It was way back in the year 1934 that a fellow named Percy Shaw realised, only after they had been removed, that he had been using the reflective nature of metal tram lines to help him navigate a dark road at night.

Meanwhile, some six years earlier a man called Richard Murray invented something called a reflective lens. Percy, thinking about those dark roads decided to take Murray’s reflective lens and use for a specific purpose: He invented the cat’s eye, so familiar today. There is still a company bearing Percy’s name today. There is no doubt that an original thought can lead to great inventions. In the case of the cat’s eye there is no knowing how many lives have been saved thanks to that little bit of genius.
 

Original Thinking

In a book from some while ago the famous travel writer and author Bill Bryson stated, “… you could stand me on a beach until the end of time and never would it occur to me to make it into windows”. Yes, that’s right, somewhere way back in time someone had one of those light bulb moments (especially impressive because it was before the invention of the light bulb) and discovered that if they superheated some silica sand, maybe mixed with a little potash, they could make something that was both hard and translucent and call it glass and pop it into our houses and our cars for all round visibility.

Over the many centuries some thoughtful, clever and industrious people have come up with genius ideas. This being a car sales website readers are probably aware that the first vehicle in the sense of the modern automobile as we know it now, was developed thanks to Karl Benz. Look what has happened since then; and that Henry Ford was of the same inclination.

Why did Percy Shaw see the benefits of a demarcation line on a two way road and the rest of us didn’t? Think of all the things that were not invented by us. Where would any self-respecting DIY motorist be without WD-40 for example? How much would we enjoy our Sunday morning car cleaning ritual if we didn’t have dirt shifting shampoos and power washers and drive-through automatons?

Be honest, these things aren’t rocket science and yet most of us have never come up with a way to make a better mousetrap. Hoover, Biro, Garmin, Dyson: not one of these famous names is traceable back to us. How can this be? Many of us can repair things; some of us can even make things, so why isn’t there a totally unique item with our name on or behind it?
 

A True Tale

Here’s a true story from the past about the early days of media screens in cars: There once was an Audi owner who bemoaned the fact that his in-car screen had lost its anti-glare surface. He was, allegedly, quoted £1000 by his Audi dealer to put it right, presumably by fitting a new unit. Any car owner will feel his pain.

Some time later he discovered that there existed a protection film, specifically available in lots of shapes and sizes to suit many different vehicles, including the Audi, which would do the anti-glare job without detriment to the colour tones or performance of the screen. It cost about twelve quid. Somewhere out there a person with a little bit of genius came up with this idea and is now probably coining it in.

Here at eCars247 we have not qite yet come up with a gadget that will save the world but we have come up with a great way to sell used cars. By developing our comprehensive website and offering the whole package of customer service we have earned a Five Star Trustpilot rating to become the UK’s most trusted car retailer. Genius.