When cupholders first started showing up in cars, they were mostly found in exotic cars. Today, the average consumer car comes with cupholders. But, what brought the idea of cupholders inside cars?
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While the answer seems obvious now, you might be surprised to hear the history of cupholders and how they came to be a standard feature in almost every car on the road today.
The Starting Point of Car Cupholders
You may not have given it much thought, but when cars were first released, they didn’t have cupholders. But today, it is strange to think about living in a world where cupholders didn’t come standard in cars.
In fact, having cupholders is a newer innovation that we’ve just become accustomed to. In most of our lives, we’ve never known a world where cars didn’t come with cupholders, but up until decades ago, it wasn’t all that common.
Decades ago, cars mainly were used as a luxury, but that all changed when a need for cup storage appeared. However, the introduction of “drive-in diner” started changing the look of cars. They made a significant impact in the automotive world because cars gradually started becoming a seating place for meals. So, of course, you would need a place to securely hold your drink. As such, these diners were the beginning of the market for cars having built-in cupholders.
The Modern Day Drive-in Diner
Over time, the popularity of drive-thru diners skyrocketed, presenting an even more significant need for you to keep your drink steady. In the late 1950s, Cadillac was the first manufacturer to provide drivers with the option for the first type of cupholder, and as time progressed, the feature changed and became what we know today.
While car cupholders might not be the biggest innovation ever to hit the automotive world, still, they’ve made an impressive impact in cars built today, and they serve useful purposes to both drivers and passengers.
