What are some of the best things American car makers have come up with?

[ColbertWatcher]

I posted another thread (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4580996&mesg_id=4580996) asking what were some of the mistakes American car makers have made in their history, this thread will ask you to post some of the better things Detroit has come up with.

I'm asking for actual things the Big Three automakers have done--not what you'd like to see them do--but stuff they've actually done that you think were good ideas.

Same "rules" apply as in the "failure" thread:

You can list only the current models, you can list models going back as far as the 1970's or you can go all the way back to the Model A--go back as far as you want to support your argument that the car makers messed up.

You can list improvements they enthusiastically backed--but didn't improve anything--improvements they didn't make--but others did--poorly designed models, legislation they supported, legislation they didn't support, business model failures, marketing failures, etc.

For me it was when they made car engines such that anyone with a garage could work on them. I really hated it when they started making the engines so cramped that you had to buy specialty tools (from the dealer no less) to do even simple oil changes.

[taterguy]

1. Freedom

[yurbud]

2. muscle cars

[yurbud]

3. anything they made before about 1970

[MercutioATC]

5. I have to give them some credit...they're reviving the muscle car bodies.

(well, sorta)

The new Mustang isn't a bad looking car...and the new Challenger has the old muscle car look.

Personally, though, I'd rather have one of the originals...and for now I'm very happy with performance import sedans.

[ColbertWatcher]

47. It worked for the PT Cruiser. n/t

[MercutioATC]

69. I never understood the appeal of that car.

A boxy body on a Neon chassis...

[Kalyke]

66. I have a new Mustang.

The car is awesome. Handles well, gets excellent gasoline mileage and is never in the shop like my husband's imported sedan.

[sammytko]

4. I like the OnStar in my Buicks (2)

I used to travel through some remote areas of Texas. It was great to have the security of satellite phone capability and 24 hr assistance.

[One_Life_To_Give]

6. Survive Cold start to 3000RPM

Motors that could survive a cold start immediatly to 3000RPM, followed by short slow drives so the engine would never come all the way up to temp.

Enough torque that people could drive standards without having to shift other than stopping/starting.

Enough room so you could crawl into the engine compartment to work on them.

Floor Vents, Wing Mirrors, 4 Wheel Brakes, Hydraulic Brakes. Just to name a few.

[Bucky]

7. Rims

Also, fuzzy dice.

[Greyhound]

8. Every good idea I've thought up has come from somebody else

and was, eventually, adopted by the Big Three. (My first thought cup holders, alas my first Japanese car had them at least 5 years before they were adopted)

Sorry.:shrug:

[ColbertWatcher]

11. I remember having to buy those plastic things that hanged from the windows! LOL! n/t

[DonEBrook]

48. Plastic Jesus?

I don't care if it rains or freezes...



:rofl:

[tekisui]

9. 1990 Ford Ranger.

Mine has over 300,000 miles on the original engine. When something goes wrong, I fix it and keep driving. I have driven it cross country several times, slept in it, and have used it as my source of livelihood and transportation for 5+years now.

[Shardik]

21. That's great, but for your safety, you might want to either blur the license plate

or remove the pic.

:hi:

[tekisui]

51. I took your advice.

Too late to edit, so I removed it. Here it is again:

[Shardik]

60. Now THERE'S a great pic!

:hi:

[Sequoia]

10. I like intermitten wippers and rear defoggers.

But don't know if it was an American idea first.

[3waygeek]

31. The recently released film

Flash of Genius describes the invention of intermittent wipers by a basement inventor. The idea was stolen by Detroit, of course; so the inventor sued the auto companies.

[Sequoia]

68. I didn't know that, thanks.

[hatrack]

12. The Kettering Engine

nt

[ColbertWatcher]

29. Could you elaborate a little, please? n/t

[Tesha]

70. More information...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_F._Kettering

[pipi_k]

13. Well, I'm sorta partial to the

electric move up-and-down, backwards-and-forward seats

Because I have long legs but I'm short from the waist up and it really helps to be able to raise the driver's seat height while moving it back so my legs aren't squashed against the pedals....

