History of the automobile

Development of the automobile started in 1672 with the invention of the first steam-powered
vehicle,[1] which led to the creation of the first steam-powered automobile capable of human
transportation, built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769.[2][3] Inventors began to branch out at the
start of the 19th century, creating the de Rivas engine, one of the first internal combustion
engines,[4] and an early electric motor.[5] Samuel Brown later tested the first industrially applied
internal combustion engine in 1826.[6]

Development was hindered in the mid-19th century

by a backlash against large vehicles, yet progress
continued on some internal combustion engines.
The engine evolved as engineers created two- and
four-cycle combustion engines and began using
gasoline as fuel. The first practical modern
automobile and the first car put into series
production appeared in 1886, when Carl Benz
developed a gasoline-powered automobile and
made several identical copies.[7][8] Later
automobile production was marked by the Ford
Model T, created by the Ford Motor Company in
1908, which became the first automobile to be The Ford Model T (foreground) and Volkswagen
mass-produced on a moving assembly line.[9] Beetle (background) are among the most mass-
produced car models in history.
Power sources
The early history of the automobile was concentrated on the search for a reliable portable power
unit to propel the vehicle.

Steam-powered wheeled vehicles

17th and 18th centuries

Ferdinand Verbiest, a member of a Jesuit mission in China,

built a steam-powered vehicle around 1672 as a toy for the
Kangxi Emperor. It was small-scale and could not carry a
driver but it was, quite possibly, the first working steam-
powered vehicle ('auto-mobile').[1][10]

Steam-powered self-propelled vehicles large enough to

transport people and cargo were first devised in the late 18th
Cugnot's steam wagon, the second
century. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot demonstrated his fardier à
(1771) version
vapeur ("steam dray"), an experimental steam-driven artillery
tractor, in 1770 and 1771. As Cugnot's design proved to be
impractical, his invention was not developed in his native France. The center of innovation shifted
to Great Britain. By 1784, William Murdoch had built a working model of a steam carriage in
Redruth[11] and in 1801 Richard Trevithick was running a full-sized vehicle on the roads in
Camborne.

19th century

During the 19th century, attempts were made to introduce practical

steam-powered vehicles. Innovations such as hand brakes, multispeed
transmissions and better steering developed. Some commercially
successful vehicles provided mass transit until a backlash against
these large vehicles resulted in the passage of legislation such as the
UK Locomotive Act (1865), which required many self-propelled
vehicles on public roads to be preceded by a man on foot waving a red
flag and blowing a horn. This effectively halted road auto development
in the UK for most of the rest of the 19th century; inventors and
engineers shifted their efforts to improvements in railway
locomotives. The law was not repealed until 1896, although the need
for the red flag was removed in 1878.
A replica of Richard
In 1816, a professor at Prague Polytechnic, Josef Bozek, built an oil- Trevithick's 1801 road
fired steam car.[12]: 27  Walter Hancock, builder and operator of locomotive 'Puffing Devil'
London steam busses, in 1838 built a two-seated car phaeton.[12]: 27 

In 1867, Canadian jeweler Henry Seth Taylor demonstrated his four-wheeled "steam buggy" at the
Stanstead Fair in Stanstead, Quebec and again the following year.[13] The basis of the buggy, which
he began building in 1865, was a high-wheeled carriage with bracing to support a two-cylinder
steam engine mounted on the floor.[14]

One of the first "real" automobiles was produced in 1873 by Frenchman Amédée Bollée in Le Mans,
who built self-propelled steam road vehicles to transport groups of passengers.

The first automobile suitable for use on existing wagon roads in the US was a steam-powered
vehicle invented in 1871 by Dr. J.W. Carhart, a minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in
Racine, Wisconsin.[15][16] It induced the state of Wisconsin in 1875 to offer a US$10,000
(equivalent to $246,758 in 2021) award to the first to produce a practical substitute for the use of
horses and other animals. They stipulated that the vehicle would have to maintain an average
speed of more than 8 km/h (5 mph) over a 320 km (200 mi) course. The offer led to the first city to
city automobile race in the US, starting on 16 July 1878 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and ending in
Madison, Wisconsin, via Appleton, Oshkosh, Waupun, Watertown, Fort Atkinson, and Janesville.
While seven vehicles were registered, only two started to compete: the entries from Green Bay and
Oshkosh. The vehicle from Green Bay was faster but broke down before completing the race. The
Oshkosh finished the 323 km (201 mi) course in 33 hours and 27 minutes and posted an average
speed of 9.7 km/h (6 mph). In 1879, the legislature awarded half the prize.[17][18][19]

20th century

Pre-WWII

Steam-powered road vehicles, both cars and wagons, reached the peak of their development in the
early 1930s with fast-steaming lightweight boilers and efficient engine designs. Internal
combustion engines also developed greatly during World War I, becoming simpler to operate and
more reliable. The development of the high-speed diesel engine from 1930 began to replace them
for wagons, accelerated in the UK by tax changes making steam
wagons uneconomic overnight. Although a few designers
continued to advocate steam power, no significant
developments in the production of steam cars took place after
Doble in 1931.

