how cars have changed over 100 years Page 3

A hundred years ago, a car was a noisy tin bathtub on wooden wheels; today it’s a rolling supercomputer that parallel parks better than your uncle after Christmas lunch. Safety went from “hold on tight” to airbags, ABS, stability control and crash structures that actually plan your mistakes for you. Engines shrank and got turbocharged, diesels cleaned up (mostly), and now EVs whisper along with instant torque and zero tailpipe emissions. Comfort turned from “drafty canvas” to climate control, big screens and driver assists that watch your blind spots while you argue with the playlist. Performance leapt forward while fuel use dropped, though weight ballooned like a Boxing Day belly. And yes, reliability improved massively, but so did complexity—software updates are the new oil change. In short: fewer fumes, more brains, faster, safer, heavier—and somehow we still argue about cupholders.