[DemoTex]

14. Split bench front seat and adjustable steering wheel.

I hate a standard front bench seat where everyone sits where the driver wants to sit. But then I haven't owned an American car since 1972 and it had bucket seats.

[JVS]

15. Auto financing.

[MichiganVote]

16. The GTO, the Cutlass for style, the bare bones trucks for cheap, the mini van for families.

[SoCalDem]

17. Bring back bare bones vehicles..make the fancy stuff "extras"

:)

[ColbertWatcher]

32. I agree with this one. (Not that I don't agree with the others!) n/t

[SoCalDem]

33. My husband wants a new truck

and he does NOT want/need:
CD player
Sooper-duper amp system
luxurious carpeting
etc..

he wants 6 cyl
longbed/crew
power DRIVER'S side window
AC/power brakes
& that's basically IT in the upgrades..

try to find that truck..we have:(

[ColbertWatcher]

34. I agree.

I remember it used to be the goal to find the best stripped-down vehicle and basically design your own add-ons!

[FreeJG]

18. HEALTHCARE!!!!

Need I say more? They give healthcare to their workers and retirees! Do you know how many people they buy healthcare for? So many...those working and those retired.

THAT my friend is the edge the foreign auto makers have over us...Japan gives citizens healthcare so the auto makers in Japan, don't have to pay for that. With the outrageous costs...this is what is bringing the industry down. It is NOT their fault. Take this burdon away, and you have a fix with the other things they are willing to do.

[ColbertWatcher]

50. I wish I could kick and rec your post. n/t

[OffWithTheirHeads]

19. I think the assembly line was a pretty good idea

And I love my 06 Ford pickumup truck

[ColbertWatcher]

37. Actually, I think you nailed it.

As far as manufacturing goes, the assembly line was brilliant.

Thank you for posting.

[riverwalker]

20. hatchback

Had a little Plymouth Sundance with the hatchback and the rear seat could fold down. I could haul furniture, fencing, almost a pick-up load of stuff with that little car. They quit making them, so went with a Subaru.

[ColbertWatcher]

38. Thank you for posting this!

Such an obvious innovation looking back on it.

[ThomWV]

22. Our Automatic Transmissions have always been the world's best

Really, we had dependable automatics when europe wouldn't even touch them and the Japanese hadn't exported a car yet. I think we may have originated anti-lock brakes too, but that may have been the Germans or English.

[Tesha]

23. Tail fins, definitely! (NT)

[ThomWV]

25. A girl I went to grade school was killed when she rode her bicycle into a tail fin

In Rockville, Maryland; it would have been right around 1960, or maybe '61. She rode down a very long hill and the car was parked at the bottom. I believe it was a '59 Cadillac. At any rate she rode the bicycle into the back of it and was thrown into the tail fin/tail-light assembly which stabbed through her chest and killed her immediately. She was a year or possibly two younger than I so she was probably about 9.

[trof]

24. The minivan.

Except VW did it first.
But Chrysler brought it mainstream.
Most versatile transportation I've ever owned.
Got one now.

[ileus]

26. Jeep CJ/YJ/TJ/KJ

[Stuart G]

27. turn signals...heaters in cars......automatic starters.....

[Stuart G]

28. safety items...........seat belts.............didn't the U.S. Car companies..invent..air bags?

[LeftyMom]

35. Domestic car companies fought like hell against seat belts, and were slow to adopt them.

Volvo introduced (enormously safer) three point seatbelts in the outboard rear seats in the late 60's. US models got them in 1989, and didn't start offering three point seatbelts in all seating positions in many models until the 2007 model year.

That's decades from the clear identification of a problem ("seatbelt syndrome") to adoption of a low-cost lifesaving solution.