Post-WWII

Whether steam cars will ever be reborn in later technological

eras remains to be seen. Magazines such as Light Steam Power
1924 Doble Model E
continued to describe them into the 1980s. The 1950s saw
interest in steam-turbine cars powered by small nuclear
reactors[20] (this was also true of aircraft), but the fears about
the dangers inherent in nuclear fission technology soon killed these ideas.

Electric automobiles

19th century

In 1828, Ányos Jedlik, a Hungarian who invented an early type

of electric motor, created a tiny model car powered by his new
motor.[5] In 1834, Vermont blacksmith Thomas Davenport, the
inventor of the first American DC electric motor, installed his
motor in a small model car, which he operated on a short
circular electrified track.[22] In 1835, Professor Sibrandus
German Flocken Elektrowagen of
Stratingh of Groningen, the Netherlands and his assistant
1888, perhaps the first electric car in
Christopher Becker created a small-scale electrical car,
the world[21]
powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.[23] In 1838,
Scotsman Robert Davidson built an electric locomotive that
attained a speed of 6.4 km/h (4 mph). In England, a patent was
granted in 1840 for the use of tracks as conductors of electric current, and similar American
patents were issued to Lilley and Colten in 1847.

Sources point to different creations as the first electric car. Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year
is uncertain) Robert Anderson of Scotland invented a crude electric carriage, powered by non-
rechargeable primary cells. In November 1881, French inventor Gustave Trouvé demonstrated a
working three-wheeled car powered by electricity at the International Exposition of Electricity,
Paris.[24] English inventor Thomas Parker, who was responsible for innovations such as
electrifying the London Underground, overhead tramways in Liverpool and Birmingham, and the
smokeless fuel coalite, built the first production electric car in London in 1884, using his own
specially designed high-capacity rechargeable batteries.[25] However, others regard the Flocken
Elektrowagen of 1888 by German inventor Andreas Flocken as the first true electric car.[21]

20th century

Electric cars enjoyed popularity between the late 19th century and early 20th century, when
electricity was among the preferred methods for automobile propulsion, providing a level of
comfort and ease of operation that could not be achieved by the gasoline cars of the time. Advances
in internal combustion technology, especially the electric starter, soon rendered this advantage
moot; the greater range of gasoline cars, quicker refueling times, and growing petroleum
infrastructure, along with the mass production of gasoline vehicles by companies such as the Ford
Motor Company, which reduced prices of gasoline cars to less than half that of equivalent electric
cars, led to a decline in the use of electric propulsion, effectively removing it from important
markets such as the US by the 1930s. 1997 saw the Toyota RAV4 EV and the Nissan Altra, the first
production battery electric cars to use NiMH and Li-ion batteries (instead of heavier lead acid)
respectively.

21st century

In recent years, increased concerns over the environmental impact of gasoline cars, higher gasoline
prices, improvements in battery technology, and the prospect of peak oil have brought about
renewed interest in electric cars, which are perceived to be more environmentally friendly and
cheaper to maintain and run, despite high initial costs.

Internal combustion engines

Gas mixtures

The lack of suitable fuels, particularly liquids, hampered early

attempts at making and using internal combustion engines—
therefore some of the earliest engines used gas mixtures.
Christiaan Huyghens (1629–1695) built a powder-powered
internal combustion engine to supply water for irrigation of
Versailles palace gardens, used as latrines by visitors.

Several early experimenters used gases. In 1806, the Swiss

engineer François Isaac de Rivaz built an engine powered by
internal combustion of a hydrogen and oxygen mixture.[4] In
1826, Englishman Samuel Brown tested his hydrogen-fueled 1885-built Benz Patent-
internal combustion engine by using it to propel a vehicle up Motorwagen, the first car to go into
Shooter's Hill in southeast London.[26][6] Belgian-born Etienne production with an internal
Lenoir's Hippomobile with a hydrogen-gas-fueled one-cylinder combustion engine
internal combustion engine made a test drive from Paris to
Joinville-le-Pont in 1860, covering some 9 km (5.6 mi) in about
three hours.[27] A later version was propelled by coal gas. A
Delamare-Deboutteville vehicle was patented and trialed in
1884.

The use of autogas (LPG) or natural gas in vehicles can become

sporadically popular—often depending on the supply and cost
of gasoline.
The second Marcus car of 1875 at
the Technical Museum in Vienna
Gasoline

Nicolaus Otto and Eugen Langen had built a working engine in

1867. About 1870, in Vienna, Austria (then the Austro-Hungarian Empire), inventor Siegfried
Marcus put a liquid-fueled internal combustion engine on a simple handcart which made him the
first man to propel a vehicle by means of gasoline. Today, this is known as "the first Marcus car"
but would be better described as a cart. His second car, built and run in 1875, was the first petrol
driven car and is housed at the Vienna Technial Museum.[28][29] In 1883, Marcus secured a
German patent for a low-voltage ignition system of the magneto type; this was his only automotive
patent. This design was used for all further engines. This ignition, in conjunction with the
"rotating-brush carburetor", made the engine design innovative. During his lifetime, he was
honored as the originator of the motorcar but his place in history was all but erased by the Nazis
during World War II. Because Marcus was of Jewish descent, the Nazi propaganda office ordered
his work to be destroyed, his name expunged from future textbooks, and his public memorials
removed, giving credit instead to Karl Benz.[30]

