Aiden's Car Blogs

The addition of glassware to cars is quite an interesting story because car companies originally did not offer side-mirrors and rear-view mirrors on cars. The first appearance of such mirrors was in 1911, when Ray Harroun attached a rear-view mirror on his race car before winning the Indy 500. The race was monumental as all 39 other competitors had two people up front, while Harroun sat alone in his car and had a rear-view mirror mounted above his dashboard; the additional person next to the driver usually explained what was happening behind the driver’s car.

A formal introduction of the mirror was made by engineer Elmer Berger, when he applied for a patent on the “Cop-Spotter” mirror in 1921. To explain briefly, the US electrical engineer invented the rear-view mirror. Similarly, the first patent for a side-view mirror can be credited to David B. McDonald in 1915. He filed a patent for a mirror that was designed to be mounted on the side of the automobile.

This side mirror and the rear-view mirror options however became popular after the Federal Highway Act in 1956. Better visibility became more important with more multi-lane highways. Also, The National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 then addressed safety standards, regarding rear visibility and side visibility as a safety standard. Federal regulations today require a driver’s side mirror and a rear-view mirror, and more, depending on whether the inside mirrors do not meet specific requirements.

Secondly, similar to mirrors, windshields were, at first, not included in cars. It is assumed this was the case because cars did not go fast enough to require windshields. When driving, drivers were expected to wear shades or goggles to protect their eyes from any debris such as bugs and dirt.

 It was in 1904, 10 years after the first car was produced, when windshields were first introduced. The first windshields were just glass panels made out of the same materials used in house windows. The windshields were made up of two panes of glass, the top and lower section. Windshields came like this so that the top half could fold down if the driver wanted.

Due to safety concerns with car windshields shattering often, the material for windshields transitioned into laminated and tempered glass. Although laminated glass was only on the front windshield and tempered glass was used for the remaining windows, laminated glass is now used for all windows for safety.

When producing windshields, the size of the windows is determined according to the vehicle, making each windshield unique to others They are not only unique in size, they also have different designs according to the climate they are going to be driven in; windshields for cars in Canada are designed to survive hail storms and freezing weather.

Although not common now, wraparound glass was very popular until the 1950s. The idea of reducing blind spots for drivers was achieved by having one giant piece of glass that wrapped around the driver and passenger doors.

Windshield technology has a simple and concise history compared to other technology in automobiles. Some further advancements that are possible for windshields are smart windshields and thermally flexible windshields. If scientists can create screens that are transparent, this technology is most likely to be employed in the development of next generation windshields.