Most influential cars in history?

[TheGhost]

Someone started this thread on another forum I'm on, and I thought it was a good idea.


Basically, state what you believe to be the most influential automobile in history.  American history, world history, it doesn't matter.  Also, state why you believe so.

For my choice, I'm gonna say the first car ever built (whatever it was) being the most influential automobile in history, simply because it started it all. Followed closely by the Model T, which was the car that paved the way for the automobile industry as we know it today.

Now, for the honorable mentions (I don't know much about the foreign makes, which is why I only included 2 foreign cars in this list):

*DISCLAIMER*  This list was put together with the best of my knowledge, with very little research done on my part, just from information I've picked up over the years.  If I'm mistaken on something, feel free to correct me.

The 64 Tempest LeMans GTO, for being the car that started the American Muscle revolution.

The Corvette, for being the first true American sports car, and, arguably the longest running continuously produced automobile in history (I'm not counting the ONE year they didn't make any, as far as I know, production was only put on hold, not stopped completely).

The Minivan (started by Chrysler), for revolutionizing the family vehicle.

The Mustang, for creating the Pony car, and for being the most successful American automobile in history.

The VW Beetle, for easily being the most produced, and sold, automobile in history. Also, for the longest production run with no major changes in styling or engineering.

The Nissan Skyline, for being the car with the most rabid and annoying fanboys in history (teh Skyline will NEVAR LOSE!!!!11onehundredeleven!!1)

[1969chargerrtse]

I agree with all of those except the Nissan.

[Ghoste]

The Model T for the obvious reason.  Then I suppose I could agree with most of your other picks.  I'm not sure I'd call the Vette a most influential car, a very popular one but I can't look around and see that it influenced much.  Same for the Skyline and arguably even the Beetle.  I would perhaps leave the VW on the list for a different reason than the ones you stated, I would leave it on for being the first import to truly breach the American market.  It's influence wasn't in the length of time they produced an ugly car without changing it but altering the American perception of foreign cars and thus opening the gateway to the current auto world.

[b5blue]

To me it would be the GWP Jeep! Nothing on wheels went through more hell and is still around! (I still miss my stolen CJ 3A )

[moparstuart]

chrysler air flow  ahead of it's time but started the aero dynamics thing

   tucker had all the safety stuff that ended up on all cars 20-30 years later

[Brock Samson]

"For my choice, I'm gonna say the first car ever built (whatever it was) being the most influential automobile in history, simply because it started it all".    
           
                           1769 Cugnot Steam Tractor

"The First Automobile"  (first listing from google: WikiAnswsers)




The automobile as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects an evolution that took place worldwide. It is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile. However, we can point to the many firsts that occurred along the way. Starting with the first theoretical plans for a motor vehicle that had been drawn up by both Leonardo da Vinci and Isaac Newton.

Ferdinand Verbiest from Belgium is one of the first documented inventors of the car. In the year 1672 he built the car or 'self propelled vehicle that was actually powered by steam. Ferdinand was an experimentalist and a missionary to China. He built his car in China. Hence you could rightly say, the first ever car was made in China.


In 1769, the very first self-propelled road vehicle was a military tractor invented by French engineer and mechanic, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot (1725 - 1804). Cugnot used a steam engine to power his vehicle, built under his instructions at the Paris Arsenal by mechanic Brezin. It was used by the French Army to haul artillery at a whopping speed of 2 1/2 mph on only three wheels. The vehicle had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to build up steam power. The steam engine and boiler were separate from the rest of the vehicle and placed in the front (see engraving above). The following year (1770), Cugnot built a steam-powered tricycle that carried four passengers.

In 1771, Cugnot drove one of his road vehicles into a stone wall, making Cugnot the first person to get into a motor vehicle accident. This was the beginning of bad luck for the inventor. After one of Cugnot's patrons died and the other was exiled, the money for Cugnot's road vehicle experiments ended.

Steam engines powered cars by burning fuel that heated water in a boiler, creating steam that expanded and pushed pistons that turned the crankshaft, which then turned the wheels. During the early history of self-propelled vehicles - both road and railroad vehicles were being developed with steam engines. (Cugnot also designed two steam locomotives with engines that never worked well.) Steam engines added so much weight to a vehicle that they proved a poor design for road vehicles; however, steam engines were very successfully used in locomotives. Historians, who accept that early steam-powered road vehicles were automobiles, feel that Nicolas Cugnot was the inventor of the first automobile.

After Cugnot Several Other Inventors Designed Steam-Powered Road Vehicles

* Cugnot�s vehicle was improved by Frenchman, Onesiphore Pecqueur, who also invented the first differential gear.

* In 1789, the first U.S. patent for a steam-powered land vehicle was granted to Oliver Evans.

* In 1801, Richard Trevithick built a road carriage powered by steam - the first in Great Britain.

* In Britain, from 1820 to 1840, steam-powered stagecoaches were in regular service. These were later banned from public roads and Britain's railroad system developed as a result.

* Steam-driven road tractors (built by Charles Deitz) pulled passenger carriages around Paris and Bordeaux up to 1850.

