[Even MORE “firsts” to set yourself apart from the average driver’s
knowledge of car history]
Q: What car first referred to itself as a convertible?
A: The 1904 Thomas Flyer, which had a removable hard top
Q: What car was the first to have its radio antenna embedded in the
windshield?
A: The 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix
Q: What car used the first successful series-production hydraulic valve
lifters?
A: The 1930 Cadillac 452, the first production V16
Q: Where was the World’s first three-color traffic lights installed?
A: Detroit, Michigan in 1919. Two years later, they experimented with
synchronized light.
Q: Where was the first drive-in movie theater opened, and when?
A: Camden, NJ in 1933
Q: What car was the first to place the horn button in the center of the
steering wheel?
A: The 1915 Scripps-Booth Model C. The car also was the first with electric
door latches.
Q: What car was the first production V12, as well as the first production
car with aluminum pistons?
A: The 1915 Packard Twin-Six. Used during WWI in Italy, these motors
inspired Enzi Ferrari to adopt the V12 himself in 1948.
Q: What was the first car to use power operated seats?
A: They were first used on the 1947 Packard line
Q: What autos were the first to use a standardized production of the
key-start system?
A: The 1949 Chrysler
Q: Where was the first “white stripe” painted on a road to designated lanes?
A: In 1911 on M1, after watching a leaky milk wagon leave a white trail
along a road, Edward N. Hines “thought” of this idea. (thanks Peter)
Q: What car delivered the first production V12 engine?
A: The cylinder wars were kicked off in 1915 after Packard’s chief engineer,
Col. Jesse Vincent, introduced its Twin-Six.
Q: When were seat belts first fitted to a motor vehicle?
A: In 1900, in a Baker Electric streamliner racer which crashed at 100 mph.
on Staten Island!
~~
Dr Bob Griffin
[email protected] www.grif.net
“Jesus Knows Me, This I Love!”