Most significant automotive development

[M'coli]

I've banged on about this before, but in the grand old days the wipers (usually non parking, I'll add) were controlled by another switch on the dash, which was usually identical to all the other switchs on there. Trying to find it in low light conditions was dangerous.

 

auto wipers is for winners, fact.

Rolls Royce switchgear was layed out so that the correct one could always be found by a gloved hand in the dark - perhaps your chauffeur should have chosen another career path??? :)

[Cavcraft]

Whoever invented the cab side windows on 2006-ish Citroen Relay vans. They've engineered out the ability to see a fucking thing at junctions, thus enabling you to crash, have it written off and buy something better instead.

[Angrydicky]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYVg_6g2XyU

[Parky]

Disc Brakes, cable ties and the magic tree and the in car cigarette lighter for me plus of course K Seal

Plus 1 on disc brakes.

 

Also the 20p piece for Handbrake jamming and smaller sockets

[Alexg]

[DVee8]

D 701 SWL

[Des]

The alternator was a pretty good move, without which the lack of a starting handle is a deal breaker. 

No forget that, the fairy lights in Audi headlamps.

[chrisjvm]

Faux checker plate floor mats

[srad34]

K seal......

[Wilko220]

The demise of the vinyl roof.

The vinyl roof.

[RoadworkUK]

Metalled highways.

[Hendry]

Whoever invented the cab side windows on 2006-ish Citroen Relay vans. They've engineered out the ability to see a fucking thing at junctions, thus enabling you to crash, have it written off and buy something better instead.

I'm with you on that one, just the other day I noticed the very same thing on my works 62 plate Fiat Ducato which I'm sure is the same version as a 2006 Relay (I know the Boxer/Relay/Ducato are the same van but can't quite remember if 06 would be the version which is still current or the last of the older style one) meaning you have to pull right out from a side street right across a whole lane of the road you want onto to see if its clear. Horrendous things, fuck knows how they got these things so badly wrong.

[Negative Creep]

Beige paint

[Des]

One life stickers.

[chaseracer]

Beige paint

Can never have too much of that...

 

[Asimo]

Now THERE'S an automotive component supplier history challenge...perhaps deserving of its own thread, too.

 

Just who else did supply electrics and wiring smoke before Lucas became ubiquitous in the UK?

Miller; Lucas dynamos are like Drax B in comparison with Millers effort.

 

British Thompson Houston (BTH) made switches, magnetos and whatnot.

[hauserplenty]

Those interval wipers were "a flash of creative genius," indeed:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1054588/

 

Cold? Impersonal? Ford??

http://www.wired.com/2008/09/ford-releases-f/

 

 

Vulcanized rubber and the removable wheel. Not to mention enclosing all the oily bits so they don't* grind away while you're on the road.

 

* But instead rot away while parked.

[brickwall]

"...milestones in rain-removal technology...."

 

fantastic!

[hauserplenty]

Yeah, that's tellin' it like it is!

[Noel Tidybeard]

traction control

 

heated mirrors

 

automated manual (honda i-shift)

 

cvt (nissan n-cvt6)

[oman5]

Volvo 240. because Volvo 240.

[mouseflakes]

Rack and pinion steering allied to front wheel drive.

This is probably the most significant 'across the board' (almost) design change that most of us on here would remember as it happened surely? The big hoo-haa when the Sierra and Cavalier were launched. I recall motoring press were questioning if Ford had made an error sticking with RWD.

[Bren]

Rover K series.

 

Never has their been a more efficient way of getting coolant up to boiling point.

[dollywobbler]

traction control

 

heated mirrors

 

automated manual (honda i-shift)

 

cvt (nissan n-cvt6)

 

Traction Control?! It's rubbish! Far better to have a driver who can actually moderate their throttle input.

[twosmoke300]

The cup holder on a Saab 9-5

[dangerousdave]

mass production otherwise we wouldn't be able to afford cars

 

fuel injection makes cold morning starting easier

 

and of course the v8 engine

[rml2345]

Even before front wheel drive became commonplace, rack and peanut steering would be a bit of a revelation.

[forddeliveryboy]

Blame Citroen's Traction Avant - the car which influenced everything which has followed per'aps more than any other, along with the BMC Mini and its transverse oily bits. My old 124s don't have raps, but it's still just fine. Adjustable for wear, too.

[Lukas]

The modern safety equipment! Not needed most of the time, if you are lucky never, but good that it´s there! You walk away from a head-on-crash at 64 km/h nowadays when you would have been killed in a 1980s car at 50km/h.

 

I know you will not agree, but that´s what I think.

[Junkman]

If you are that safety conscious, you shouldn't leave the confines of your home. Oh wait, 60% of all lethal accidents happen at home. I think there should be airbags in houses.

And 80% of all lethal traffic accidents happen below 30mph, because the number of people daft enough to do a head-on at 64 clicks is thankfully negligibly low.