The glove box?

 

First production automobile: 1886 Velo-Benz.

First American production car: 1897 Duryea.
First vehicle with a steering wheel: 1903 Packard.
First vehicle with an inside rear view mirror. Invented and installed by Ray Harroun on the Marmon Wasp he raced at the first (1911) Indianapolis 500. He won.
A matter of conjecture. Some people claim it's the 1900 White Electric.

Wheels and bearings pre-date the automobile which was "invented" by Karl Benz in 1886.

 

If the criteria is something that truly has not changed in design or materials, I can't imagine what it is. Almost all the elements of the old ones still exist in modern form.

 

I agree that it's probably spark plugs...

 

Water. It is a part of my engine. Was the first engine a steam engine? I am not a Chemist but I do not think that water has ever changed.

 

What was the first year spark plugs were used in internal combustion engines?

1902.

 

But they've changed significantly; so does that count? The really early engines also used hot tubes, so maybe not. A hundred years would be 1910, by then most were spark ignition. Coils? V-belts? Differentials?

Time to cough it up, Bob!

 

Onboard GPS how about Gas Tanks ?

 

How about a piston ring. Still the same shape. Still cast Iron.

 

Knutson Valve - except it used to be one word and was installed in the opposite direction.
I'll have to agree to the seat

No--No--No! It's the nut behind the wheel - Taa-Daa

 

What they said, and they are not getting any better. It was a long weekend in Canada, eight dead so far in British Columbia.

 

Man, I didn't think I could stump this crowd. I feel better because I couldn't think of the answer until the radio host gave it.

This part has not morphed, or changed since it's beginning, at least according to the radio host. I think it might have had some very minor improvements but if you placed an original part next to a brand new one you just picked up at the local parts store they would pretty much be identical. It did not change like a windshield, steering wheel or seat, all of these parts have changed with new technology and all are pretty much make and model specific, this part is used on all cars.

This is fun!

 

Thermostat

 

is it a coil

 

No steering wheels until 1903. Prior years...it was the nut behind the tiller!

jmadsen: Coils have changed over the years and most early vehicles used magnetos.

Old F100: There were no thermostats until the 19teens.