Central locking
In the olden days, children, people had to go round their car's doors one by one to check if they were locked - and that was if they bothered to lock them at all.
Packard introduced the first car to feature a system whereby all the door locks could be locked or unlocked at once, back in 1956, and central locking these days now includes child safety locks, automatic deactivation of the locks above a pre-set speed or in the event of a crash (so you don't get stuck inside), activation of the locks at low speeds to deter intruders or car-jackers, plus, of course, activation via a remote battery-powered 'plipper' or key fob.
Modern keyless entry/ignition systems use just a fob or card containing an electronic transducer chip, which automatically locks and unlocks the car whenever the transducer is within range so you need not fumble around in your pockets or handbag for that key. A fine example of innovation for innovation's sake, rather than a real life-enhancer, to be honest - you've still got to put down those shopping bags to open the door or boot lid.
In the olden days, children, people had to go round their car's doors one by one to check if they were locked - and that was if they bothered to lock them at all.
Packard introduced the first car to feature a system whereby all the door locks could be locked or unlocked at once, back in 1956, and central locking these days now includes child safety locks, automatic deactivation of the locks above a pre-set speed or in the event of a crash (so you don't get stuck inside), activation of the locks at low speeds to deter intruders or car-jackers, plus, of course, activation via a remote battery-powered 'plipper' or key fob.
Modern keyless entry/ignition systems use just a fob or card containing an electronic transducer chip, which automatically locks and unlocks the car whenever the transducer is within range so you need not fumble around in your pockets or handbag for that key. A fine example of innovation for innovation's sake, rather than a real life-enhancer, to be honest - you've still got to put down those shopping bags to open the door or boot lid.
Electric ignition
Turn-key ignition, patented by former Cadillac salesman Vincent Bendix in 1910, did away with the need for a starting handle and, preferably, a little man to get grubby turning the oily crank for you. Hooray for another step towards an equal society!
We needn't trouble ourselves with the workings of the coil and distributor here; suffice to say that the turn of a key to fire up the starter motor and thus start the engine is a fine example of a technology that it would be difficult to better. Yes, you can have fun with push-button starters (until the car's done a few winters outside in the cold and wet), but card-based or 'smart key' electronic systems really don't add anything to either aid convenience or the driving experience.
Turn-key ignition, patented by former Cadillac salesman Vincent Bendix in 1910, did away with the need for a starting handle and, preferably, a little man to get grubby turning the oily crank for you. Hooray for another step towards an equal society!
We needn't trouble ourselves with the workings of the coil and distributor here; suffice to say that the turn of a key to fire up the starter motor and thus start the engine is a fine example of a technology that it would be difficult to better. Yes, you can have fun with push-button starters (until the car's done a few winters outside in the cold and wet), but card-based or 'smart key' electronic systems really don't add anything to either aid convenience or the driving experience.
Head-up display
A fine example of aircraft technology applied in the automotive world: you too can feel like a fighter pilot whilst steering down those city streets. Offered as an option in various General Motors models from right back in the 1980s, and now in models including the BMW 5- and 6-Series and Citroen C6, head-up displays have, however, been described as safety, rather than sporty, aids: projecting information such as speed, engine revs or directions from a sat nav system onto a virtual fixed point near the driver's eye level means that the driver doesn't have to avert their eyes from the road. We like the way it makes even a mundane night-time mission feel like an exciting computer game, though...
A fine example of aircraft technology applied in the automotive world: you too can feel like a fighter pilot whilst steering down those city streets. Offered as an option in various General Motors models from right back in the 1980s, and now in models including the BMW 5- and 6-Series and Citroen C6, head-up displays have, however, been described as safety, rather than sporty, aids: projecting information such as speed, engine revs or directions from a sat nav system onto a virtual fixed point near the driver's eye level means that the driver doesn't have to avert their eyes from the road. We like the way it makes even a mundane night-time mission feel like an exciting computer game, though...
Horn
Parp-parp! In the early days of motoring, the klaxon horn was the best way for the Mr Toads on the scene to alert the lower orders that they were about to run them over - and to assert their social superiority. Two-tone air horns, and the theme to Colonel Bogey, came later. In some world cities, the car horn is the only working means of car-to-car communication, in others, it's banned within certain boundaries or during the night-time. Either way, whether you're thumping the centre of your steering wheel or politely blipping the end of a stalk, hooting the driver in front, the idiot who's failed to indicate or the stalled learner at the lights is a universally satisfying experience. But whatever happened to the car stickers that read: "Honk if you're lonely tonight"?
Parp-parp! In the early days of motoring, the klaxon horn was the best way for the Mr Toads on the scene to alert the lower orders that they were about to run them over - and to assert their social superiority. Two-tone air horns, and the theme to Colonel Bogey, came later. In some world cities, the car horn is the only working means of car-to-car communication, in others, it's banned within certain boundaries or during the night-time. Either way, whether you're thumping the centre of your steering wheel or politely blipping the end of a stalk, hooting the driver in front, the idiot who's failed to indicate or the stalled learner at the lights is a universally satisfying experience. But whatever happened to the car stickers that read: "Honk if you're lonely tonight"?
Windscreen wipers
Said to have been invented by an American woman called Mary Anderson in 1905, the first wipers were crude – manually operated wipe-by-wipe via a lever, wire or string – although many early cars had no windscreen to keep clean anyway.
Patents were filed by the next decade, with mechanised wipers first used in the 1917 Willys Knight; these initially depended on a vacuum-pump system, but this was inefficient, especially at speed. Hydraulic pumps followed, but the basic electric motor-driven design, developed in the 20s, became the norm post-World War II. The first washers came from Studebaker in the late 30s.
These days, wipers pivot in increasingly complex single- or double-blade combinations, with ever-more aerodynamic blades and sophisticated water-sweeping techniques, and many cars have sensors that detect rainfall and deploy the wipers automatically.
Said to have been invented by an American woman called Mary Anderson in 1905, the first wipers were crude – manually operated wipe-by-wipe via a lever, wire or string – although many early cars had no windscreen to keep clean anyway.
Patents were filed by the next decade, with mechanised wipers first used in the 1917 Willys Knight; these initially depended on a vacuum-pump system, but this was inefficient, especially at speed. Hydraulic pumps followed, but the basic electric motor-driven design, developed in the 20s, became the norm post-World War II. The first washers came from Studebaker in the late 30s.
These days, wipers pivot in increasingly complex single- or double-blade combinations, with ever-more aerodynamic blades and sophisticated water-sweeping techniques, and many cars have sensors that detect rainfall and deploy the wipers automatically.