Several inventors developed their own version of practical automobiles with petrol/gasoline-
powered internal combustion engines in the last two decades of the 19th century: Karl Benz built
his first automobile in 1885 in Mannheim. Benz was granted a patent for his automobile on 29
January 1886,[31] and began the first production of automobiles in 1888, after Bertha Benz, his
wife, had proved—with the first long-distance trip in August 1888, from Mannheim to Pforzheim
and back—that the horseless coach was capable of extended travel. Since 2008 a Bertha Benz
Memorial Route commemorates this event.[32]

Soon after, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart in 1889 designed a vehicle from
scratch to be an automobile, rather than a horse-drawn carriage fitted with an engine. They also
are usually credited with invention of the first motorcycle in 1886, but Italy's Enrico Bernardi of
the University of Padua, in 1882, patented a 0.024 hp (18 W) 122 cc (7.4 cu in) one-cylinder petrol
motor, fitting it into his son's tricycle, making it at least a candidate for the first automobile and
first motorcycle.[12]: 26  Bernardi enlarged the tricycle in 1892 to carry two adults.[12]: 26 

The first four-wheeled petrol-driven automobile in Britain was built in Walthamstow by Frederick
Bremer in 1892.[33] Another was made in Birmingham in 1895 by Frederick William Lanchester,
who also patented the disc brake. The first electric starter was installed on an Arnold, an
adaptation of the Benz Velo, built in Kent between 1895 and 1898.[12]: 25 

George Foote Foss of Sherbrooke, Quebec built a single-cylinder gasoline car in 1896 which he
drove for four years, ignoring city officials' warnings of arrest for his "mad antics".[13]

In all the turmoil, many early pioneers are nearly forgotten. In 1891, John William Lambert built a
three-wheeler in Ohio City, Ohio, which was destroyed in a fire the same year, while Henry Nadig
constructed a four-wheeler in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is likely they were not the only
ones.[12]: 25 

Eras of invention

Horseless carriage or Veteran era

The American George B. Selden filed for a patent on 8 May

1879. His application included not only the engine but its use in
a four-wheeled car. Selden filed a series of amendments to his
application which stretched out the legal process, resulting in a
delay of 16 years before the patent was granted on 5 November
1895.[34] Selden licensed his patent to most major American
automakers, collecting a fee on each car they produced and
creating the Association of Licensed Automobile
Manufacturers. The Ford Motor Company fought this patent in
court, and eventually won on appeal. Henry Ford testified that
the patent did more to hinder than encourage development of The Selden Road-Engine
autos in the US.[35]

The first production of automobiles was by Karl Benz in 1888 in Germany and, under license from
Benz, in France by Emile Roger. There were numerous others, including tricycle builders Rudolf
Egg, Edward Butler, and Léon Bollée.[12]: 20–23  Bollée, using a 650 cc (40 cu in) engine of his own
design, enabled his driver, Jamin, to average 45  km/h
(28 mph) in the 1897 Paris-Tourville rally.[12]: 23  By 1900, mass
production of automobiles had begun in France and the US.

The first company formed exclusively to build automobiles was

Panhard et Levassor in France, which also introduced the first
four-cylinder engine.[12]: 22  Formed in 1889, Panhard was
quickly followed by Peugeot two years later. By the start of the
20th century, the automobile industry was beginning to take
The Präsident automobile
off in Western Europe, especially in France, where 30,204 were
produced in 1903, representing 48.8 percent of world
automobile production that year.[36]

Across the northern US, local mechanics experimented with a

wide variety of prototypes. In the state of Iowa, for example, by
1890 Jesse O. Wells drove a steam-powered Locomobile. There
were numerous experiments in electric vehicles driven by
storage batteries. First users ordered the early gasoline-
powered cars, including Haynes, Mason, and Duesenberg
automobiles. Blacksmiths and mechanics started operating
repair and gasoline stations.[37] In Springfield, Massachusetts, The first automobile in Japan, a
brothers Charles and Frank Duryea founded the Duryea Motor French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898
Wagon Company in 1893, becoming the first American
automobile manufacturing company. The Autocar Company,
founded in 1897, established a number of innovations still in
use[38] and remains the oldest operating motor vehicle
manufacturer in the US. However, it was Ransom E. Olds and
his Olds Motor Vehicle Company (later known as Oldsmobile)
who would dominate this era with the introduction of the
Oldsmobile Curved Dash. Its production line was running in
1901. The Thomas B. Jeffery Company developed the world's
second mass-produced automobile, and 1,500 Ramblers were
built and sold in its first year, representing one-sixth of all
existing motorcars in the US at the time.[39] Within a year,
Cadillac (formed from the Henry Ford Company), Winton, and Fiat 4 HP, the first car model
Ford were also producing cars in the thousands. In South Bend, produced by Italian manufacturer
Indiana, the Studebaker brothers, having become the world's Fiat in 1899
leading manufacturers of horse-drawn vehicles, made a
transition to electric automobiles in 1902, and gasoline engines
in 1904. They continued to build horse-drawn vehicles until 1919.[40]

