1. Packard
   Chrysler
2. Chevrolet
   Ford

The first car radio was developed in 1930 by the Galvin Manufacturing Company, which would go on to become Motorola. Chevrolet would become the first automaker to offer the feature as an option. These, of course, were AM radios; FM radios would be offered in vehicles in 1952.

1. Hudson
   Chrysler
2. Lincoln
   Chevrolet

The modern cup holder makes any trip a little better, and they were developed hand-in-hand with the minivan. The cup holders we know and love were first installed in 1983 in the Dodge Caravan and the Plymouth Voyager (which were basically the same vehicle). Before then, "cup holders" were mainly little indentations on the inside of the glove compartment door which could only hold small cups when the car was stationary — if then.

1. Pontiac
   Dodge
2. Oldsmobile
   Lincoln

Taking your eyes off the road is never a good thing, but you need to see the dashboard information from time to time. With a "heads-up" display — or HUD — information such as speed, turn signals, lights and other data are projected onto the windshield. While still not standard, this option was first offered on the 1988 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme.

1. Chrysler
   Ford
2. Chevrolet
   Hudson

The 1957 Ford Fairlane Skyliner offered something that no other convertible in the market could at the time — a retracting hardtop roof. The roof folded into the trunk, and while this left almost no space in the trunk for anything else, the Skyliner certainly made an impression on the driving public.

1. Pontiac
   Mercury
2. Jeep
   Cadillac

There's nothing like having your seat warm your bottom — instead of the other way around — on a cold day, and drivers of the 1966 Cadillac DeVille were the first drivers to be able to experience this luxury that earlier motorists could only dream of enjoying.

1. Chevrolet
   Ford
2. Dodge
   Gem Motors

The Model T's in Europe were among the first vehicles to use laminated glass in windshields which, when broken, don't shatter into sharp shards of glass like plate glass but instead stay together, keeping the driver and passengers from getting cut. Tempered glass, which breaks into small, harmless pebbles, was introduced in the U.S. by Chrysler in 1936.

1. Lincoln
   Cadillac
2. Opel
   Plymouth

Driving wasn't for the weak in the early 1900s — literally. Cars had to be started with a crank that took some muscle to move. Cadillac opened the world of driving to many by working with inventor Charles F. Kettering to put his new electric ignition into their vehicles, and the 1912 Cadillac Touring Edition changed the world.

1. Ford
   Chrysler
2. Chevrolet
   Packard

We take it as a given now, but the 40-hour workweek didn't get traction until Henry Ford made the change in 1926. At the dawn of the industrial revolution, factory workers often labored for 10 hours or more each day. Ford made the change — without dropping their pay — so that his workers would have more time off ... to buy things and improve company profits.

1. Jeep
   Vauxhall
2. Mercury
   Buick

Touch screens are becoming more commonplace today as our cars interact with our smartphones, but the technology isn't totally new. The 1986 Buick Riviera offered touch-screen control of the radio, climate control, the "trip computer" and other options.

1. Ford
   General Motors
2. Chrysler
   Keeton Motor Company

The industrial revolution kicked into high gear in 1913 when Henry Ford installed the first moving assembly line to produce automobiles. With this innovation, workers could focus on their tasks as the evolving car moved to them. It reduced the time it took to build a Model T from 12 hours to 2.5 hours.

1. Ford
   Phelps
2. General Motors
   Jeep

The Hydramatic (or Hydra-Matic) transmission was first put into Cadillac and Oldsmobile models in the 1940 model year and eliminated the need for drivers to manually shift gears in their vehicles. While some cars still offer manual transmissions, the vast majority of cars built today use automatic transmissions.

1. Peerless
   Buick
2. Cadillac
   Lincoln

Intermittent windshield wipers, called "variable speed" wipers at the time, were first offered as an option on the 1970 Lincoln Continental. The story of the wipers and their inventor, Robert Kearnes, who had to struggle to get them patented, was made into a 2008 movie, "Flash of Genius."

1. Shelby American
   Buick
2. Lincoln
   Oldsmobile

While handheld models were available at the beginning of the 1990s, the 1995 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight was the first car to include the GPS device as part of the option package. The Guidestar system, as it was called, was a $2,000 extra.

1. Tesla
   Lincoln
2. Oldsmobile
   Cadillac

By using a combination of thermal imaging, image enhancement and active illumination, night vision devices (NVD) were first offered on the 2000 Cadillac Deville. While this technology is far from commonplace, it is becoming increasingly common on luxury vehicles, including automobiles from Audi and BMW.

1. Plymouth
   Cadillac
2. Buick
   Ford

You can still find them at yard sales and flea markets, but for a time the only alternative to listening to the radio on a car ride was to slap in an 8-track tape. Ford was the first automaker to offer drivers this option, putting it into the lineup in 1965.

1. Buick
   Ford
2. GMC
   DeSoto

Known as the "Flash-Way Directional Signal," Buick introduced electric flashing turn signals in 1938 as a much-needed safety feature. Two years later, the company included a self-canceling feature that shut the signal off after a turn. Post-1940 drivers really have no excuse.

1. Cadillac
   Land Rover
2. Ford
   Chrysler

When traffic is steady, a cruise control can save a lot of the driver's energy on a road trip. While the technology dates back to the mid-1940s, the option was first included in the 1958 Chrysler Imperial.

