Topic: A glassy question...

[cmetisse]

I'm working on a project about Citroën and its role as an innovator. In fact, I'm trying to find if le Double Chevron was always "the first" or not, in a huge numbers of different areas, engines, suspensions, body construction, etc...

I'm making quite a lot of interesting discovers, showing that quite a lot of brands has launched some new devices years before Citroën, but I'm trying to get the truth on that tricky subject. It is something I always found very interesting : for innovations and technical firsts, most of the time, authors forget to look on what was going on in other parts of the planet. Most european writers seem to ignore what was done in the US or japanese car industry.

One obvious example ? Antilock brakes : most journalists are taking for granted that Mercedes was the first in 1978 with the latest W116. Apart from the incredible Jensen FF (which had a mecanical antilock and was not a "big serial production"), Chrysler was the true pionnier with a 4-channel electronic system in 1972 (available on Imperials and New Yorker), Lincoln & Cadillac had a similar system on the rear axle only already in 1969. And I've discovered recently that Datsun/Nissan launched the very first domestic 4-channel computerized ABS on the President in 1973 !

So I have two questions about glasses and windows :
-who was the first to have curved side windows on italian, german, swedish and japanese cars ? It seems that the world first was for 1957 Imperial, and in France, it belongs to the Peugeot 504 in 1968. Citroën followed with the GS in 1970, and I don't know for Renault (maybe the 15/17 coupés, or was it on the 20/30 saloons ? For sure, the Renault 5 still had flat side glasshouse) nor Simca (probably the infamous Simca-Chrysler 160/180).
Moreover, it seems that the 1965 Vauxhall Victor "101" was the first british car to feature that ! 

-same question for glued windscreen. I already know that the next Vauxhall Victor (FD) was again the first for UK cars (incredible !). For Citroën, the SM, the GS Birotor and later the BX were their first cars to seal their windscreen without any rubber. The Wankel-powered GS had a rubber joint, but it was only to hide the glue. Why that very marginal version had a different type of sealing is beyond me, but hey, that's Citroën ! 
On italian cars, I only know for Alfa Romeo : the first series of Alfasud, and quite later the 90 and 75 saloons started the "glue movement"... In UK, I suppose the Jaguar XJ40 might have been a very late domestic-first.
I have the feeling that the US industry has started that already in the late sixties... And I suppose that the most difficult would be to find the same answer for japanese cars !

Any contribution will be greatly appreciated ! 

[cmetisse]

-some facts I've found on these:

-glue-in windshield :
the first Renault to have it were the Fuego (not all cars, though), the AMC Alliance (not the original Renault 9) and then the Renault 25 from start.
in USA, it seems that the first Olds Toronado already had it, but it was already used on some F85. Can somebody confirm ? The AMC Pacer was another car that had a gasket-less windscreen.

Anyway, I'd love to read your answers on these two questions.

[Wendax]

The first German car with a glue-in windshield was the Audi 100 C2 from 1976.

[Otto Puzzell]

So I have two questions about glasses and windows :
-who was the first to have curved side windows on italian, german, swedish and japanese cars ? It seems that the world first was for 1957 Imperial, and in France, it belongs to the Peugeot 504 in 1968. Citroën followed with the GS in 1970, and I don't know for Renault (maybe the 15/17 coupés, or was it on the 20/30 saloons ? For sure, the Renault 5 still had flat side glasshouse) nor Simca (probably the infamous Simca-Chrysler 160/180).
Moreover, it seems that the 1965 Vauxhall Victor "101" was the first british car to feature that ! 

Though not a large-scale production model., the 1949 Fiat 750 Zagato "Panoramica" had curved side-glass. Well before that, the 1911 Studebaker Electric Coupe had curved glass panels on the front corners, between the windscreen and the side glass. Baker Electrics from the same era had similar glass panels. I'm sure other makers had them, as well.

[cmetisse]

The first German car with a glue-in windshield was the Audi 100 C2 from 1976.

I was thinking of maybe the NSU Ro80, as its windscreen doesn't look as a gasket-type. I'm not sure, though, as the rubber could have been hidden behind a chrome surrounding.

And, even more tricky, sometimes the glue is covered by a gasket which is only there for aesthetic reasons. The best example is again on the GS Birotor : you would never know her windscreen is bonded just by looking at it !

[cmetisse]

Though not a large-scale production model., the 1949 Fiat 750 Zagato "Panoramica" had curved side-glass. Well before that, the 1911 Studebaker Electric Coupe had curved glass panels on the front corners, between the windscreen and the side glass. Baker Electrics from the same era had similar glass panels. I'm sure other makers had them, as well.

Thanks a lot Otto for these interesting examples.
Talking about curved front glass panels, obviously we have the Panhard Panoramic and Dynamic as well.
And for small-scale production of curved side glass, the Lancia Flavia Zagato.
I'm pretty sure that, on a bigger production scale, Beta, Alfasud, Alfetta and 132 had these. Maybe the Fiat 130 also... ?

[Wendax]

The first German car with a glue-in windshield was the Audi 100 C2 from 1976.

I was thinking of maybe the NSU Ro80, as its windscreen doesn't look as a gasket-type. I'm not sure, though, as the rubber could have been hidden behind a chrome surrounding.

And, even more tricky, sometimes the glue is covered by a gasket which is only there for aesthetic reasons. The best example is again on the GS Birotor : you would never know her windscreen is bonded just by looking at it !

The Ro 80 didn't have a glue-in windscreen. The rubber gasket was hidden beneath the broad chrome surrounding.