I was thinking about who made some of the things we take for granted today standared equipment on automobiles. Take for instance my 1915 Buick has no windshild wipers. I know that these could be added as an accessory but who was the first to make it standard equipment?

Get your thinking caps on guys and girls. I bet we could build quite a list from this of optional, or accessory equipment that became standard.

Another would be, When did the Automatic transmission become standard, and the standard transmission become optional?

Dave!

Here's an obscure fact. The first Ford with foot wells was the Continental Mark II. All previous Fords had X frames and flat floors.

I believe the Mark II was very early in implementing the padded dash and seat belts.

Chrysler had a padded dash in 1951 as standard equipment. Tucker was to offer seat belts in 1948 but never reached production.

I think Chrysler and DeSoto made their Fluid Drive standard equipment in the 40s. If I had to pick a year it would be 1947 or maybe earlier. I have heard of manual trans Chryslers and DeSotos so they must have been available to special order.

Cadillac made Hydramatic standard equipment in 1950, that year they made 4 Model 61 hardtops with synchromesh, 3 for Briggs Cunningham and one for Tom McCahill. These were the last model 61s, and the last manual trans Cadillacs until the Cimmaron in the early 80s.

In the teens front doors, windshield, lights, speedometer and roof were optional on some cars.

Front wheel brakes were not even optional, they did not appear until 1921 at the earliest.

And Hydrolic brakes were first used in the late 20's. Anyone remember who? Dave!

Buick had the Self Shifter in 1938 but did not come out with the dynaflow until 1948.

1921 Duesenberg.

Now the vacuum assist power brake was introduced later, 7 years later. Who did that?

Also the first ABS system was introduced in 1966 on what car?

I think Kaiser may have been the first mass produced car with a padded dash.

The model 61 Cadillac lasted to 1951. It was dropped for 1952. You could get a manual transmission in a Cadillac through 1953, but you had to order it that way. Very few were. There's at least one 1953 Eldorado with a three speed. Many of the commercial chassis had the 3 speed too. It's the same transmission the pre war Cadillacs used. There were more than 4 Cadillac passanger cars in 1950 with the three speed. I think who ordered them new would have been old men who wouldn't give up standard shift.

Oldsmobile made Hydra-Matic Drive standard on the '49 88s and 98s.

Jensen interceptor,

Hey Fellows, I recived this bit of information in an email. from a local BCA member.

Dave,
Inventor William M. Folberth, in 1919, applied for a patent for an automatic windshield wiper apparatus. The patent was granted in 1922. It was the first automatic mechanism. Trico later settled a in a patent dispute with Folberth and purchased Folberth's Cleveland company, the Folberth Auto Specialty Co. The new vacuum-powered system quickly became standard equipment on automobiles, and the vacuum principle was in use until about 1960.
-Ken

I do know that Dodge pickups had Vacumm wipers in 56 and electric in 1957. Also in 1957 the Dodge pickups went to a 12 volt system. I also know that the ealy Dodge cars with the North East system in the teens and 20's were 12 volt. They went to 6 volt in the late 20's or early 30's. It seems to me that Volkwagon was about the last to change from 6 to 12 in the 60's. Who went to 12 volts first when everyone was switching in the 50's? Dandy Dave!

I think Chrysler was the first to have hydraulic brakes as standard equipment through all there models in 1925. it took Henry till the late 40's to fit them to his cars

Kissel had hydraulic brakes in 1927. Used the same Lockheed system as Chrysler, Wills St Clair, etc.

Elmo--Duesenberg had hydraulic brakes before Chrysler.
standard equipment.

The first production hydraulic brakes were indeed Duesenberg, and the first cars in the hands of the public were late 1921. (My car, the 30th made, was imported into Mexico in June 1922; so they did mot make great numbers.
The prototype touring at the 1921 Show in NY with the horizontal valve engine had the contracting hydraulic band brakes, which were used by Rickenbacker as well as others quoted. On basis of stopping distances, and even lining wear, A duesenberg brakes compare well with any drum brakes ever made.
Though Murphy's 3 litre Duesenberg which won the 1921 French Grand Prix by the comfortable margin of 15 minutes is often quoted as the first racing use of hydraulics, this is not correct. The open bodied Miller built for A A Cadwell in 1917 had contracting band four-wheel hydraulics fitted in 1919. As for Chrysler, 1925 is incorrect. The first Chryslers with that nice rounded radiator shell had contracting hydraulic band brakes in 1924. (According to Keith Marvin's book "Cars of 1923" the first were built in 1923).
Isotta Fraschini's four wheel brake patent dates from Feb 1910, and most of their models had them from about that time. These must have been quite a handfull to stop in a hurry, because the front brakes were operated by a separate, (second), handbrake lever.
Isotta were also early with a vacuum brake servo on the Tipo 8A in 1924. Minerva may have had a Dewandre vacuum servo on their larger models from about then. I have not examined one closely, but I recollect that Chenard Walcher may have had a servo about then, too: It was an odd combination of Perrot plus a big transmission brake on the pedal, and with the handbrake lever operating drums at the rear wheels.
Ivan Saxton

OK fellows, when was the first heater installed as standard equipment in an automobile? Dave!

I suppose the first unintentional car heaters may have been a big exhaust running close to metal floor plates. The 1923 Duesenberg, which has been in Melbourne from new, has an exhaust floor insert heater in the rear compartment. The similar one pictured belongs to the Fisher 7 passenger sedan body on my 1922 V61 Cadillac. Now I cannot tell you what year Cadillac in actually came from; because it had been taken from the original car, and used for years on one of those ostentatious Grecian radiatored English cars. It was probably fron a 1921-24 Cadillac. I suspect that the heaters like this may have more often been optional equipment. This might prompt someone to give you a more definitive answer, Dave.

Also for you, Stirling has taken image for you of the most involved of three units of a Bragg Kliesrath vacuum brake booster of a 1928-9 Stutz. The un-machined aluminium casting
is for duplication of the servo-assist control valve from the dashboard. The third item which is missing is just a vacuum storeage tank. (Is that a silly term? How can you you store something which is nothing?)
Ivan Saxton

ps Caleb Bragg was one of the early Mercer T head racing drivers

Add on heaters apparently date to the mid 20s. The first car with a built in heating and ventilating system was the 1939 or 40 Nash Weather Eye.

Heaters remained optional on most cars until the 60s I think.

Rusty, I think you'll find that Chrysler introduced the first padded dash with the second-series Silver Anniversary '49 models.
Rusty Shepherd

The model 61 was the smallest Cadillac built using the GM B body.

Supposedly there were only 4 model 61 hardtops made with synchromesh transmission. Sportsman Briggs Cunningham bought 3 and road tester Tom McCahill bought one.

Cunningham ran 2 of these Caddies in the LeMans 24 hour. One with the stock body and another called "Le Monstre" rebodied according to the design of a Grumman airplane co. engineer. It looked like an aircraft carrier next to the European sports cars.

Can you imagine entering a Cadillac hardtop at Le Mans today?

This info came from some old stories by McCahill. I have found him pretty reliable over the years.