The push-button ignition was a luxurious way to start your car until it wasn’t - The Verge

When I started writing this, I was under the impression that push-button start was a relatively modern feature, but its origins go back over a century. One of the first cars with a button-based ignition was the 1912 Cadillac Model 30, which had you press a button to activate the electric starter that replaced the engine crank. Of course, this was still pretty early days for “motor cars,” so the convenience factor was sort of diminished by the few other steps (like setting the engine’s fuel / air ratio and spark timing) you had to do. Still, it feels fair to describe the Model 30 as having a push-button start. It was also keyless, not because it wirelessly communicated with a fob the way modern cars do (obviously), but because there just… wasn’t a key at all.

Fascinating!
#keyless #cars #car #history

https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/31/23144907/push-button-start-ignition-cars-convenience-history