Seven Wonders of the Automotive world

[Drew Dowdell]

What would be some nominations for 7 wonders of the automotive world?  I'll compile a list from your nominations and we'll have an article about it.  You don't need to nominate 7 in total, just something you think should be included on the list.

Just picking your favorite cars isn't going to be enough. The vehicle should be historically significant and/or mark a departure in automotive design/technology.   I'm going to try to include some from America, Asia, and Europe so we're not so heavily weighted.  In any case, when explaining automobiles to some alien race, these 7 vehicles should tell a story about why they are the most important ones in automotive history. 

[David]

Hummer

Skyline R33

Unimog

Yukon Denali / Escalade 1999 The start of the Luxury full size SUVs.

 

[Paolino]

1996 Taurus 🤢

[ccap41]

29 minutes ago, dfelt said:

Escalade 1999 The start of the Luxury full size SUVs

That would have to go to the 1998 Lincoln Navigator  

[ykX]

First working ICE car 1885 Benz Patent-Motorwagen 

Firs electric vehicle 1981 Gustave Trouvé's tricycle

Saab GT750 - first car with standard seat belts

 

[ykX]

First production car with modern controls arrangement - Cadillac Type 53

Edited March 6, 2019 by ykX

[ykX]

First affordable mass-produced car - Ford Model T

[ykX]

First Diesel Car - Mercedes-Benz 260 D

[ykX]

Willys CJ-2A

Volkswagen Beetle

[oldshurst442]

1.

The 1st  generally accepted working internal combustion engine vehicle.

1885 Benz Patent-Motorwagen 

 

2.  First production car with modern controls arrangement - Cadillac Type 53

 

3. The car that put not only America on wheels, but the world.

Ford Model T

 

4.  VW Beetle. The longest-running and most manufactured vehicle of a single platform ever made.

 

5. The world's most beautiful car ever made....generally accepted...which I think is the Jaguar E-Type that year after year, in these kinds of polls is always at the #1 spot or almost always is.

 

6. The  first ever concept car

The Buick Y Job

 

7. The first 4 wheel drive vehicle

The Willys Jeep

 

[riviera74]

The '99 Escalade and the '98 Navigator are good choices, but both are preceded by the original Lexus RX300.  The RX300 matters more for one reason: unibody vs BOF.  Every SUV was BOF prior to the likes of the RAV4 and CR-V back in the 1990s and the original RX300 was the first luxury CUV.

[oldshurst442]

10 minutes ago, riviera74 said:

The '99 Escalade and the '98 Navigator are good choices, but both are preceded by the original Lexus RX300.  The RX300 matters more for one reason: unibody vs BOF.  Every SUV was BOF prior to the likes of the RAV4 and CR-V back in the 1990s and the original RX300 was the first luxury CUV.

 

I agree with the sentiment...but not all that accurate either...

A unibody SUV but was small so it be closer to the modern CUV thing was really the Cherokee of the 1980s. But the CUV thing drives more like a car rather than a truck by definition...so the AMC Eagle has a place here before any Cherokee or CR-V or Lexus RX...

And... Land Rover may want say something about the luxury side of things....or even the Jeep Grand Wagoneer...

But...none of these exist if the Willys Jeep had not been invented before any Land Rover, which the first Land Rover was a reversed engineered copy of the Jeep, much like the Toyota FJ 4x4 right after the war...or Toyota's answer to the bigger Land Rover, the Land Cruiser.

The Jeep should be the only one represented here...

But that is just my opinion...

 

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by oldshurst442

[ccap41]

GT350/R

N/A American V8 with a flat plane crank, revs to 8250rpm, carbon fiber wheels brought to mass production/OEM use, 

[David]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

That would have to go to the 1998 Lincoln Navigator  

Very True, GM just did it better.  

[oldshurst442]

1 minute ago, dfelt said:

Very True, GM just did it better.  

Not for the first 5 years though...

[David]

1900 The very first auto show at Madison Square Gardens.

Great history of the industry.

https://aoghs.org/transportation/first-auto-show/

Course some seem to think that the 1885 gasoline 3 wheel Benz was the first auto, but many will debate that as even the history channel says the following:

https://www.history.com/news/who-built-the-first-automobile

For historians who think that early steam-powered road vehicles fit the bill, the answer is Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, a French military engineer who in 1769 built a steam-powered tricycle for hauling artillery.

