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First self-propelled vehicle
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot develops a steam-engine powered road vehicle. http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/19/the-very-first-car-1769-cugnot-steamer/ -
First Electric Car
Robert Davidson built an electric locomotive that attained a speed of four miles an hour. Electric cars used rechargeable batteries that powered a small electric motor. The vehicles were heavy, slow, expensive, and needed to stop for recharging frequently. http://www.electricauto.org/?page=evhistory -
First automoblile
Benz Patent MotorWagen - Even though it is hard to pinpoint who exactly made the first car, Karl Benz is credited to making the first one. It had a one-cylinder engine, and could carry two people. This was also the first commercially available automobile. https://www.daimler.com/company/tradition/company-history/1885-1886.html -
First Pneumatic Tire
John Boyd Dunlop of Belfast, Ireland invents the pneumatic tire. A pneumatic tire is made of an airtight inner core filled with pressurized air. http://www.continental-truck.com/truck/company/business-unit/tirehistory -
Ford Model T
Ford Motor Company's Model T or "Tin-Lizzie" was a revolutionary car produced from 1908-1927. The newly revised assembly line made it cheaper and easier for everyone to access. It had a four-cylinder engine with a top speed of 45 mph. Ford produced 15 million Model T's in this time. http://www.history.com/topics/model-t -
Air-Cooled Volkswagen Beetle
The first generation Volkswagen (meaning "the people's car") Beetle came with many innovations. It featured a rear mounted engine to provide more interior space, which was also air-cooled, a first of its kind. It also featured 4 wheel independent suspension for a smoother ride. http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/11/top-10-most-important-cars-of-all-time.html/4 -
3-Point Seatbelt
Nils Bohlin of Volvo invents the three-point seatbelt, making cars more safe than with the two-point seatbelt which often did more harm than good. However rather than patenting this invention and making a lot of money, Volvo decided that safety of people was more important than money. http://jalopnik.com/volvo-gave-away-their-most-important-invention-to-save-1069825878 -
BMC Mini
This car was front-wheel drive, like most cars around the time. However, it included new advancements such as a transversely positioned engine (side-to-side), as opposed to front to back. This largely increased interior space, as well as the suspension, which was pushed far out. http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/11/top-10-most-important-cars-of-all-time.html/5 -
Porsche 911
The Porsche (pronounced "por-shaw") 911 has a performance pedigree like no other car today. Since its launch is 1964, it has been a quintessential sports car having one of the longest-standing sports car nameplates. http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/11/top-10-most-important-cars-of-all-time.html/7 -
New Land speed record
Richard Noble drives the Thrust 2 to 1019km/h in the Black rock desert Nevada USA, which was propelled by a Rolls royce jet engine. http://www.landspeedrecord.org/thrust-2-richard-noble/ -
New Land Speed Record
The Thrust SSC was the first car to break the sound barrier at 763 mph. It used two Rolls-Royce Spey engines to power 110,000 bhp, driven by Andy Green. http://www.landspeedrecord.org/thrust-ssc-andy-green/ -
Bugatti Veyron
This car launched in 2006 cost 1.12 million dollars, and was capable to do 258 mph. This was achieved through a quad-turbo W16 engine producing 987 horsepower. A new "Super Sport" model was launched in 2010 with 1200 bhp. http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2012/11/top-10-most-important-cars-of-all-time.html/10
