Automotive Spoils Of War

Over at The Jalopy Journal, a poster noted the connection between the development of aircraft technology during World War and the advancements in automotive technology after the war.  These advances were often the result of returning pilots who sought the same speed from the automobiles as they had in their airplanes.  Such advances included

The wider use of a supercharger on gasoline engines, the P-38 fighter plane drop tank (aka the Birth of the Belly Tanker!), brake scoops for cooling, the plastic bubble canopy (Roth and Starbird’s signature), multiple, individual dash gauges, hydraulics for suspension, tube shock absorbers, bomber nose art, and the list goes on… Just look at any Dry Lakes hot rod of 1939 and compare it to the average Highboy roadster racing in 1949.