In the summer of 1925, inventor and former military engineer Francis P. Houdina sought to revolutionize modern transportation with his radio-controlled automobile, the American Wonder. On July 27, the driverless Chandler sedan wove through the dense, chaotic traffic of Manhattan. It shifted gears, steered corners, and sounded its horn via invisible radio signals transmitted from a control car trailing closely behind.
The historic public demonstration quickly devolved into chaos when the radio signals suffered an unexpected interference, causing the vehicle to crash directly into a sedan packed with press photographers. Undeterred by the Manhattan mishap, Houdina staged a highly successful, accident-free reprise later that autumn along Boston’s scenic Commonwealth Avenue (shown here), capturing the public’s imagination with his visionary look at autonomous driving.
Image via Alamy
