s automobiles.
