In fact, perhaps we never could.

This appears to be a myth spread by automotive marketers, and then perpetuated by motorsport commentators, probably because they want it to be true.

Heck, I want it to be true, and I've been guilty of perpetuating it myself. But on closer analysis, I don't think it holds up to scrutiny.

That's because pretty much everything you can think of was probably on a road car - or at least a road car prototype - first. Lots of things were also developed in parallel, meaning they probably would have happened anyway. And if it really was on a race car first, then in a road car it's more than likely just a gimmick or a novelty rather than a genuine improvement, or it never caught on and is only in a handful of uncommon vehicles.

Let's test a few examples, but any time you hear a claim, look it up yourself.

Based on the patent, seat belts were invented by Volvo engineer Nils Bohlin in 1959, with the patent left open for other manufacturers to install them.

They took a while to catch on, but even the Australian federal government (and several others) introduced legislation compelling manufacturers to install them before Formula 1 finally decided that hoping to be thrown clear of the car (and into some other solid object instead) was a terrible strategy.

Road cars were crash tested in controlled conditions decades before race cars were.

There are other inventions, like radial tyres, which are safer and more efficient than bias ply (cross-ply) tyres. The 1948 Citroen 2CV came standard with radials, and Michelin started offering them for trucks from 1952.

Many examples were in the aerospace sector first. Turbochargers were used on some fighter aircraft in WWII, and then in some road cars as early as the 1960s. Formula 1 finally used them from the late '70s.

A more recent example is steer-by-wire. A developer debuted this system in a car at the Nurburgring 24 Hour race of 2019, and the English commentators still wax lyrical about advanced technology. Except Infinity started offering it as Direct Adaptive Steering (DAS) in the Q50 road car back in 2013.

Hybrid drivelines (which is a combination of petrol and electric power) are another. Invented in the 19^th century, in terms of their modern implementation Toyota's Prius from the late 20^th century predates the use of hybrids in Formula 1 or the World Endurance Championship by over a decade.

How about the trend in the 2000s of some domestic categories around the world switching to ethanol fuel, which happens to provide more performance as well. Brazil mandated its use in government cars back in the 1930s. Then if we look at today's racing tin tops, V8 Supercars switched to E85 for the 2009 season. Did the Australian public follow and make use of E85 when it was available at the pump early last decade? Nope, it was basically ignored by the masses. And now, they have a series sponsor and supplier who provides the teams with E85, but spends their marketing budget promoting the crude oil fuels available for the public to buy.

If we look at what vehicles people are buying these days, one could make the case that motorsport was holding us back for decades, promoting sedans (and other body shapes based on them) that very few buyers actually wanted. Most people tend to prefer SUVs.

Meanwhile the much smaller number who want a performance car can also go for something that was originally intended to be a performance car.

But even for fans and enthusiasts, race cars do not make for nice road cars.

Carroll Shelby learned in the 1960s that people may say they want a race car for the road, but the actual experience of owning the original Mustang GT350, with its cage, no back seat, heavy clutch, heavy steering, noise, smell, vibration and bumpy ride, was nowhere near as glamorous as they expected.

What customers actually wanted therefore, was simply a car that looked like a race car for the road, and so that's what he subsequently built for them. It didn't even matter when vents or other features were stuck-on fakes. It just needed to look the part.