3 - Backup Camera
Thirty or forty years ago, it was easy to do without a rearview camera because when you turned your head while backing up, you have a good view in back of you, car design being what it was. Today, the design of the models we have available to us most often mean you can hardly see anything. As a result, the rearview camera has become a must-have - in fact it has been mandatory in all new vehicles sold since 2018.
And the first one ever offered in a vehicle? Again, you have to go back – way back – to find it, to 1956, when a Buick concept called the Centurion, featured a TV screen displaying images from a backup camera. The first production car to offer it was the Toyota Soarer (Japan) starting in 1991.
After that, Nissan played a pioneering role by extending its technology in the early 2000s and even offering a 360-degree view with some Infiniti products in the late 2000s. Now, you can’t buy a new car without it being there. Talk about ubiquitous.