1. Ford
   Jeep
2. Buick
   Cadillac

When one wheel loses traction — due to icy or wet road conditions, for example — the driver might lose control of the vehicle. In 1971, Buick introduced what it called "MaxTrac," a traction control system that detected wheel spin and modulated engine power accordingly.

1. Chevrolet
   Buick
2. Dodge
   Packard

It's hard to find a vehicle without them now, but power windows have been around longer than you might have thought. The 1941 Packard 180 was the first to market with this option, although it took a few years for the rest of the industry to hop on board.

1. Oldsmobile
   Cadillac
2. Pontiac
   GMC

The 1973 Oldsmobile Toronado was the first car to offer airbags as an option for its buyers. Actually, they only offered the one airbag — for the driver. Cars with multiple airbags for passengers would come along later.

1. Dodge
   Nash
2. Buick
   Ford

In 1938, Nash came up with the concept of heating the cabin by using ventilation of outside air drawn through a heater core (a device that gets its heat from hot engine coolant). That concept is still used in today's vehicles.

1. Hudson
   Chrysler
2. Studebaker
   Cadillac

The technology has existed since the dawn of the 20th century — it was used mainly for trucks — but the first commercially viable passenger car power steering system was introduced by Chrysler for its 1951 Imperial, using the name "Hydraguide." The next year, Cadillac offered its own version.

1. Opel
   Ford
2. Nash
   Chrysler

The patent for a safety door latch that would prevent children from opening car doors was awarded to Joseph M. Schumann in 1949. In 1955 this technology, along with front seat belts, was incorporated into Ford vehicles. Others soon followed.

1. GM
   Ford
2. Chrysler
   DeSoto

The sci-fi sounding "Autronic Eye" was first introduced in Cadillac and Oldsmobile models in 1952. This device used an electronic "eye" to sense light from other cars and took care of the process of dimming and re-engaging your headlight's high beam. You could see and you wouldn't blind oncoming traffic. A win-win!

1. Oldsmobile
   Pontiac
2. GM
   Chrysler

Early windshield wipers operated on a vacuum system, which worked fine until you had to step on the gas to accelerate and stopped the wipers for a time. In 1939, Chrysler introduced wipers that ran on the vehicle's electric system, keeping visibility and acceleration safely separate.

1. GM
   Ford
2. Chrysler
   Tesla

Automobiles equipped with vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) technology wirelessly communicate with the automobiles around them as a way to help avoid collisions, traffic jams and more. The first car with this tech was the 2016 Cadillac CT6, and while it won't become an effective system until ALL vehicles are equipped with V2V, it has to start somewhere.

1. Packard
   Oldsmobile
2. Cadillac
   Pontiac

Although the first air conditioning systems were available in 1933, they were installed as an aftermarket feature and only available in limousines and luxury cars. In 1939, Packard was the first automaker to offer AC as a feature in its cars. It wasn't a success (it was too big and too expensive), but it opened the door for climate control. Now close the door — we're not paying to cool the entire outside!

1. Ford
   Chrysler
2. GM
   Studebaker

In 1962, GM offered turbocharged engines in the Corvair and the Oldsmobile F-85 Jetfire. Although they had different engines and turbochargers, the end result was the same: a significant increase in horses under the hood.

1. Dodge
   Ford
2. Chrysler
   Chevrolet

Electronic voice alerts (EVA) were baked into Chrysler's K-Car series beginning in 1983. The helpful voice alerts — usually telling you your seat belt was unfastened — used the same tech as Texas Instrument's Speak & Spell toy. Irritated by the constant nagging, many owners pulled the fuse on the system, even though it was only trying to help.

1. Chevrolet
   Ford
2. Chrysler
   Packard

The first mass-produced car to use anti-lock four-wheel disc braking technology was Chrysler's 1971 Imperial, which used a system the company called "Sure Brake." This ABS was a standard feature of the vehicle and, since 2013, is mandatory for all new vehicles in the U.S.

1. Ram
   Ford
2. Chevrolet
   Jeep

One of the first crew cab pickup trucks was the 1973 Chevrolet C30, and it is considered by many to be the first modern heavy-duty pickup truck. That particular truck also had curved side glass and a radio antenna integrated into the windshield. It was ready for work!

1. Dodge
   Chrysler
2. Ford
   Oldsmobile

A monolithic catalytic converter uses a palladium-impregnated ceramic honeycomb "monolith" that oxidizes and converts the toxic gases that are the result of the internal combustion process into less harmful gases, reducing pollution. Ford first introduced this technology into its vehicles in 1973.

1. Dodge
   Edsel
2. Chevrolet
   Nash

Nash developed a system that used AC, heat and outside air to hit a pre-determined temperature in 1954 — with limited success. In 1964, however, Cadillac managed to come up with a system that caught on with car buyers.

1. Ford
   Chrysler
2. Sovereign
   Chevrolet

In 1958, Chrysler introduced an electronic fuel-injection system, dubbed the "Electrojector" on the company's 300D vehicles and other models. The results were ... not good. It was so pricey that only 35 models were sold, and most had to be replaced with standard carburetors because of unreliability. The 1968 Volkswagen Type 3 was actually the first successful use of the tech.

1. Chevrolet
   Tesla
2. Ford
   Falcon

Although the company warned users that they should still keep their hands on the wheel, ready to take over driving, many Tesla owners ignored the advice in 2015, when the company offered the first commercially available semi-autonomous driving technology, called "Autopilot."