Riding mechanics were used by most cars in the Indianapolis 500 from 1911 to 1922, and again from 1930 to 1937. In the first 500, driver Ray Harroun notably drove solo, the only car in the field without a riding mechanic. He famously affixed a rear-view mirror to the car, in order to see cars behind him (a task normally assigned to the mechanic). Harroun is famously regarded as the first driver to utilize a rear view mirror on a race car, however, he said he got the idea from seeing a mirror used for the same purpose on a horse-drawn vehicle in 1904.