The first motor car in Central Europe was produced by the Austro-Hungarian company
Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau (later renamed to Tatra in today's Czech Republic) in 1897, the Präsident
automobile.[41] In 1898, Louis Renault had a De Dion-Bouton modified, with fixed drive shaft and
differential, making "perhaps the first hot rod in history" and bringing Renault and his brothers
into the car industry.[42] Innovation was rapid and rampant, with no clear standards for basic
vehicle architectures, body styles, construction materials, or controls; for example, many veteran
cars use a tiller, rather than a wheel for steering. During 1903, Rambler standardized on the
steering wheel[43] and moved the driver's position to the left-hand side of the vehicle.[44] Chain
drive was dominant over the drive shaft, and closed bodies were extremely rare. Drum brakes were
introduced by Renault in 1902.[45]: 62  The next year, Dutch designer Jacobus Spijker built the first
four-wheel drive racing car;[46]: 77  it never competed and it would be 1965 and the Jensen FF
before four-wheel drive was used on a production car.[46]: 78 
Within a few years, a dizzying assortment of technologies were being used by hundreds of
producers all over the western world. Steam, electricity, and petrol/gasoline-powered automobiles
competed for decades, with petrol/gasoline internal combustion engines achieving dominance by
the 1910s. Dual- and even quad-engine cars were designed, and engine displacement ranged to
more than 12  L (3.2  US  gal). Many modern advances, including gas/electric hybrids, multi-valve
engines, overhead camshafts, and four-wheel drive, were attempted and discarded at this time.

Innovation was not limited to the vehicles themselves. Increasing numbers of cars propelled the
growth of the petroleum industry,[45]: 60–61  as well as the development of technology to produce
gasoline (replacing kerosene and coal oil) and of improvements in heat-tolerant mineral oil
lubricants (replacing vegetable and animal oils).[45]: 60 

There were social effects, also. Music would be made about cars, such as "In My Merry Oldsmobile"
(a tradition that continues) while, in 1896, William Jennings Bryan would be the first presidential
candidate to campaign in a car (a donated Mueller), in Decatur, Illinois.[47]: 92  Three years later,
Jacob German would start a tradition for New York City cabdrivers when he sped down Lexington
Avenue, at the "reckless" speed of 19 km/h (12 mph).[47]: 92  Also in 1899, Akron, Ohio, adopted the
first self-propelled paddy wagon.[47]: 92 

By 1900, the early centers of national automotive industry developed in many countries, including
Belgium (home to Vincke, that copied Benz; Germain, a pseudo-Panhard; and Linon and Nagant,
both based on the Gobron-Brillié),[12]: 25  Switzerland (led by Fritz Henriod, Rudolf Egg, Saurer,
Johann Weber, and Lorenz Popp),[12]: 25  Vagnfabrik AB in Sweden, Hammel (by A. F. Hammel and
H. U. Johansen at Copenhagen, in Denmark, which only built one car, ca. 1886[12]: 25 ), Irgens
(starting in Bergen, Norway, in 1883, but without success),[12]: 25–26  Italy (where FIAT started in
1899), and as far afield as Australia (where Pioneer set up shop in 1898, with an already archaic
paraffin-fueled center-pivot-steered wagon).[12] Meanwhile, the export trade had begun, with Koch
exporting cars and trucks from Paris to Tunisia, Egypt, Iran, and the Dutch East Indies.[12]: 25 
Motor cars were also exported to British colonies, for example, the first was shipped to India in
1897.

Throughout the veteran car era,

Any woman can drive an electric automobile, any man can the automobile was seen more
drive a steam, but neither man nor woman can drive a as a novelty than as a genuinely
gasoline; it follows its own odorous will, and goes or goes useful device. Breakdowns were
not as it feels disposed. frequent, fuel was difficult to
obtain, roads suitable for
traveling were scarce, and rapid
—Arthur Jerome Eddy, early automobile enthusiast,
innovation meant that a year-
1902[48] old car was nearly worthless.
Major breakthroughs in proving
the usefulness of the automobile
came with the historic long-distance drive of Bertha Benz in 1888, when she traveled more than
80 km (50 mi) from Mannheim to Pforzheim, to make people aware of the potential of the vehicles
her husband, Karl Benz, manufactured, and after Horatio Nelson Jackson's successful
transcontinental drive across the US in 1903 on a Winton car. Many older cars made were made
with an assembly line that would help mass-produce cars, a system that continues to be used
because of its efficiency.

Brass or Edwardian era

The Brass or Edwardian period lasted from roughly 1905
through 1914 and the beginning of World War I. It is generally
referred to as the Edwardian era, but in the US is often known
as the Brass era from the widespread use of brass in vehicles
during this time.

Within the 15 years that make up this era, the various

experimental designs and alternate power systems would be
A Stanley Steamer racecar in 1903.
marginalized. Although the modern touring car had been
In 1906, a similar Stanley Rocket
invented earlier, it was not until Panhard et Levassor's Système
set the world land speed record at
Panhard was widely licensed and adopted that recognizable
205.5 km/h (127.7 mph) at Daytona
and standardized automobiles were created. This system
Beach Road Course
specified front-engine, rear-wheel drive internal combustion-
engine cars with a sliding gear transmission. Traditional coach-
style vehicles were rapidly abandoned, and buckboard
runabouts lost favor with the introduction of tonneaus and
other less-expensive touring bodies.

