Cars that were revolutionary

[KaJuN]

Yet another "I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet!":
https://pic.armedcats.net/2008/01/03/1953.jpg

 

[The_Finn]

I blame google images, I searched specifically for the RS4, though IIRC the RS2 was out first but I only thought it was a 2 door hatch thing. We never got them in the US so I have an excuse

you are thinking of the S2 which is based off what we in america call the Coupe Quattro but everyone else calls the Audi 90 Coupe. Interestingly i think the Latest RS4 is the frist time an RS car has come out as a sedan/coupe before it came out in avant form.

 

[argatoga]

Yet another "I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet!":
https://pic.armedcats.net/2008/01/03/1953.jpg

Heh, perhaps it was a bit too obvious.

Though to be a bit more accurate, the V8 version really started the ball rolling:

 

[WellsieTRD]

The Toyota Landcruiser. Like the MX-5 did for small roadsters, the Landcruiser showed people 4WDs could be tough and reliable

 

[thedguy]

Yet another "I can't believe this hasn't been posted yet!":

Heh, perhaps it was a bit too obvious.

Though to be a bit more accurate, the V8 version really started the ball rolling:

Personally I think those should be honorable mentions more than really revolutionary. While shoving the v8 in the corvette was pivotal for the car, it was a bit of an obvious step.

The C4 or C5 corvette is more important, as these were Corvettes that were legitimate competition to the sports car market. The C3 was a joke by 75, and before that it couldn't out corner the competition (the Cobra and E-type) so it relied on power (which the Cobra still had on it). The C2 wasn't hugely different from the C3 other than it wasn't embarrassed with engines with less than 250hp.

The C1 Corvettes, while they had decent technology on it (how many cars in 1957 had fuel injection?) the suspension still wasn't on par with the competition, and up to '57 the Thunderbird was just as good.

you are thinking of the S2 which is based off what we in america call the Coupe Quattro but everyone else calls the Audi 90 Coupe. Interestingly i think the Latest RS4 is the frist time an RS car has come out as a sedan/coupe before it came out in avant form.

Wow I failed miserably on the whole Audi front. You'd never guess I'm a fan of Audi's with the I-5 in it. I'll just stick to American cars, I seem to know them better

 

[Punisher Bass]

Harley Earl's 1938 Buick Y-Job. It was the world's first concept car, was the birth of the in house styling department, and set styling trends for the next couple of decades.

 

[richri929]

+1 the citroen ds

 

[Spectre]

Harley Earl's 1938 Buick Y-Job. It was the world's first concept car, was the birth of the in house styling department, and set styling trends for the next couple of decades.

Not so fast. When Jaguar was SS Cars, they produced this:

The SS100 Coupe was revealed at the Earl's Court Motor Show (the premier auto show in England) in 1938. It was a one off concept car, no copies were ever made or offered for sale, and after the war the ideas in it evolved into the XK120.

This was produced by an "in-house styling department" which had already designed many SS models.

I won't comment on the styling trendsetting - I just don't know enough about the fragmentary pre-war European automotive scene to say.

You have a date of release for the Y-job? I can't seem to find one.

 

[_HighVoltage_]

The Miura isn't as radical as the Countach and it didn't inspire so many other supercars. 3 things that the countach had and lots of car companies wanted to copy them:
- pop-up headlights
- huge spoiler on the back
- big vents
And let's not forget the incredibly cool scissor doors.

The Dodge Omni GLHS was definetely revolutionary for America...people just didn't want to hear about it. I'm sure that back in the 80s it would've been faster on a track than any Camaro/Firebird. ...and more economical.

 

[Punisher Bass]

Maybe it wasn't the best choice of words, but it's what I've always heard.

From what I've read, in 1927 a guy named Alfred Sloan created a new divison in GM called Art and Color Section and put Earl in charge of it. That is what eventually birthed the Y-Job. As for setting trends, you need only look at the cars GM made for the next 20 years to see influence from Earl's creation.

Something else I love about this car is that it wasn't just a non running one off show car, it was Earl's daily driver.

I also love the Holden Efijy because it makes me think of the Y-Job.

