More Automotive History and Trivia



Q: Who opened the first drive-in gas station? 

A: Gulf opened up the first station in Pittsburgh in 1913. 


Q: What city was the first to use parking meters? 

A: Oklahoma City, on July 16, 1935. 


Q: Where was the first drive-in restaurant? 

A: Royce Hailey's Pig Stand opened in Dallas in 1921. 


Q: True or False? 
The 1953 Corvette came in white, red and black. 

A: False. 
The 1953 'Vettes' were available in one color, Polo White. 


Q: What was Ford's answer to the Chevy Corvette, and other legal street racers of the 1960's? 

A: Carroll S
helby's Mustang GT350. 




Q: What was the first car fitted with an alternator, rather than a direct current dynamo? 

A: The 1960 Plymouth Valiant 


Q: What car first referred to itself as a convertible? 

A: The 1904 Thomas Flyer, which had a removable hard top. 


Q: What car was the first to have it's radio antenna embedded in the windshield? 

A: The 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix. 


Q: What car used the first successful series-production hydraulic valve lifters? 

A: The 1930 Cadillac 452, the first production V16 


Q: Where was the World's first three-color traffic lights installed? 

A: Detroit, Michigan in 1919. Two years later they experimented 
with synchronized lights. Then they experimented 'democracy'. 


Q: What type of car had the distinction of being GM's 100 millionth car built in the U.S.? 

A: March 16, 1966 saw an Olds Tornado roll out of Lansing, Michigan with that honor. 


Q: Where was the first drive-in movie theater opened, and when? 

A: Camden, NJ in 1933 


Q: What autos were the first to use a standardized production key-start system? 

A: The 1949 Chryslers 


Q: What did the Olds designation 4-4-2 stand for? 

A: 4 barrel carburetor, 4 speed transmission, and dual exhaust. 


Q: What car was the first to place the horn button in the center of the steering wheel? 

A: The 1915 Scripps-Booth Model C. The car also was the first with electric door latches. 


Q: What U.S. production car has the quickest 0-60 mph time? 

A: The 1962 Chevrolet Impala SS 409. Did it in 4.0 seconds. 


Q: What's the only car to appear simultaneously on the covers of Time and Newsweek? 

A: The Mustang 


Q: What was the lowest priced mass produced American car? 

A: The 1925 Ford Model T Runabout. Cost $260, $5 less than 1924. 


Q: What is the fastest internal-combustion American production car? 

A: The 1998 Dodge Viper GETS-R, tested by Motor Trend magazine at 192.6 mph. 


Q: What automaker's first logo incorporated the Star of David? 

A: The Dodge Brothers. 


Q: Who wrote to Henry Ford, "I have drove Fords exclusively when I could get away with one. It has got every other car skinned, and even if my business hasn't been strictly legal it don't hurt anything to tell you what a fine car you got in the V-8"? 

A: Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie and Clyde) in 1934. 


Q: What was the first car to use power operated seats? 

A: They were first used on the 1947 Packard line. 


Q: Which of the Chrysler "letter cars" sold the fewest amount? 

A: Only 400, 1963, 300J's were sold (they skipped" "I" because it looked like a number 1) 


Q: What car delivered the first production V12 engine? 

A: The cylinder wars were kicked off in 1915 after Packard's chief engineer, Col. Jesse Vincent, introduced its Twin-Sis. 


Q: When were seat belts first fitted to a motor vehicle? 

A: In 1902, in a Baker Electric streamliner racer which crashed at 100 mph. on Staten Island ! 


Q: Which car company started out German, yet became French after WWI? 

A: Bugati, founded in Molsheim in 1909, became French when Alsace returned to French rule. 


Q: In what model year did Cadillac introduce the first electric sunroof? 

A: 1969