[ColbertWatcher]

40. Has the American car manufactures ever created a new safety feature? n/t

[TahitiNut]

42. Yes. Collapsible steering column and steering wheel ... both American innovations.

They were developed without legislative edict, too. The American companies also developed the door latches that didn't spring open in a crash. That was also prior to any edict. Going back a little further, "auto glass" (laminated safety glass) was first developed by American auto companies. This glass then made its way into a number of other uses.

[ColbertWatcher]

45. "developed without legislative edict" Does DU have a fainting smiley? n/t

[TahitiNut]

49. Well, how do you think the legislators ever got the idea they could do it?

It was the track record of the auto companies in developing safety features that caused legislators to jump in and make it an edict ... and then take 'credit' for making drivers safer. At one time, there was an "unholy alliance" between auto companies and legislators that led to legislation that required safety features ... ONLY offered on American-made cars. (Neat way to put a trade barrier in place, huh?)

Auto companies once understood that a dead driver wasn't a "return customer."

[ColbertWatcher]

53. Auto companies used to know a lot of things. n/t

[LeftyMom]

57. Laminated glass comes from France.

I looked that one up before I posted. So do steering wheels, which were also in use in British cars before domestics. And yes, it took a law to get the collapsible steering column into the domestic fleet.

[Thothmes]

61. Yes, but Ford was installing it in automobiles

in 1927.

[LeftyMom]

52. Airbags. But they marketed them as a seatbelt replacement, rather than a supplemental device.

That went badly, needless to say.

I can't think of any created and first successfully implemented by an American car company, to be honest. I looked up a few I wasn't totally sure about, just to make sure, so believe me, I'm trying. So far, I'm having a hard time finding any safety feature newer than the 40s that didn't get introduced on a Mercedes or a Volvo.

[Thothmes]

44. safety glass in windshields.

[LeftyMom]

58. French, and invented in the early 1900s.

[Thothmes]

62. When did the French start installing it in low cost

automobiles.

[MiniMe]

65. I remember when seatbelts were a feature you paid extra for

[TahitiNut]

30. Drive-in movies, drive-in hamburger stands, and cruising Woodward.

:shrug:

[ColbertWatcher]

36. LOL! I guess you could include "the back seat" too! n/t

[TahitiNut]

41. Without a doubt ... and the reclining seats of the Nash Rambler, too.

Make-out heaven on wheels.
:dunce:

[pdxmom]

39. Power steering, electric starters (instead of those damn cranks), Mustangs. N/T

[ogneopasno]

43. IHC pickups and Scouts, the Mustang, and the new Ford Taurus and Focus. Great cars, all of 'em.

For different reasons, of course.

[DonEBrook]

46. Cup holders. All the other stuff is just crap.

:rofl:

[flvegan]

54. Insanity.

American car makers, when they want to, can make very good, very bonkers cars that you WANT to drive and just make you smile when you walk towards it.

2 generations of the Corvette ZR1

1987 Buick Grand National/GNx

1989 Pontiac Turbo Trans Am Pace Car

GMC Cyclone/Typhoon

The reincarnation of the GTO and the current G8

Ford GT

Dodge Viper

I could go on for quite some time...

[yurbud]

55. Saturn EV1 electric car--people were on waiting lists to buy it

[Inkyfuzzbottom]

56. The 1969 Camaro

I had one in high school in the 70's. THAT was a car.

[madokie]

59. The electric starter

[JNelson6563]

63. One word: Corvette

:toast:

[LanternWaste]

64. The 1957 Chevy 2-Dr Bellaire.

The 1957 Chevy 2-Dr Bellaire. But yeah-- I agree with you also: the car I had in HS and college had an engine that allowed to me access almost every portion I needed to muck around with. These days, not so much...

[MasonJar]

67. If it were not for the millions of employees, I'd say let them go under.

The bankruptcy angle seems to be a means to slit the workers' benefits.

[OxQQme]

71. Moving the gas tank

from virtually in your lap (filler opening was right in front of the windshield) to the rear of the car at the end of the Model A run.