* In the United States, numerous steam coaches were built from 1860 to 1880. Inventors included: Harrison Dyer, Joseph Dixon, Rufus Porter, and William T. James.

* Amedee Bollee Sr. built advanced steam cars from 1873 to 1883. The "La Mancelle" built in 1878, had a front-mounted engine, shaft drive to the differential, chain drive to the rear wheels, steering wheel on a vertical shaft and driver's seat behind the engine. The boiler was carried behind the passenger compartment.

* In 1871, Dr. J. W. Carhart, professor of physics at Wisconsin State University, and the J. I. Case Company built a working steam car that won a 200-mile race.

Early Electric Cars

Steam engines were not the only engines used in early automobiles. Vehicles with electrical engines were also invented. Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is uncertain), Robert Anderson of Scotland invented the first electric carriage. Electric cars used rechargeable batteries that powered a small electric motor. The vehicles were heavy, slow, expensive, and needed to stop for recharging frequently. Both steam and electric road vehicles were abandoned in favor of gas-powered vehicles. Electricity found greater success in tramways and streetcars, where a constant supply of electricity was possible.

The History of Electric Vehicles Learn more about the history of electrical vehicles from 1890 to the present.

However, around 1900, electric land vehicles in America outsold all other types of cars. Then in the several years following 1900, sales of electric vehicles took a nosedive as a new type of vehicle came to dominate the consumer market.

The very first self-powered road vehicles were powered by steam engines and by that definition Nicolas Joseph Cugnot of France built the first automobile in 1769 - recognized by the British Royal Automobile Club and the Automobile Club de France as being the first. So why do so many history books say that the automobile was invented by either Gottlieb Daimler or Karl Benz? It is because both Daimler and Benz invented highly successful and practical gasoline-powered vehicles that ushered in the age of modern automobiles. Daimler and Benz invented cars that looked and worked like the cars we use today. However, it is unfair to say that either man invented "the" automobile.


   So Everette, There are actually several cars that predate the Benz  (see above) but the Benz of 1886 is most often credited with being the first actual automobile...
                 1886 Carl Benz Automobile
 

[Brock Samson]

  to anwser the question, I would list the following off the top of my head.

     these are just a few picks for now, more details and choices to follow..
The original Mini Cooper:

Reason - tight packaging small front wheel drive a formula followed by most cars today from the original Honda of 1967 and VW Rabbit to the current MiniCooper and many hundreds of designs in between. Incidentally in it's S version, it's one of the best handeling cars on the planet bar none.   

The VW Beatle:

  another super efficent design that spans over half a century of improvments right up to the 911 Turbo which will probably remain in production well after many current designs are obsolete.

910 Cord:

A true CLASSIC in every sense of the word, it's front wheel drive are shared with Miller Autos which also were influential right upto the 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado.
 

[Brock Samson]

 1948 Jaguar XK Series:

From it's dual role as both super sports cars (jags won Le Mans five times) and comfy luxury touring cars from the mid 1950s all Jags featured one piece windscreens, power rack and pinion steering and most importantly of all Disk Brakes which allowed Jags to outclass all challengers. The succesful Jaguars led to the SL Mercedes, Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Thunderbird and many many others - even the current Nissan Z can trace it's ancestory back to the X-series cars from Conventry.
A special honerable mention might go to the Fabeled Pre-WWII "SS" 100 which preceded the name change to Jaguar due to a particular German Military Unit.

MGs, Morgans still in production the Lotus 7 and even the beautiful and Classic 1937 Squire motorcar can all be traced directly back to this sporting Automobile.

[Nacho-RT74]

being serious I would add the first Chrysler 300 ever built with 331 Hemi engine on it. The begining of the powerfull cars on American brands

another one, the Mercedes Gullwing... first REAL Muscle car ever, before the GTO

[694spdRT]

I would say the first flathead V8 Fords.

[captnsim]

Carl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler for building the first practical gas powered auto. For a model I'm going with the Viktoria.

[b5blue]

Influential is the KEY word here guys! JEEP is still my vote...it influenced the outcome of a world war and has never stopped since!(can ya tell I wish they made a CJ-6.1 Hemi!)

[captnsim]

But is a Jeep a car?

[SeattleCharger]

somewhere on the list should be a classic foreign job, like classic jaguar with long hood, triumph 3, mg, ferrari,   

[WingCharger]

Dodge Brothers truck invented the first practical 4x4 truck, or something along those lines in the early 1900's...

[mikepmcs]

Jeep gets my vote too and I'll have to include the H1.  Both need no explanation, IMO.

I agree with a bunch of others more for their explanations, but I must rebut the Mustang with the Plymouth Barracuda as it was actually the first pony car by 2 weeks.

