In 1912, Cadillac fitted 12,000 cars with Charles Kettering's electric self-starter; the hand-crank era ended, and ordinary drivers could finally start a car safely

In the early days of the automobile, drivers faced a daunting ritual every time they wanted to hit the road. Cranking the engine by hand wasnt just tedious; it was fraught with hazard. But in a groundbreaking twist, 1912 saw Charles F. Kettering changing the game with his electric self-starter, a technology that Cadillac quickly embraced.

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