[oldshurst442]

There is another angle I could go with. 

The title of this is the 7 WONDERS...

Just like the  buildings, arches, statues, temples that the original and new wonders represent...cars that have made us humans wonder in awe  about them them...

1. 1955 Mercedes Benz Gullwing

 

 

2. Lamborghini Countach 5000

 

3. Ferrari GT California

 

4. 1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz convertible

 

5. Citroen DS

 

6. Tesla Model S P100D

 

Ford Hot Rod. 1932, 1933. It dont matter.  stripped Ford body shell, Flat Head V8 and flames is all that matters. 

 

 

 

 

 

[ccap41]

16 hours ago, oldshurst442 said:

Beautiful car. 

[Frisky Dingo]

I am going off of true impact on the automotive industry, and nothing more. In no particular order (most have been posted already)-

 

-Benz patent-Motorwagen

-Ford Model T

-VW Beetle

-Willys Jeep

-1991 Ford Explorer

-1934 Citreon Traction Avant

-1984 Dodge Caravan

 

And fwiw, that list is pretty indisputable, imo.

 

 

 

[balthazar]

For the first vehicle, I would have to go with the 1870 Hill car out of Pennsylvania - 4 wheels & a steering wheel vs. the Benz 3 wheels & tiller steering- much more modern and 15 years prior to. Most historical accounts don't know about it because there was no company coming forward into modern times to continue to publicize it.

The Seldon car also handily pre-dates the Benz's debut (1877), and was very widely known about, tho there is some debate on when the first one was actually built (it's patent application is not in question tho). Also far more modern than the p-wagon.

Edited March 8, 2019 by balthazar

[David]

59 minutes ago, balthazar said:

For the first vehicle, I would have to go with the 1870 Hill car out of Pennsylvania - 4 wheels & a steering wheel vs. the Benz 3 wheels & tiller steering- much more modern and 15 years prior to. Most historical accounts don't know about it because there was no company coming forward into modern times to continue to publicize it.

The Seldon car also handily pre-dates the Benz's debut (1877), and was very widely known about, tho there is some debate on when the first one was actually built (it's patent application is not in question tho). Also far more modern than the p-wagon.

That is very cool, wish more would realize that Benz is not the center of the auto world and not the original creator.

[Frisky Dingo]

@balthazar

 

The important questions are what powered it and how many were built?

[balthazar]

How does a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or whatever copy have ANY relevance on being 'the first'?
The qualifier used most commonly is "invented".

It don't fly.

 

Lookit me; I'm disputin'. :D

Edited March 9, 2019 by balthazar

[smk4565]

On 3/6/2019 at 2:14 PM, ccap41 said:

That would have to go to the 1998 Lincoln Navigator  

Or a 1997 Merceds ML.  The real first of the luxury SUVs, other than the Range Rover, or G-wagen.   Although I think none of those are in the top 7, I will compile a list tonight.

[balthazar]

First luxury SUV was 'indisputedly' the '63 Jeep Grand Wagoneer. It 'invented' the segment.

^ And how does one come out with 'it's the first except for 2 others that came before it' ???
Grain alcohol, much?

Edited March 9, 2019 by balthazar

[smk4565]

Ford Model T - because it brought the car to the masses (and more importantly advent of the assembly line)

1955 Mercedes SL - the first super car

Tesla Model S - for making electric cars cool and the "gotta have" thing.

Volkswagen Beetle (first gen) - much for doing to Europe what the Model T did in the USA

Ferrari F40 - I feel like it is the best Ferrari ever and an icon of the 80s

1966 Ford Mustang - first pony car, they sold like crazy when they launched

Benz Patent Motor Wagen - it was genesis, thus historically significant

Honorable Mentions:  

1991 Ford Explorer for starting the SUV craze, but I already have 2 Fords on the list.

1990 Lexus LS - the launch of the Japanese luxury brands

[smk4565]

My argument against the Willy's Jeep is it was more of an Army vehicle, not a commercial product sold to eat general public, which is why Willy's is gone and Jeep Wranglers are here now.  

