8 Cars with Technology that Influenced the Modern Car Industry

Cars of today feature some amazing technology - some these technologies made it into almost all cars being made. New cars with new technology are often not actually the first as during the 1900s car research had ‘boomed’, but these technologies were mostly unused and experimental only. From the basic turbocharged engine to all-wheel steering, here are the 8 cars that influenced the modern car market as we know it.

1. Oldsmobile Jetfire

In 1962 Oldsmobile invented the turbocharger and saw that it was good. Forced induction did exist before it in a supercharger’s form but turbocharging but Oldsmobile started the second variation in partnership with Garrett AiResearch. It only had a maximum of 5psi and the car still had carburetors. On top of that, since this was experimental car it was bound to have issues – Problem with spark knock forced Oldsmobile to develop water-injection and was called “Turbo-Rocket Fluid”. The design was complex, but research continued and now it’s the most popular forced induction.

2. Crosley Hot Shot

Crosley was a small American car company that specialized in small (and cute) cars. They featured a list of new technologies - the most common among them is the disc brakes. In 1949 they were sold as standard on all four wheels. Even though development of the disc brakes were as early as 1890s, it was only until the late 1940s and 50s that they were used in road cars. Before Crosley, Jaguar used disc brakes for its racing D-type in the mid-1950s and was very successful.

3. Lamborghini Miura

You may know it as the first modern supercar; Lamborghini Miura is the daddy of all mid-engined sports cars of today and especially as Lamborghini as we know it. There were mid-engined supercars before it but Lamborghini were truly pioneers of mid-engined cars. Bulit in 1966 in the spare time of Lamborghini’s engineering team, it was built against the founder’s preference of GT cars. The Miura featured a 4 litre traverse V12 and became the first modern Lamborghini as even today’s Lamborghinis trace back to this car.

4. Alfa Romeo Spider

This car is far from what we call V-tech, but it is actually the first car to have a form of VVT (variable valve timing). Most sports cars made today have this system allowing cars to rev higher, but the first car to feature such technology was Alfa Romeo’s iconic Spider (Also called “Duetto”) in 1982. It had a mechanical VVT and wasn’t the most efficient but it was a new technology that spread into mass production of nearly every sports car. Later, the VTEC was born by Honda and shared the same principle.

5. Toyota Corolla

Unlike other cars on our list, this car is on the list not because of technology inside the car, but on the outside of the car – the production of it. Most of today’s cars are being produced in big factories, being made quickly, cheaply and in big numbers. Toyota Corolla is the best selling cars in history with over 40,000,000 (until 2013) of them made since 1966! That’s over 850,000 cars a year! The demand for these cars is still very high and you can pretty much find them driving everywhere. It is indeed world’s best-selling car.

6. Ford Model T

Like the Corolla, it had something new – but not in the car. The idea of mass production during the early 1900s was a joke; people did not believe the car would replace the trusty horse – until Ford proved them wrong. It is one of the most influential cars ever since it is the first ever car to be built for the masses, factories for cars simply didn’t exist (not nearly on that scale) – they were built in workshops and special garages. New demand was reached as this car was built to be cheap and in large numbers so everyone could buy one. This car had 14 different chassis and also were had coachbuilders’ designs, anything from a roadster pickup to a 2-door touring and a speedster. Today the majority of cars are being made for the same purpose – mobilizing the masses.

7. Saab GT750

Safety is a major factor in the car industry of today, for example – every car made has to have a seatbelt. Seatbelts were invented as early as WWI but the first car to have seatbelts as standard and be mass-produced is the Saab GT750. It was made between 1958 and 1962 as a sporty version of the Saab 93 and had a two-stroke engine with just 50-55 horsepower, later to be replaced with the Saab 96 which had larger engine and also disc brakes.

8. Willys Jeep

All go-anywhere vehicles trace back to this car. During WWII the military needed a durable, cheap and simple vehicle to transport everything from soldiers to supplies across rough terrain (unlike 4x4s before that, which were used for hillclimb and hauling, and were mainly experimental one-offs. 4x4 did exist before it, but not nearly as popular. It was very light and had a 2.2L inline-4 engine nicknamed “Go Devil”. It had 60 horsepower, and because the jeep was just over a ton it was very nimble and ideal for the military. From 1945 it was available for civilian use and was the first mass product 4x4. The Willys Jeep was the first 4x4 to be as a modern 4x4 is.