 

[KaJuN]

Personally I think those should be honorable mentions more than really revolutionary. While shoving the v8 in the corvette was pivotal for the car, it was a bit of an obvious step.

The C4 or C5 corvette is more important, as these were Corvettes that were legitimate competition to the sports car market. The C3 was a joke by 75, and before that it couldn't out corner the competition (the Cobra and E-type) so it relied on power (which the Cobra still had on it). The C2 wasn't hugely different from the C3 other than it wasn't embarrassed with engines with less than 250hp.

The C1 Corvettes, while they had decent technology on it (how many cars in 1957 had fuel injection?) the suspension still wasn't on par with the competition, and up to '57 the Thunderbird was just as good.

The main reason I posted the Corvette is because it was a fiberglass car introduced in an age of steel beasts. I consider it a forerunner to today's composite-bodied cars. Another reason I chose it was because it was such a departure from the big family cars that Detroit had been putting out for so long. You could argue that it led to the muscle cars of a decade later.

 

[sonza68]

I would think the Type 14 Lotus Elite would be the more direct forerunner to the modern composite bodied cars. It did come out 4 years after the 'vette, but instead of a plastic body set on a frame, the Elite was a full fiberglass monocoque.

 

[trionic]

Saab 92 and Saab 99 turbo

 

[thedguy]

I would think the Type 14 Lotus Elite would be the more direct forerunner to the modern composite bodied cars. It did come out 4 years after the 'vette, but instead of a plastic body set on a frame, the Elite was a full fiberglass monocoque.

Problem is that doesn't work. Even Lotus got away from it as the tolerances in the molds were just shit.

You have a date of release for the Y-job? I can't seem to find one.

It was never put into production, the Buick Le Sabre was heavily based on it though, and as Punisher said, it set quite a few styling trends (as did Earl's entire department) for years to come.

 

[BlaRo]

While Wikipedia should be taken with a grain of salt, I found this interesting:

The coup?, of which only one was made, was listed at GBP595. A few examples were supplied as chassis only to external coachbuilders.

From here. Got any more information on that extraordinary car?

 

[B33R]

cant belive nobody posted the 1956 [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Helv]300SL Gullwing, the first real sportscar ever build...

[/FONT]

 

[Spectre]

Erm.... No.

1948-1954 Jaguar XK120:

In addition, the 300SL competed in LeMans racing in the 50s. It only won once, and that was in 1952.

1951's title was captured by the above car's competition version. 1953's title was captured by the C-Type racer based off the 120. And the subsequent D-Type captured the title in 55, 56 and 57.

I'm just using this as an example; in addition, there were also sports cars well before WW2. The 300SL is only significant for winning a few races, looking cool, and having gullwing doors. Oh, and killing a bunch of race drivers. It didn't handle very well, and it couldn't stop at all. It also wasn't cheap or accessible.

Significant? Yes. Revolutionary? No.

 

[mautzel]

The 300SL is a very beautiful car, but I wouldn't call it revolutionary - neither are the Corvette or E-Type in my eyes, although the E-Type is the car i like best. Somehow they all follow the same scheme, namely to built a stunning looking sports car usually is more powerful and better to drive than its predecessor as well. And having a fibre glass boy or a turbo charger alone doesn't justify to call a car revolutionary because you'll end up lining in the Toyota Camry because it was the first car offered with Airbags as standard or something similar.

 

[Austere]

cant belive nobody posted the 1956 [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Helv]300SL Gullwing, the first real sportscar ever build...

[/FONT]

Erm.... No.

The 300SL is only significant for winning a few races, looking cool, and having gullwing doors. Oh, and killing a bunch of race drivers. It didn't handle very well, and it couldn't stop at all. It also wasn't cheap or accessible.

Significant? Yes. Revolutionary? No.

Yeah I agree that many cars could outperform it. Ever cars that were much older than it. So I wouldn't say it's performance was revolutionary.

But what of the Bosch Mechanical Fuel Injection System? Surely that's of note since it was the first time fuel injection had been used in a road car. But still tho... It's probably not what you'd call revolutionary.

 

[IceBone]

The 300SL also had the first direct injection engine, a technology which sadly didn't resurface till 1997.