The first car with an actual refrigeration system was the 1940 model year Packard.
More and more now, air conditioning is becoming one of the integral car parts
of any medium sized or larger vehicle.
In 1929, American Paul Galvin, the head of Galvin Manufacturing Corporation,
invented the first car radio. The first car radios were not available from carmakers.
Consumers had to purchase the radios separately. Galvin coined the name "Motorola"
for the company's new products combining the idea of motion and radio. Now the
sophistication of current car
audio systems can far exceed home hif-fi systems, with security including
seperate head units being of considerable concern. Removable car stereos are
more cumbersome to carry around, but with the advent of head units where the
front of the stereos facia is removable provide much more convenience. Head
units typically contain all the surface control functionality including a special
head unit 'code' that matches the stereo body so that only head units with the
same code as the body can operate the stereo.
Daimler introduced electric windows in cars in 1948.
The first electronic fuel injection system for cars was invented in 1966 in
Britain.
Canadian Thomas Ahearn invented the first electric car heater in 1890. Since, particularly with the advent of the microprocessor, heaters have become one of the increasingly complex motor parts. Containing electric pre-heaters which work to heat the cabin whilst the engine is warming up the engine coolant, with the heat then being taken from the coolant to heat the cabin. With climate control systems, amongst the most digitally controlled motor parts, personal in car comfort is taken to another level with integration with air-conditioning.
On April 25, 1901 the state of New York became the first state to require car license plates by law. The very first license plates were called number plates - first issued in 1893 in France by the police. Since, at the somewhat disaproval of the authorities, car number plates have become one of the most customised of car accessories.
Belts Volvo had the first safety belts in 1849. Swedish inventor, Nils Bohlin
invented the three-point seat belt - not the first but the modern seatbelt -
now standard safety car parts. Nils Bohlin's lap-and-shoulder belt was introduced
by Volvo in 1959, which has become the standard for amongst saftey motor parts.
Ferdinand Porsche invented the first supercharged Mercedes-Benz SS & SSK sports cars in Stuttgart, Germany in 1923. Still considered to be one of the most luxory of motor car parts, perhaps due to the increased fuel consumption compared to exhaust gas driven turbo-charging.
Francis W. Davis invented power steering. In the 1920s, Davis was the chief engineer of the truck division of the Pierce Arrow Motor Car Company, and he saw first hand how hard it was to steer heavy vehicles. Davis quit his job and rented a small engineering shop in Waltham, MA. He developed a hydraulic power steering system that led to power steering. Power steering became commercially available by 1951. Since it has become one of the defacto car parts in any medium sized or larger vehicle. Even the smallest super-mini's come with at least the option of power steering now amongst other motor parts and car accessories provided by manufacturers.
The possible sources for car accessories are obviously boundless, but care with where those motor spares are being obtained from can save alot of time and money in the future. The scrapyard can provide motor spares for older vehicles but the risk is allways taken as to how the previous owners of the vehicle treated it. Further, there may be serious saftey issues with such car accessories - e.g. hairline cracks in metal hard to identify when covered in years of old oil and grease.
Alternately, car accessories may be sourced from reconditioners where the car accessories are cleaned, and then inspected. As long as you are aware of the reputation of the reconditioners that are inspecting the motor spares, then there may be no issue. But beware of those that simply take car accessories from a dismantled car and place in a cleaning bath and then straight onto the shelf-you are little better off than walking into a scrapyard and taking the motor spare off the car.
Buying new car accessories is much less hazardous, compared to sourcing second hand motor spares, when giving the supplier the make and model of your vehicle, the supplier can provide the exact motor spares your require. When aquiring car accessories from a scrapyard or reconditioner it is often necessary to take the orginal part so as to compare with the salvage part to check it is right. Obviously then there is the benefit of knowing the motor spares are unworn and has a good life expectency than the chance taken with slavaged motor spares. New motor spares will also come with some form of guarantee.