IT may not have voice guidance or give traffic updates, but this is the world’s first SAT NAV.
The Plus Fours Routefinder was designed for car drivers in 1920.
The driver placed a tiny scroll with journey instructions in the wristpiece, then turned it as he moved along. It showed mileage and even issued a “stop” instruction at the journey’s end.
The scrolls could also be flipped and used to keep scores at golf. But the 'sat nav' never took off – until its hi-tech redesign years later.
Collector Maurice Collins now owns the Routefinder – along with 1,400 other old contraptions. It is part of the Weird and Wonderful Inventions and Gadgets exhibition which opened at the British Library in London yesterday.
(The Sun)
