As motorists we’ve become accustomed to certain features being fitted to our cars as standard. Little touches which make our motoring lives a little easier, a little safer or – if anything – just a little more interesting.
However, though some of these technologies may be commonplace nowadays, they had some special beginnings, in some pretty special cars. Let’s take a look at them.
Keyless entry – W220 Mercedes S-Class
Keyless entry is a common feature on modern cars. Turning a key in the barrel to get a car started is old-school nowadays; it’s far more fitting to spark an engine into life by pressing a button, the key safely stowed away in your pocket.
But this technology hasn’t always been around. In fact, it first showed up back in 1998 in the Mercedes S Class – a car which has, time after time, debuted some cutting-edge tech. This isn’t the last time we’ll see it on this list, either.
Tyre pressure monitoring system – Porsche 959
There was a time when you checked the amount of air in your tyres by attaching it to a valve metal valve, and though this is still commonplace in garages, it’s been replaced in the cars themselves by tyre pressure monitoring systems. A light on the dashboard, or even an alert in the in-car computer now shows you when your pressures are low, or when you’ve got a puncture.
This technology was first introduced by the groundbreaking Porsche 959 – a car which was particularly cutting-edge when it was introduced in the late 1980s. It’s a system which is now fitted to all manner of cars, from the humble hatchback right up to the top-notch supercar.
Around-view monitoring system – Infinti EX
Around-view monitoring systems are a helpful bit of technology available on a lot of new cars – particularly larger ones which take a little more effort to park or position. And though the system is available on plenty of new cars – both budget and premium – there was a time when it could only be specified on just one.
That was the Infiniti EX. Back in 2008, it was the very first production car to use the technology, utilising a series of cameras dotted around the car to provide a single ‘birds eye’ view of the car, relayed to the driver via a central screen.
Adaptive Cruise Control – Mercedes S Class
Yes, we said that the Mercedes S Class would be appearing in this list again – and here it is. Back in 1999, Mercedes implemented its ‘Distronic’ cruise control system, and it was first time that the radar-controlled technology had been fitted to a passenger car. Now, it’s commonplace to have cars which slow and speed themselves up to speeds set by the driver.
We’ll add something in. Toyota did preview a similar system a year earlier, but this utilised lasers instead of radar – and it was only available on the Celsior, which didn’t come to the UK.
Satellite navigation – BMW 7 Series (E38)
These days, few people would manage to get behind the wheel and get to an unknown location without help from a satellite navigation system. Not only do they show you where to go, but they estimate arrival times and inform of traffic en-route, too.
The first time it appeared, on European roads at least, was in 1994 on BMW’s then-brand new 7 Series. Developed with Philips, it was the first time that whoever was behind the wheel could enter a destination and have the route mapped out for them. Again, a caveat; this technology did appear on other cars earlier on, but none came to the UK.