The Model T isn’t here because it was a particularly revolutionary car – it wasn’t. But the way it was produced completely rewrote the rules.
Until 1923, all cars featured a separate chassis to give the bodyshell much-needed strength – then came the Lancia Lambda, with its monocoque construction.
The fact that it wasn’t a commercial success meant rival car companies initially weren’t keen to copy its aerodynamic styling too closely, but the Chrysler Airflow was still hugely influential.
Glassfibre was the wonder material of the 1950s. It allowed low-volume companies to offer bodyshells to reclothe pre-war cars that had rotted away.
Although Jaguar was the first car maker to fit a modern design of disc brake to its C-Type racer, it was Citroën which brought such technology to the road, with its avantgarde DS.
The Mini wasn’t especially advanced technically; everything incorporated in this tiny marvel had been seen elsewhere before.
In 1958 the first mid-engined Formula One cars lined up on the grid. Four years later, the same technology reached the road, with Bonnet’s Djet, to create a car with perfect balance.
Think sixties American car and you think V8-powered coupé with massive power. Or in other words, muscle car. This is where it all started; the Pontiac GTO of 1964.
Citroën was the first to offer a front-wheel drive hatchback with its 1939 Traction Avant Commerciale.
This feature could have been filled with Volvos, the company has introduced so many safety-related firsts, such as the three-point front seatbelt in 1959.