Motoring innovations
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| www.autoviva.com |
In the modern world of motoring we expect to find a certain standard when buying your new set of wheels, this includes features, service or maintenance plans, aftersales services and a more.
But what should be “standard” on a car? If the first thing you say is cup holders, you need to be put down. No, cup holders are not a standard, I am talking about rear parking sensors, Airbags, ABS, you know, things with funny abbreviations and actually contributes to your safety or comfort. There is however, still a big discrepancy between car manufacturers on what is considered as standard options, but some have puuled trough, and got adopted throughout the industry.
We as humans are quick to be negative on something, judge, criticise, and force our own opinion on something if we don’t like it, or disagree with it, take my article on Why I Don’t like the Prius for example. What we don’t do is praise, and compliment things we do like, and today I will do just that. I will be complimenting and praising one car manufacturer in particular. Mercedes Benz.
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Growing up it was labelled as a car for old people, it was called slow, ugly, a ship on wheels, a plaything for the rich people, but it was never called uncomfortable. If you ever have a chance, hop into one from the 70’s and 80’s, you will be in for quite a surprise. They are as comfy and caring as that big breasted bimbo you once defiled. It’s like driving a tank; all you need is your Brodie helmet, a cigar, and stubble beard with mud on your face, which is why it’s the choice of African dictators.
Over the years Mercedes had some great cars, most notably the 1955 300sl, more commonly known as the Gullwing Mercedes, also considered the world’s first supercar after the great war. It was also the fastest production car of its day. This is a true piece of art, but what else did Mercedes give the motor industry, what else did they “force” on the cars of today to be standard?
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The name first appeared in 1926 as Daimler-Benz, but can trace its origins to Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft’s 1901 Mercedes and karl Benz’s Patent-Motorwagen in 1886, also translated as the first car in the world. In short, what other car manufactures still have to learn, Mercedes has perfected, promoted, and forgotten about. Why then is it surprising when we found out what Mercedes has given the motor industry?
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| The first car - https://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/benz/innovation |
Let's have a look.
1886 –The first car, a 3 wheeled single cylinder self-propelled vehicle
1894 – The first Auto race, in which a Daimler powered car won.
1901 – The honeycomb radiator, the first closed cooling system, used to this day.
1906 – Electric Powered Car, used by cars, trucks, busses and fire service vehicles. It is an early ancestor of the hybrid engines we get today.
1910 – The Multivalve engine, the first Benz touring car to feature four valves per cylinder.
1921 – The first supercharged engine.
1931 – Four wheel independent suspension, allowing each wheel to respond individually.
1936 – First Diesel passenger car.
1939 – Passenger-car safety development, formal safety research begins with side impact protection and collapsible steering columns.
1949 – Conical-pin door lock, prevents a door from being opened accidentally, (today we use it to keep people out).
1951 – Crumple zones, still used today.
1958 – Crash test program, now standard.
1963 – Gated Shifter, facilitating gear changes without using a pushbutton, now the normal way we change gears on an automatic.
1973 – Offset-frontal crash test, a more real-world simulation of crashes, promoted more safety in the vehicles.
1978 – ABS, antilock braking system, prevents individual wheels from locking up under harsh braking conditions.
1982 – Multilink suspension, Promotes handling, ride comfort, and safety.
1985 – 4Matic all-wheel drive, or just AWD (all-wheel drive)
1991 – CFC free climate control, eco-unfriendly chemicals removed from air-conditioning, long before going green was cool.
1992 – Controller area network ( CAN), fancy term for more feature rich electronic gizmos talking more effectively.
1995 – ESP – Electronic stability Program, or more commonly known as traction control.
1997 – Smartkey, those funny keys with the chip inside them.
2000 – Tele aid and Mbrace, a security, convenience and navigation, can connect drivers to their vehicle via their smart phones.
2002 – Pre-safe, it detects, and prepares the passengers if an accident is about to happen by snugging the seatbelts, or adjusts the headrest position precious moments before impact.
2006 – DISTRONIC PLUS with pre-safe Brake, brakes and accelerates your car while on cruise control, looks ahead fro stopped traffic and alerts the driver, and even brakes the car to reduce impact speed if an accident is going to happen.
2010 – Attention assist, it detects driver drowsiness, and audibly alerts the driver to take a break.
This then is a truly big list of breath-taking innovations, with very fancy terms from over a century. The very first is then the very best. Without Mercedes we would not have any cars, we would not be taking the freedom to cover great distances in minutes for granted, we would not have a world as connected as it is now.
You say old man’s car, I say Pioneer.
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