[mauve66]

wouldn't that make it  a Fishcar....................

and the 426wedges smoked the GTO to the showroom floors also, they just didn't have a marketing campaign with them

[b5blue]

Interesting topic! Lots of ideas...all good! The TR-3 was the first with standard disk brakes...the 300's started the power war! The T made cars affordable...Bugs....well...you can make dune buggy's out of them! Mini's are neat! Citroen D-5 was way ahead of it's time with front wheel drive and a smooth flowing shape (I think they were D-5's) Heck who am I kidding....Chargers! Yup someone here has to say it, all the Chargers! First car to go 200 on a NASCAR track! 

[Foreman72]

the crown vic

[TheGhost]

But is a Jeep a car?

Perhaps I should rephrase car to automobile.

[bigcountry]

1986 Pontiac Fiero

[bk72]

1986 Pontiac Fiero

[Foreman72]

as much as it utterly pains me to say...does anyone think them hybrids have been/will be an influential automobile

[bk72]

as much as it utterly pains me to say...does anyone think them hybrids have been/will be an influential automobile

maybe but i really do not like them at all

[Foreman72]

as much as it utterly pains me to say...does anyone think them hybrids have been/will be an influential automobile

maybe but i really do not like them at all

o totally agree w u there  ...but the thread is about influential automobiles after all...

[TheGhost]

as much as it utterly pains me to say...does anyone think them hybrids have been/will be an influential automobile

Perhaps.  It's far too soon to tell right now.

[Brock Samson]

  Natch?..
you really think the Mercedes 300 SL is a "Muscle Car"..  right after you list the first 300 as a powerful american car... 

Wow,.. you guys list some real hum dingers... an H1?...  I think the jeep beat it to market by about a half century.
but yes the Jeep should be on the list, maybe the Wagoneer and Cherokee with an honorable mention too.
   


BTW:
the first hybrid was a '80 american concept made by Briggs and Stratton.
 

I'd suggest the FORD 100 or even the later 150 as well,..  I know alot of folks on here have 'em,.. though a case could be made for the original Power Wagon too,.. huh Todd?.. 

Another much less popular vehicle would be the Original Mini Van, VW or Ford Or Corvair or the Dodge or the later '80s Dodge/Chysler/Plymouth version whatever,.. 

[Troy]

Influential is the KEY word here guys! JEEP is still my vote...it influenced the outcome of a world war and has never stopped since!(can ya tell I wish they made a CJ-6.1 Hemi!)

The guy I bought my 5.7 Hemi from has a shop that mostly does Hemi conversions on off-road Jeeps. Apparently it's rather simple.

Troy

[SFRT]

Model T: mechanized the usa on personal level

Jeep and its foriegn equivelants: opened the third world to western industrialism and helped win some wars.

Volkswagen and Honda Civic: introduced decent quality economy vehicles with dependability on a mass scale for the first time since the demise of the model T in 1929.

'muscle cars' are amazing, but they have had no real impact on a semiotic level except maybe for entertainment in television and movies.

[WINGR]

What about the 55 Chrysler 300, isn't that considered by many to be the first muscle car. Also, what about the 57 Chevy Bel-Air.

WINGR

[Nacho-RT74]

  Natch?..
you really think the Mercedes 300 SL is a "Muscle Car"..  right after you list the first 300 as a powerful american car... 

muscle sporty, yes!

What about the 55 Chrysler 300, isn't that considered by many to be the first muscle car. Also, what about the 57 Chevy Bel-Air.

WINGR

thats the one I told ! oh yes and the belair of course

[SeattleCharger]

ok, seems to be a couple themes going on here.   Most Influential,  not which was first.  
 
     a 1980 briggs and straton concept hybrid that nobody has ever heard, although "first", is probably not the most influential, compared to a prius or whatever, just saying,  

[TheGhost]

Another I'd like to add is whatever car first sported tailfins, setting the design standard for nearly a decade.

[Brock Samson]

welp i guess the japanese can just go and take all the credit then for the hybrids...
and Mercedes and the German SL300 too for muscle cars...
                                                       

in short,.. you guys are soooooo freakin wrong are you sure you responded to the right thread?.     

where's that smilie?..

 

the first car that "sported tailfins" was the '49 Cad... i belive that's a styleing concideration,.. we might then also include the Charger for having the first Spoiler on the rear deck in '66/67. can we at least agree on that then?..

   

[SeattleCharger]

welp i guess the japanese can just go and take all the credit then...
and Mercedes and the Germans too for muscle cars...
                                                       

the first car that "sported tailfins" was the '49 Cad... i belive that's a styleing concideration,.. we might then also include the Charger for having the first Spoiler on the rear deck in '66/67. can we at least agree on that then?..

   

   The Japanese COPIED the Charger        and Muscle cars are AMERICAN

[Ghoste]

bigcountry and bk72, I'm curious as to what you feel the Fiero influenced?  Not dissing your pick just wondering since you didn't give much detail.

[Brock Samson]

It's obvious,.. the Fiero influenced the Aztek and look how Pontiac sales took off...   








off the cliff! i guess there can be bad influences too eh?..

[Lowprofile]

A Few of my pics would be the Duesenberg , The Shelby Cobra, The Ford GT40, and the 66 Olds Toranado.

btw...the vw bug and the Jeep should be on any list.