How cars evolved???
The automobile industry has made an excellent progress today but
do you know how all this started and reached the present standards!!!
So let’s have a glance at how cars evolved…
Invention of First Car
If we’re going to be really specific, then the first
steam powered vehicle was actually created around 1672. It was invented by
Ferdinand Verbiest, a member of a Jesuit mission in China. He built a
steam-powered vehicle as a toy for the Chinese Emperor. It was too small to be
driven, but it is thought that this was the first ever working steam-powered
vehicle.
But, if we’re looking at a vehicle that was large enough
to transport people and cargo, then this wasn’t until the late 18th century.
Nicolas Joseph Cugnot designed a steam-driven artillery tractor in 1770 and
1771. However, it was impractical and wasn’t developed. Instead, it was up to
us, the Brits. William Murdoch built a working model of a steam carriage in
1784. And, in 1801, Richard Trevithick was running a full-sized vehicle on the
roads of Camborne.
The first automobile patent in the United States was
granted to Oliver Evans in 1789.
Shortly after the vehicles started hitting the roads, the
technological advancements started. Hand brakes, multi-speed transmissions and
better steering were developed.
Some commercially successful vehicles even provided mass
transit, until the backlash. This resulted in the United
Kingdom Locomotive Act (1865). This required many self-propelled
vehicles on public roads to be preceded by a man on foot waving a red flag and
blowing a horn.
Unfortunately, this halted development of automobiles and
instead attentions were turned to railway locomotives. The law wasn’t repealed
until 1896, though they did remove the bit about the red flag in 1876.
When was the first “real” car invented?
Okay, so the cars that existed up until now weren’t
really cars. Well, they weren’t proper cars. These didn’t come about until 1873
when a Frenchman built a self-propelled steam road vehicle. This could
transport groups of passengers.
The first carriage-sized car that could be used on the
existing wagon roads in the United States was a steam-powered vehicle invented
by Dr. J.W. Carhart in 1871.
Interestingly, this led the State of Wisconsin to offer a
$10,000 award to the first person to produce a substitute for the use of horses and other animals. The
condition was that the substitute would have to maintain an average speed of
more than 5 miles an hour over a 200-mile course. This was the first ever
automobile race between states. Seven vehicles were registered, and only two
started to actually compete, and one of those broke down. The winner was from
Oshkosh and finished the course in 33 hours and 27 minutes.
When was the first internal combustion engine
invented?
A lack of suitable fuels meant that early attempts at
making and using an internal combustion engine were hampered. It meant that
instead of fuel they had to use gases. Swiss engineer Francois Isaac de Rivaz
built an engine powered by internal combustion of a hydrogen and oxygen mixture
in 1806.
In 1826, Brit Samuel Brown tested a hydrogen-fuelled
internal combustion engine by using it to propel a vehicle up Shooter’s Hill in
south-east London.
It wasn’t until 1870 that Siegfried Marcus put a liquid-fuelled internal combustion
engine on a handcart. This made him the first man to propel a vehicle using
gasoline and was called the “Marcus Car”. He patented a low-voltage ignition
system and this design was used for all further engines. You can see his second
car, the four-seat “second Marcus car” at the Technical Museum in Vienna.
Interestingly, and tragically, Marcus’ impact on the
automotive industry has been all but forgotten. While he was honored in his
lifetime, Marcus was of Jewish descent. Therefore, the Nazi propaganda office
ordered his work to be destroyed and his name removed from textbooks and public
memorials.
Instead, credit went to one Karl Benz.
When was the first car manufacturer formed?
The first company that was formed exclusively to build
cars was the Panhard et Lavassor in France in 1889. This was followed by
Peugeot two years later.
It wasn’t before long that the automobile industry
started to take off and by 1903, 30,204 vehicles were produced.
The first American automobile manufacturing company, theDuryea Motor Wagon Company, was founded in 1893. This was followed by the
Autocar Company and the Olds Motor Vehicle Company.
The Thomas B. Jeffrey Company developed the world’s
second mass-produced automobile, the Rambler. Soon after, Cadillac, Winton and
Ford were also mass producing cars.
What happened to the automotive industry after World
War One?
This era of the automotive industry is also known as the
vintage era. It lasted until the Wall Street Crash in 1929.
It was during this time that closed bodied cars became
the norm, as did standardised controls. The development of the combustion
engine meant that this was the start of the V8 and V12 engines. Cars produced
around this time included the;
The Pre-War era
Another war was right around the corner and this era
began with the Great Depression and ended with the end of the Second World War.
This era saw the introduction of the saloon/sedan type
body and there was even the start of a boot being introduced. Fully closed
bodies began to dominate car sales and headlights were gradually integrated
with the body of the car.
Front wheel drive, though it was invented several years
earlier, made an appearance and was introduced by Citroen. Notable cars of this
period include;
What happened to the automotive industry after the
Second World War?
There were some big design changes after the Second World
War, including the ponton style. This was where running boards were eliminated
and fenders were incorporated into the body.
It was also in this period that engine power and vehicle
speeds increased, and cars became more design focused. They were also starting
to be exported overseas. The Fiat 500 was introduced in Europe and the
Volkswagen Beetle proved successful in the United States. After cars started to
be exported it became clear that Japan was the big hitter when it came to
automobile manufacture and was seeing success with the Toyota Corolla, Corona
and the Nissan Sunny and Bluebird.
That said, it was also the time for the muscle car, with
the introduction of the Ford Mustang, the Chevrolet Camaro and the Plymouth
Barracuda.
However, the 1973 oil crisis hit, damaging the sales of many
manufacturers. There were also stricter emissions controls and safety
requirements that meant there were some cars that were no longer safe to drive
on US roads.
As a result of many of these things, smaller-sized cars
grew in popularity. Some other popular cars around this time included;
Citroen DS
Morris Minor
MINI
Jaguar E-type
Porsche 911
Ford Mustang
Morris Minor
MINI
Jaguar E-type
Porsche 911
Ford Mustang
The Automotive Industry and the Modern Era
The modern era, in the automotive industry, is pretty
much from 1990 until the present day.
Modern day advancements include front and all-wheel drive as well as the domination of the hatchback, saloon and SUV in today’s market.
Modern day advancements include front and all-wheel drive as well as the domination of the hatchback, saloon and SUV in today’s market.
There is also the more recent phenomena that is the
cross-over vehicle and the rise of pick-up trucks in both the United States and
the UK.
Fuel efficiency and emissions are at the forefront of the
modern era, with the rise of electric cars and plug-in hybrids rapidly changing
the automotive industry.
China are now the world’s largest car
manufacturer, with a production greater than Japan, the United States and
all of Europe. Some of the most notable cars of this era include;
When was the first electric car invented?
The first electric car was actually invented way back in
1828 by a Hungarian called Anyos Jedlik. He created a tiny model car powered by
this electric motor.
In 1834, Thomas Davenport created the first American DC
electrical motor and installed this in a small model car, which he then
operated on a short circular, electrified track.
But the first real electric car was the Flocken
Elektrowagen, created by German inventor Andreas Flocken in 1888. Electric cars were actually quite
popular between the late 19th century and early 20th century. This was because
electricity was one of the preferred methods for automobile propulsion.
However, advancements in the internal combustion engine meant that it slowly
overtook them. This, combined with the greater range of gasoline cars, quicker
refueling times and the mass production of gasoline meant that the use of
electric propulsion declined.
It was effectively removed from the important markets,
such as the US, by the 1930s. Imagine what would have happened if we had never
advanced the internal combustion engine?
Now, of course, electric cars are expected to be the
future.
So that is an overview of the evolution of the car.
