I often say, flippantly, that the automotive industry is just now starting to master the technologies of a century ago. That's been more an impression than a statement of fact; I recall seeing many things in early publications and thinking, "Wow, I had no idea they did that so soon," but if pressed, I wouldn't be able to provide examples. It's time to remedy that with a quick survey of some ideas that were before their time.

1. Turbocharging

The idea of turbo-compressing seems to come from the 1890s and became widely known in less than a decade, starting around 1900. By about 1905, centrifugal compression was in use in marine engines and other heavy-duty applications.

2. Hybrids

The 1900 Lohner-Porsche petrol-electric – which had a Mercedes or Panhard four-cylinder connected to a dynamo, powering two front-wheel hub motors – is certainly the most famous, but despite repeated efforts, hub motors have yet to see practical production.

3. Power Brakes

Check out the master cylinder from John Unser's 1904 patent (#794,382) for hydraulic brakes. "Hydraulic," in this case, meant "operated by the pressure of air or other similar fluid;" his pump and reservoir could be adapted for liquids.

4. Disc Brakes

Because clutch disc brakes were in common use, it's been very tricky to pin down the first application of wheel disc brakes. However, the earliest version is acknowledged to be the F.W. Lanchester's 1902 patent, and by 1903 it was being used very successfully in Lanchester automobiles.

5. Fuel Injection

In France, M. Levassor had running fuel-injected automobiles by 1903, and may even have sold some for road use.

6. Rotary and Turbine Engines

Some experts saw the reciprocating piston gas engine as a stopgap, assuming that within a few years the problems with turbines – the same ones as with fuel injection – would be ironed out and soon become the automobile powerplant of choice.

7. Automatic Transmissions

The earliest automatics were more properly CVTs, some form of variable ratio transmissions, often using belts or flywheels.

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