In 1983 Ford shocked the world by introducing the Lincoln Continental 100 Concept. Much like Doc Brown‘s DeLorean, this exciting new concept erupted onto the scene seemingly from thin air. Packing more technology than we’d ever seen in one vehicle.
The centerpiece of this concept was, of course, Ford’s new Tripmonitor system. “In the future, motorists may not have to rely on their own sense of direction,” promised the Desert Sun in June of 1983. “Called a Tripmonitor, it employs a nine-inch, diagonal, eight-color cathode ray tube mounted in the middle of the instrument panel. Push a button and a map appears on the screen with the car’s location.”
the “Transit” GPS system. Initially created for operational use, mostly by the U.S. Navy, Transit slowly transitioned to civilian applications as well. The first satellite-based geopositioning system analyzed radio signals to track the movement of receiver-equipped objects. It was a criminally simple yet ultimately revolutionary idea.
The U.S. government restricted this exciting new GPS technology to military use until 1983, however. Thus, Ford’s Tripmonitor was the very first automotive application to incorporate what would eventually become a common feature we take for granted today.
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