By 1906, steam car development had advanced, and they were

among the fastest road vehicles in that period.

Throughout this era, development of automotive technology

was rapid, due in part to hundreds of small manufacturers
competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments
included the electric ignition system (by dynamotor on the Model-T Ford car parked near the
Arnold car in 1898,[45]: 61  though Robert Bosch, 1903, tends to Geelong Art Gallery at its launch in
Australia in 1915
get the credit), independent suspension (actually conceived by
Bollée in 1873),[45]: 61  and four-wheel brakes (by the Arrol-
Johnston Company of Scotland in 1909).[12]: 27  Leaf springs
were widely used for suspension, though many other systems were still in use, with angle steel
taking over from armored wood as the frame material of choice. Transmissions and throttle
controls were widely adopted, allowing a variety of cruising speeds, though vehicles generally still
had discrete speed settings, rather than the infinitely variable system familiar in cars of later eras.
Safety glass also made its debut, patented by John Crewe Wood in England in 1905.[45]: 62  (It
would not become standard equipment until 1926, on a Rickenbacker.)[45]: 62 

Between 1907 and 1912 in the US, the high-wheel motor buggy (resembling the horse buggy of
before 1900) was in its heyday, with over 75 makers including Holsman (Chicago), IHC (Chicago),
and Sears (which sold via catalog); the high-wheeler would be killed by the Model T.[12]: 65  In 1912,
Hupp (in the US, supplied by Hale & Irwin) and BSA (in the UK) pioneered the use of all-steel
bodies,[45]: 63  joined in 1914 by Dodge (who produced Model T bodies).[45]: 62  While it would be
another two decades before all-steel bodies would be standard, the change would mean improved
supplies of superior-quality wood for furniture makers.[12]

The 1908 New York to Paris Race was the first circumnavigation of the world by automobile.
German, French, Italian, and American teams began in New York City 12 February 1908 with three
of the competitors ultimately reaching Paris. The US-built Thomas Flyer with George Schuster
(driver) won the race covering 35,000 km (22,000 mi) in 169 days. Also in 1908, the first South
American automobile was built in Peru, the Grieve.[49] In 1909, Rambler became the first car
company to equip its cars with a spare tire that was mounted on a fifth wheel.[50]

Some examples of cars of the period included:

1907 Takuri—the first entirely Japanese-made gasoline engine car produced by Komanosuke
Uchiyama in April 1907. Also, in Japan, the Hatsudoki Seizo Co. Ltd. is formed, which was later
 renamed in 1951 as Daihatsu Kōgyō Kabushiki-gaisha.
1908–1927 Ford Model T—the most widely produced and available four-seater car of the era.
It used a planetary transmission, and had a pedal-based control system. Ford T was
proclaimed as the most influential car of the 20th century in the international Car of the Century
awards.
1909 Hudson Model 20—named after its rated power output, and sold on its first market for
US$900 (equivalent to $27,143 in 2021).
1909 Morgan Runabout—a popular cyclecar, cyclecars were sold in far greater quantities than
four-seater cars in this period.[51]
1910 Mercer Raceabout—regarded as one of the first sports cars, the Raceabout expressed
the exuberance of the driving public, as did the similarly conceived American Underslung and
Hispano-Suiza Alphonso.
1910–1920 Bugatti Type 13—a notable racing and touring model with advanced engineering
and design. Similar models were Types 15, 17, 22, and 23.
1914–1917 Dattogo—a two-cylinder, 10 hp (7,500 W) "all-Japanese" car manufactured in
seven units by the Kaishinsha Motor Works operated by Masujiro Hashimoto in Tokyo, while
importing, assembling, and selling British cars. Kaishinsha was the first automobile
manufacturing business in Japan.
1917 Mitsubishi Model A—an all hand-built car built by Japanese company Mitsubishi in limited
numbers for Japanese executives.

Vintage era

The vintage era lasted from the end of World War I (1918),
through to the Wall Street Crash at the end of 1929. During this
period the front-engine car came to dominate with closed
bodies and standardized controls becoming the norm. In 1919,
90 percent of cars sold were open; by 1929, 90 percent were
closed.[12]: 7  Development of the internal combustion engine
continued at a rapid pace, with multivalve and overhead 1926 Bugatti Type 35
camshaft engines produced at the high end, and V8, V12, and
even V16 engines conceived for the ultrarich. Also in 1919,
hydraulic brakes were invented by Malcolm Loughead
(cofounder of Lockheed); they were adopted by Duesenberg for
their 1921 Model A.[45]: 62  Three years later, Hermann Rieseler
of Vulcan Motor invented the first automatic transmission,
which had two-speed planetary gearbox, torque converter, and
lockup clutch; it never entered production.[45]: 62  (It would only
become an available option in 1940.)[45]: 62  Just at the end of
the vintage era, tempered glass (now standard equipment in
side windows) was invented in France.[45]: 62  In this era the
1929 Austin Seven
revolutionary pontoon design of cars without fully articulated
fenders, running boards and other noncompact ledge elements
was introduced in small series but mass production of such
cars was started much later (after WWII).

