For me..the most advanced 20th century rod (Helios does not count chaps) is the Norboron from Normark.
Even the likes of Magnus bought one with his own money
Fast taper, fuji SiCs right the way through, 24ct gold fittings, and most importantly, boron fibres to dapen any vibration and "wobble", something that very few manufacturers had sussed by that time.
It really was highly advanced compared to other rids on the market.
The 10 foot 7 weight revolutionised competition fishing, handling Di7 lines as easily as it did floaters.
As for the first Carbon rods, Hardy patented carbon content in 1971..I think it was a maximum of 35%, but they had produced carbon reinforced plastic tubes under the Fibretube banner in the late 60's.
I think the first "full carbon" rods, which were actually about 65% were made available to the public in 1977 by a company called Garbolino. As I say, I think that was the case. Hardy claim the first rod, a spinning rod, the year before, but as it was reinforced with carbon rather than made of more than 50% carbon, the general feeling is that it was not a "carbon" rod
...a real oversite in the patent process...ooops