Origine des "gadgets" d'aujourd'hui

bonjour !

petit texte sur l'origine de bien des gadgets qui sont considérés comme standards aujourd'hui..

L'ennui est que le texte est en anglais, et que j'ignore la pertinence d'un tel article dans cette rubrique...

Par contre, je vous garantie qu'il est très plaisant à lire !

Technology

Many safety and comfort features rose to popularity
after World War II as automakers struggled to keep up with
consumer demand. All the while, their dream cars often had
advanced features that consumers didn’t know they wanted
until they appeared in their production automobiles. Below
are features that became popular during the 1946–1959
model years, with notes on their introduction. It is interesting
to note that many features viewed as modern technological
advancements of the late 20th century and early
21st century actually had their beginnings during the postwar
period. Some would be touted as “all-new” features
fifty years later.

• Air conditioning. First introduced by Packard in 1940, this
original system was expensive and had a lot of problems,
and was quickly dropped. Then in 1953, General Motors
introduced a lower-priced, more reliable system.
This trunk-mounted unit worked well, and then in
1954 Pontiac introduced an underhood unit. The underhood
unit proved the better alternative as it used no
trunk space and fit well within the engine compartment,
tying into the heater and defroster system.

• Interior air filtration. Introduced on the 1956 Rambler as
an option.

• Seat belts. First o›ered as an option on 1950 Nash models
and the 1948 Tucker. Seat belts were later put into
more widespread use when Ford Motor Company introduced
their safety campaign in 1956, which included
seat belts, padded dashboards and deep-dish
steering wheels as part of their safety package.

• Electric window lifts (power windows). Developed in
1948 by Daimler Benz, electric window lifts became a
common optional feature by 1955 on most American
cars, and would be standard on many of the luxury
cars. Hydraulically operated window lifts, more appropriately
hydro-electric lifts, had been used by many
luxury makes through the 1940s, but they were prone
to leaks in the system. The shift to electric systems
began in 1953.

• Rain-sensing convertible top lift. This feature was developed
by General Motors and first appeared in some
of their Motorama show cars in the early 1950s, such
as the LeSabre. It was later listed as an optional accessory
in sales literature for 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air convertibles,
but it is not believed that it actually made it
into production.

• Turning headlamps. Headlamps that turn to light the
road ahead on a curve have a history that goes back to
the late 1920s, when large luxury cars sometimes used
a system of driving lights that turned with the steering
wheel. It was never used on a large scale, and the idea
was first resurrected after the war by the 1948 Tucker.
The Tucker used a third center-mounted headlamp
with mechanical linkage that turned the headlamp as
the steering wheel was turned.

• Automatic dimming, light sensing rear view mirror.
Chrysler Corporation introduced the automatic dimming
inside rear view mirror as an option on many of
its 1959 models. Due to lack of interest by the public,
it was dropped after a few years.

• Disc brakes. Chrysler and Crosley share honors of being
the first automobile manufacturers to put disc brakes
into mass production on their 1950 models. Chrysler
put them into limited production on the massive
Crown Imperials, while Crosley o›ered them on any
model in its lineup. Crosley subsequently developed
problems with their disc brakes, and had to go back to
drum brakes. But the technology was not lost on
Chrysler Corporation, which refined the idea and introduced
them as optional equipment on many of its
1952 models.

• High-compression, overhead valve, V8 engine. Introduced
by Oldsmobile on the 1949 line. Popularized in
the lighter-weight 1949 Oldsmobile 88, the OHV V8
engine became an industry standard for many years
after. Chevrolet’s introduction of the small block V8
engine in 1955 set the benchmark for future V8s, as
evidenced by its basic design still being used fifty years
later.

• Self-adjusting brakes. First introduced by Studebaker in
1950. It would take the Big Three several more years
to make use of this feature.

• Memory seats. Mercury advertised this feature with its
all-new 1957 models as the “Seat-O-Matic,” an electrically
operated seat adjustment that would remember
seating positions for several di›erent drivers. The
memory seat would soon appear in other makes such
as Imperial and Lincoln.

• Cruise control. Introduced by Chrysler Corporation on
the 1958 Imperial, and promptly followed by General
Motors as an option on the 1959 Cadillac line.

• Speed sensitive radio volume adjustment. First appeared
as a listed option for the 1957 Thunderbird. It is not
known how many were actually produced, if any.

• Retractable hardtop. A manual version was first seen on
the 1946 Playboy two-seat runabout. Ford later picked
up on the idea and introduced an electro-hydraulically
operated retractable hardtop for its 1957, 1958 and 1959
Fairlane 500 (Galaxie) Skyliner.
• Trip computer. Though a full-function trip computer
would only be seen in later cars, the 1957 Mercury
Turnpike Cruiser o›ered an average speed trip computer.

• Electronic fuel injection. Chrysler introduced the first
successful electronic fuel injection on its high-performance
300 series during 1957 and 1958.

• Keyless entry and ignition starting. While this feature
did not make it into production in the fifties, it made
its first appearance on a concept car in the 1956 GM
Firebird II.

bonjour !

merci aux modérateurs d'avoir placer le post dans une section plus pertinente !