American auto companies in the 1920s expected they would

soon sell six million cars a year but did not do so until 1955.
Numerous companies disappeared.[52] Between 1922 and 1925,
the number of US passenger car builders decreased from 175 to
70. H. A. Tarantous, managing editor of "MoToR Member
Society of Automotive Engineers", in a New York Times article 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C
from 1925, suggested many were unable to raise production
and cope with falling prices (due to assembly line production), especially for lowpriced cars. The
new pyroxylin-based paints, eight-cylinder engine, four-wheel brakes, and balloon tires as the
biggest trends for 1925.[53]

Examples of period vehicles:

1922–1939 Austin 7—a widely copied vehicle serving as a template for many cars such as
BMW and Nissan.
1922–1931 Lancia Lambda—an advanced car for the time, first car to feature a load-bearing
monocoque and independent front suspension.
1924–1929 Bugatti Type 35—one of the most successful racing cars with over 1,000 victories
in five years.
1925–1928 Hanomag 2/10 PS—early example of pontoon styling.
1927–1931 Ford Model A (1927–1931)—after keeping the brass era Model T in production for
too long, Ford broke from the past by restarting its model series with the 1927 Model A. More
than four million were produced, making it the bestselling model of the era. The Ford Model A
was a prototype for the beginning of Soviet mass car production (GAZ A).
1930 Cadillac V-16—developed at the height of the vintage era, the V16-powered Cadillac
would join Bugatti's Royale as a legendary ultraluxury car of the era.

Pre-war era

The pre-war part of the classic era began with the Great
Depression in 1930, and ended with the recovery after World
War II, commonly placed during 1946. It was in this period
that integrated fenders and fully-closed bodies began to
dominate sales, with the new saloon/sedan body style even
incorporating a trunk or boot at the rear for storage. The old
open-top runabouts, phaetons, and touring cars were largely
phased out by the end of the classic era as wings, running
Isotta Fraschini Tipo 8A
boards, and headlights were gradually integrated with the body
of the car.

By the 1930s, most of the mechanical technology used in

today's automobiles had been invented, although some things
were later "re-invented", and credited to someone else. For
example, front-wheel drive was re-introduced by André Citroën
with the launch of the Traction Avant in 1934, though it had
appeared several years earlier in road cars made by Alvis and
Cord, and in racing cars by Miller (and may have appeared as
early as 1897). In the same vein, the independent suspension
was originally conceived by Amédée Bollée in 1873, but not put Rolls-Royce Phantom III
in production until appearing on the low-volume Mercedes-
Benz 380 in 1933, which prodded American makers to use it
more widely.[45]: 61  In 1930, the number of auto manufacturers declined sharply as the industry
consolidated and matured, thanks in part to the effects of the Great Depression.

Examples of pre-war automobiles:

1932–1939 Alvis Speed 20—the first with all-synchromesh gearbox

1932–1948 Ford V-8 (Model B)—introduction of the flathead V8 in mainstream vehicles
1934–1938 Tatra 77—first serial-produced car with an aerodynamical design
1934–1940 Bugatti Type 57—a refined automobile for the wealthy
 1934–1956 Citroën Traction Avant—first mass-produced
front-wheel drive car, built with monocoque chassis
1936–1955 MG T series—sports cars
1938–2003 Volkswagen Beetle—a design that was
produced for over 60 years with over 20 million units
assembled in several countries
1936–1939 Rolls-Royce Phantom III—V12 engine

Volkswagen Beetle

Postwar era

A major change in automobile design since World War II was

the popularity of pontoon style, in which running boards were
eliminated and fenders were incorporated into the body.
Among the first representatives of the style were the Soviet
GAZ-M20 Pobeda (1946), British Standard Vanguard (1947),
US Studebaker Champion, and Kaiser (1946), as well as the
Czech Tatra T600 Tatraplan (1946) and the Italian Cisitalia
220 sports car (1947).
1946 GAZ-M20 Pobeda one of the
Automobile design and production finally emerged from the first mass-produced cars with
military orientation and other shadow of war in 1949, the year pontoon design
that in the US saw the introduction of high-compression V8
engines and modern bodies from General Motors's Oldsmobile
and Cadillac brands. Hudson introduced the "step-down"
design with the 1948 Commodore, which placed the passenger
compartment down inside the perimeter of the frame, that was
one of the first new-design postwar cars made and featured
trend-setting slab-side styling.[54] The unibody/strut-
suspended 1951 Ford Consul joined the 1948 Morris Minor and
1949 Rover P4 in the automobile market in the UK. In Italy, 1954 Plymouth Savoy Station
Enzo Ferrari was beginning his 250 series, just as Lancia Wagon, one of the first US all-metal
station wagons
introduced the revolutionary V6-powered Aurelia.