I think the Citroen DS was revolutionary and the Tucker Torpedo was also, but not a mass produced car.   The Lamborghini Countach is a good mention, I think that the most significant Lamborghini.  The Jaguar E-type was a pretty car, but not super valuable now and it didn't really change anything, Aston Martin, Mercedes, Ferrari, Porsche all had cars like it. 

1984 Chrysler Minivans you could through in there, that started a whole segment, even if 30 years later the segment was kind of dying.

[smk4565]

The G-wagen wasn't one of the 7 wonders, it was a utility vehicle.  

The SUV most deserving of the list is probably the 1991 Ford Explorer which really spearheaded the suburbanite family shift away from sedans to SUVs

[Frisky Dingo]

16 hours ago, balthazar said:

How does a 2nd, 3rd, 4th or whatever copy have ANY relevance on being 'the first'?
The qualifier used most commonly is "invented".

It don't fly.

 

Lookit me; I'm disputin'.

 

First with no influence means nothing. There may have been firsts even before those you claimed, they were just obscured by history. 

[balthazar]

Then they should brand it the 'first influential', not 'we invented". 'Invented' means there was no example prior to.
The Seldon had worldwide publicity, it certainly had influence. The Hill, not so much/at all.

Irrelevant WRT being the 'first/invented'. 'Had influence' -an impossible to measure qualifier- just says 'not invented here'. 'First with no influence' still means first.

Edited March 9, 2019 by balthazar

[ocnblu]

Yup, they've all been named here already.  Model T, Beetle, Jeep are the three biggies.  One could also argue for the Cugnot steam powered vehicle of the late 1700's.  The Cugnot seems to be where electrics are now in 2019, in terms of development and market readiness.

[balthazar]

2 hours ago, ocnblu said:

Model T, Beetle, Jeep are the three biggies.

I would agree with those, and add the 1912 Cadillac, which introduced electric lights / starter.

[Scout]

Tucker. 

[ccap41]

On 3/8/2019 at 7:17 PM, smk4565 said:

Or a 1997 Merceds ML.  The real first of the luxury SUVs, other than the Range Rover, or G-wagen.   Although I think none of those are in the top 7, I will compile a list tonight.

He did mention full-size though. ML is a luxury SUV but it isn't full-size. 

[Drew Dowdell]

1 hour ago, ccap41 said:

He did mention full-size though. ML is a luxury SUV but it isn't full-size. 

Why does every thread involve a fight with a Mercedes-Benz?

1997 Mercedes ML was preceded by

1996 Infiniti QX4
1996 Lexus LX
1995 Acura SLX
1991 Oldsmobile Bravada (first generation)
1996 Oldsmobile Bravada (second generation)
1994 Land Rover Range Rover
1996 Mercury Mountaineer (equivalent to a Ford Explorer Limited or Eddie Bauer in its first iteration)

And if not the '63 Grand Wagoneer, at least the Grand Wagoneer of 1984. These were priced around the same as an Eldorado or Mark series at the time. Definitely luxury vehicles. 

Mercedes was not even close to "first". 
 

[ccap41]

28 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Why does every thread involve a fight with a Mercedes-Benz?

1997 Mercedes ML was preceded by

1996 Infiniti QX4
1996 Lexus LX
1995 Acura SLX
1991 Oldsmobile Bravada (first generation)
1996 Oldsmobile Bravada (second generation)
1994 Land Rover Range Rover
1996 Mercury Mountaineer (equivalent to a Ford Explorer Limited or Eddie Bauer in its first iteration)

And if not the '63 Grand Wagoneer, at least the Grand Wagoneer of 1984. These were priced around the same as an Eldorado or Mark series at the time. Definitely luxury vehicles. 

Mercedes was not even close to "first". 
 

I would agree. I was just stating that while he thought the ML fit what was being discussed didn't really fit his description of "full-size". 

I think what @balthazar said as "first influential" would be a better describer than "first ever" for a lot of things. I still do not think the ML fits that, fwiw. 

[David]

51 minutes ago, Drew Dowdell said:

Why does every thread involve a fight with a Mercedes-Benz?

[Drew Dowdell]

27 minutes ago, ccap41 said:

I would agree. I was just stating that while he thought the ML fit what was being discussed didn't really fit his description of "full-size". 

I think what @balthazar said as "first influential" would be a better describer than "first ever" for a lot of things. I still do not think the ML fits that, fwiw. 

First Influential I would probably give to the Lexus RX.