This is the first hybrid production car. It was built in 1898. No, that isn't a typo. Truly new ideas are few and far between, and nowhere is that more true than in the auto industry. From fuel injection to run-flat tires and even hybrids, the auto industry has been there, done that. It doesn't always stick the first time because timing and delivery are everything.
Some of the coolest automotive technology came about before the public was ready for it. But we can look back and see the cars that featured it were well ahead of their time. And so we present Autopia’s top 10 cars that were ahead of their time. Each contributed something significant to the mix: They often fell flat in the showroom, but sooner or later the innovation they heralded changed the face of motoring.
1898 Lohner-Porsche Mixte-Hybrid
The world's first gas-electric car (pictured above) was built by 18-year-old Ferdinand Porsche as he worked his first job with coach-builder Jacob Lohner & Co from 1898 to 1906. Propelled by four electric-drive hubs, the gas- and battery-powered car carried almost two tons of lead-acid batteries and reached a top speed of 37 mph. Three hundred were sold during Porsche's eight-year tenure with Lohner. In 1906 Porsche was recruited by Austro-Daimler as chief designer. When he left, Lohner said, “He is very young, but is a man with a big career before him. You will hear of him again.”
Photo: Porsche.com
1934 Citroën Traction Avant
The Traction Avant is named for its innovative front-wheel drive design, and the moniker means “forward traction.” The innovative drivetrain wasn’t the only forward-thinking aspect of the Avant. The car used a unibody design, which integrates the bodywork with structural members to eliminate the need for a separate frame. The result is a lighter car. Citroën produced the car from 1934 until 1937 1957. It wasn't the first front-wheel-drive production car – that title goes the 1928 Alvis – but it was the first successful front-wheel-drive production car.
Photo: jamesclay/Flickr
1948 Tucker
Preston Tucker packed more innovation into his one car than the Big Three offered in their entire lineups. The Tucker Torpedo – later shortened to "The Tucker" given post-war sensibilities – featured several industry firsts, including seat belts, a third headlight that turned with the wheels, a perimeter frame with integrated roll-bar crash protection and a hemispherical combustion engine. It also was remarkably aerodynamic. Its drag coefficient of 0.27 is an impressive figure on par with the current Toyota Prius. And then there's the stuff that never left the drawing board: magnesium wheels, disc brakes, fuel injection and self-sealing tubeless tires. Tucker was plagued by bad publicity in the wake of a U.S. Securities and Trade Commission investigation initiated by a Michigan senator, whom many believe was acting on behalf of the Big Three. We can only imagine where American automakers might be today if the Tucker saw full production. Instead, just 51 were built, and they can fetch more than $1 million today.
Photo: braintoad/Flickr
1967 NSU Ro80
The fully independent suspension car from the 1960s that could pass for a 1980s Ford … only better. German auto and motorcycle manufacturer NSU created the Ro80, best known for its dual-500cc Wankel rotary power plants amongst other innovations. The Ro80 featured a vacuum operated clutchless manual transmission, inboard disc brakes to reduce unsprung weight and power-assisted rack-and-pinion steering. Unfortunately, a rough-running Ford V4 often replaced the misunderstood smooth-running Wankel motor. In 1969 NSU was bought by VW and merged with Auto Union to become Audi NSU Auto-Union A.G. After the last Ro80 rolled off the line in 1977, NSU branding disappeared completely.
Photo: geralds_1311/Flickr
1975 Volvo 240
Volvo is synonymous with safety, and in 1972 Volvo created the Volvo Experimental Safety Car concept to test and demonstrate new technology. The concept included crumple zones, rollover protection, a collapsing steering wheel, anti-lock brakes, auto-locking seat belts, airbags and pop-up head rests. It even had a back-up camera, something that wasn't a factory option on cars until a few years ago! The Experimental Safety Car gave birth to the Volvo 240, sans back-up camera unfortunately. The car didn't change much during a 20-year run. In 1976 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration bought 25 of them; they set the side-impact and other standards for the entire industry. In 1991 the Volvo 240 wagon, pretty much unchanged since 1975, was voted the safest vehicle in America. The last Volvo 240 rolled off the line in 1993.
Photo: dhwright/Flickr
1980 AMC Eagle
AMC was in a bind in the late 1970s. The oil embargo was over, but AMC was stuck with the ailing Jeep line and an aging lineup of passenger cars. So what did it do? It mashed them together to create the world’s first full-time four-wheel-drive passenger car. Yes, AMC barely edged out Audi and Subaru, which had superior vehicles. But first is first. The Eagle came in two-, three- and four-door models and even a convertible, and it paved the way for the all-wheel-drive passenger car market (for better or worse) and the crossover utility vehicles of today (for better or worse). AMC built some 200,000 Eagles until Chrysler bought the company in 1987.
Photo: intuitivecat/Flickr
1986 Porsche 959
"Bad-ass" is the first thing that comes to mind with the Porsche 959. It made 450 horsepower and nearly 500 foot-pounds of torque back when such figures were almost unheard of in a road car – and it did so with a tiny 2.8-liter engine. A computer-controlled all-wheel drive system made sure that insane level of power made its way to the ground. The 959 was a race car with turn signals and A/C that dominated rallying and the 24 Hours of LeMans as well. It still looks modern 23 years later and is still almost certainly more car than you can handle.
Photo: shanafin/Flickr
1991 Infiniti Q45a
Back in the early 1990s, the Japanese launched high-end spinoff brands to compete against the luxury rat-pack of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Jaguar. Infiniti's first attempt, the Q45a, was a colossal failure with mediocre styling, zero name recognition and so-so interior appointments. But it offered an active suspension system that reduced body roll in turns while absorbing bumps, wallows and potholes and maintaining a level body. Some argued the car's computing power wasn't fast enough to keep up with the road, but the improvement in handling and ride quality was impressive. So too was the $4,000 price tag for a suspension option now offered as standard equipment on many of today’s top luxury and performance cars.
Photo: IFCAR
1996 GM EV-1
We're not about to wade into the debate over how and why General Motors killed the EV1 and whether the car was commercially viable. Suffice it to say the electric car was a wondrous machine and a technological marvel. First-gen cars produced between 1996 and 1999 used lead-acid batteries with a range of 70 to 100 miles; the second-gen models used nickel-metal hydride that bumped the range to 80 to 140 miles. GM built the cars to appease the California Air Resources Board, which was coming down hard on emissions to improve air quality. General Motors (and other automakers) fought the mandate and argued there was no market for EVs. GM built 1,117 EV1s and leased them to consumers; it argued the cars were not profitable and canceled the program in late 2003, took back the cars and crushed all but two of them. Those so inclined can argue the details and conspiracy theories in the comments.
Image: General Motors
1999 Honda Insight
Leave it Honda to create a hybrid vehicle when we were paying a buck and change for a gallon of gas. The Honda Insight was the first gas-electric hybrid sold in North America. It was a revolutionary vehicle, which is one reason it didn't really catch on. Beyond the innovative drivetrain, the car featured an ultra-aerodynamic drag-coefficient of 0.25 and futuristic design. It also got as much as 70 mpg, setting a benchmark current hybrids – including the current Honda Insight – are still trying to attain. Of course, Toyota came along with the Prius shortly after Honda introduced the Insight, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Photo: beigephotos/Flickr
We obviously can't run down every car that was ahead of its time, so use the Reddit widget below to tell us what we missed and why it's so damn cool. But these were the ones that really stuck in our minds. Think we forgot one? Let us know, we're itching to know what we left out of your top 10.
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