Throughout the 1950s, engine power and vehicle speeds rose,

designs became more integrated and artful, and automobiles
were marketed internationally. Alec Issigonis's Mini and Fiat's
500 diminutive cars were introduced in Europe, while the
similar kei car class became popular in Japan. The Volkswagen
Beetle continued production after World War II and began
exports to other nations, including the US. At the same time,
Nash introduced the Nash Rambler, the first successful modern
compact car made in the US,[55] while the standard models
1958 Lancia Appia
produced by the "Big Three" domestic automakers grew ever
larger in size, featuring increasing amounts of chrome trim,
and luxury was exemplified by the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham. The markets in Europe expanded
with new small-sized automobiles, as well as expensive grand tourers (GT), like the Ferrari
America.
The market changed in the 1960s, as the US "Big Three"
automakers began facing competition from imported cars, the
European makers adopted advanced technologies and Japan
emerged as a car-producing nation. Japanese companies began
to export some of their more popular selling cars in Japan
internationally, such as the Toyota Corolla, Toyota Corona,
Nissan Sunny, and Nissan Bluebird in the mid-1960s. The
success of American Motors's compact-sized Rambler models
spurred GM and Ford to introduce their own downsized cars in 1959 Morris Mini-Minor
1960.[56] Performance engines became a focus of marketing by
US automakers, exemplified by the era's muscle cars.[57] In
1964, the Ford Mustang developed a new market segment, the
pony car.[58] New models to compete with the Mustang
included the Chevrolet Camaro, AMC Javelin, and Plymouth
Barracuda.[59]

Captive imports and badge engineering increased in the US and

the UK as amalgamated groups such as the British Motor 1974 Citroën DS
Corporation consolidated the market. BMC's space-saving and
trend-setting transverse engine, front-wheel-drive,
independent suspension and monocoque bodied Mini, which
first appeared in 1959, was marketed under the Austin and
Morris names, until Mini became a marque in its own right in
1969.[60] Competition increased, with Studebaker, a pioneering
automaker, shutting down, and the trend for consolidation
reached Italy where niche makers like Maserati, Ferrari, and
Lancia were acquired by larger companies. By the end of the
decade, the number of automobile marques had been greatly
reduced. Gurgel Supermini

Technology developments included the widespread use of

independent suspensions, wider application of fuel injection, and an increasing focus on safety in
automotive design. Innovations during the 1960s included NSU's Wankel engine, the gas turbine,
and the turbocharger. Of these, only the last endured, pioneered by General Motors, and adopted
by BMW and Saab, later seeing mass-market use during the 1980s by Chrysler. Mazda continued
developing its Wankel engine, in spite of problems in longevity, emissions, and fuel economy.
Other Wankel licensees, including Mercedes-Benz and GM, never put their designs into production
because of engineering and manufacturing problems, as well as the lessons from the 1973 oil crisis.

The 1970s were turbulent years for automakers and buyers with major events reshaping the
industry such as the 1973 oil crisis, stricter automobile emissions control and safety requirements,
increasing exports by the Japanese and European automakers, as well as growth in inflation and
the stagnant economic conditions in many nations. Smaller-sized cars grew in popularity. During
the Malaise era, the US saw the establishment of the subcompact segment with the introduction of
the AMC Gremlin, followed by the Chevrolet Vega and Ford Pinto.[61][62] The station wagon
(estate, break, kombi, universal) body design was popular, as well as increasing sales of
noncommercial all-wheel drive off-road vehicles.

Toward the end of the 20th century, the US Big Three (GM, Ford, and Chrysler) partially lost their
leading position, Japan became for a while the world's leader of car production and cars began to
be mass manufactured in new Asian, East European, and other countries.

Examples of postwar cars:

1946–1958 GAZ-M20 Pobeda—Soviet car with full pontoon design

 1947–1958 Standard Vanguard—British mass-market car with full pontoon design
1948–1971 Morris Minor—an early postwar car exported around the world
1953–1971 Chevrolet Bel Air and 1953–2002 Cadillac Eldorado Brougham—first generations
were representative of tailfin design
1955–1976 Citroën DS—aerodynamic design and innovative technology, awarded third place
as Car of the 20th Century
1959–2000 Mini—a radical and innovative small car that was manufactured for four decades;
awarded second place as Car of the 20th Century
1960-1990 Volkswagen Brasília
1961–1975 Jaguar E-Type—a classic sports car design
1963–1989 Porsche 911—a sports car was awarded fifth place as Car of the 20th Century
1964–present Ford Mustang—the pony car that became one of the bestselling cars of the era
1966–end of the 20th century Fiat 124—an Italian car that was produced under license in many
other countries including the Soviet Union
1966–1971 Subaru 1000—one of the first Japanese built sedans using a boxer engine, front
wheel drive and introducing the "double offset joint" driveshaft to the front wheels
1967 NSU Ro 80—the basic wedge profile of this design was emulated in subsequent
decades,[63] unlike its Wankel engine
late 1960s–early 1980s Gurgel BR-800
late 1960s–early 1980s Gurgel Supermini
1969 Nissan S30—Japanese sports car[64]
1977–present Lada Niva—the first mass-produced full-time all-wheel drive car

Modern era

The modern era is normally defined as the 40 years preceding

the current year.[65] The modern era has been one of increasing
standardization, platform sharing, and computer-aided design
—to reduce costs and development time—and of increasing use
of electronics for both engine management and entertainment
systems. The Toyota Corolla is the world's
bestselling nameplate.
Some particular contemporary developments are the
proliferation of front- and all-wheel drive, the adoption of the
diesel engine, and the ubiquity of fuel injection. Most modern passenger cars are front-wheel-drive
monocoque or unibody designs, with transversely mounted engines.

