Tyres Are Britain’s Best Invention

The pneumatic tyre has been named as the best British motoring invention of all time. While the exact lineage of tyres is disputed (Robert William Thomson, from Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, may have come up with the idea in 1845, but John Boyd Dunlop was the first to patent it in 1888), an Auto Express list puts the tyre above disc brakes and cat’s eyes in terms of motoring innovation. Other British inventions in the top 20 include the laminated windscreen, the pedestrian crossing, bumpers and self-cancelling indicators. Caravans came 19th.