Body styles have changed as well in the modern era. Three types, the hatchback, sedan, and sport
utility vehicle, dominate today's market. All originally emphasized practicality, but have mutated
into today's high-powered luxury crossover SUV, sports wagon, and two-volume Large MPV. The
rise of pickup trucks in the US and SUVs worldwide has changed the face of motoring with these
"trucks" coming to command more than half of the world automobile market. There was also the
introduction of the MPV class (smaller noncommercial passenger minivans), among the first of
which were the French Renault Espace and the Chrysler minivan versions in the US.

The modern era has also seen rapidly improving fuel efficiency and engine output. The automobile
emissions concerns have been eased with computerized engine management systems.

The financial crisis of 2007–2008 cut almost a third of light vehicle sales from Chrysler, Toyota,
Ford, and Nissan. It also subtracted about a fourth of Honda's sales and about a seventh of sales
from General Motors.[66]
Since 2009, China has become the world's largest car manufacturer with production greater than
Japan, the US, and all of Europe. Besides the increasing car production in Asian and other
countries, there has been growth in transnational corporate groups, with the production of
transnational automobiles sharing the same platforms as well as badge engineering or rebadging to
suit different markets and consumer segments.

Since the end of the 20th century, several award competitions for cars and trucks have become
widely known, such as European Car of the Year, Car of the Year Japan, North American Car of the
Year, World Car of the Year, Truck of the Year, and International Car of the Year.

Examples of modern cars:

1966–1992 Oldsmobile Toronado—First modern-era American car with front wheel drive as
well as introduced electronic antilock braking system and airbag.[67][68]
1972–present Mercedes-Benz S-Class—Seat belt pretensioner, and electronic traction control
system
1975–present BMW 3 Series—the 3 Series has been on Car and Driver magazine's annual
Ten Best list 17 times
1977–present Honda Accord saloon/sedan—a Japanese sedan that became popular in the US
1983–present Chrysler minivans—the two-box minivan design nearly pushed the station
wagon out of the market
1984–present Renault Espace—first mass one-volume car of noncommercial MPV class
1986–2019 Ford Taurus—a midsized front-wheel drive sedan that dominated the US market in
the late 1980s
1997–present Toyota Prius—launched in the Japanese market and became a popular hybrid
electric vehicle in many markets.[69]
1998–present Ford Focus—a popular hatchbacks and Ford's bestselling world car
2008–2012 Tesla Roadster—first highway-capable all-electric vehicle in serial production for
sale in the US in the modern era. Sold about 2,500 units worldwide.
2008–2013 BYD F3DM—first highway-capable series production plugin hybrid, launched in
China in December 2008, sold over 2,300 units.[70][71]
2009–present, Mitsubishi i-MiEV—first highway-capable series production all-electric car,
launched in Japan in July 2009 for fleet customers, and in April 2010 for retail customers.
Rebadged versions of the i-MiEV are sold in Europe by PSA Peugeot Citroën (PSA) as the
Peugeot iOn and Citroën C-Zero.[72][73]
2010–present, Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt—all-electric car and plugin hybrid
correspondingly, launched in December 2010, are the world's top selling mass production
vehicles of their kind.[74] As of December 2015, global Volt sales totaled over 100,000.[75]
Nissan Leaf global sales achieved the 300,000 unit milestone in January 2018, making the
Leaf the world's all-time bestselling highway-capable electric car in history.[76]
2012–present, Tesla Model S—Plugin electric vehicle was ranked as the world's bestselling
plugin electric vehicle in 2015.[77] It was also named car of the century by Car and Driver.[78]

Iconic modern cars include:

1963–1965, Aston Martin DB5, as used by James Bond in Goldfinger, the first of the James
Bond movie franchise. This long-running franchise featured later Aston Martin sports and
touring cars.
 1981–1983, DMC DeLorean, in stainless steel with gull-wing doors, featured in the Back to the
Future movie franchise.

See also
Cars portal

Automotive industry – current production and companies

History of the internal combustion engine
History of transport
Motocycle
List of motorcycles of the 1890s
Timeline of motor vehicle brands
Timeline of North American automobiles
Beginnings

Benz Patent Motorwagen ("patent motorcar"; 1885), three-wheel vehicle widely regarded as
the world's first production automobile
Benz Velo (1894), followup 4-wheel model of the Benz Patent Motorwagen
Early developments essential to the development of automobiles

Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, physics of the internal combustion engine

Illuminating gas, first internal combustion engine fuel
Ligroin or heavy naphtha, first liquid automotive fuel, n-hexane
Car and car engine designers, chronologically by first vehicle/engine built

Nicolaus Otto, developer of the first successful compressed charge gaseous fueled internal
combustion engine (1860s-70s)
Wilhelm Maybach, designed engines starting in the 1870s-80s; first motorbike (1885), second
internal combustion car (1889)
Gottlieb Daimler, German engineer, pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile
development (1870s and on)

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Further reading
Berger, Michael L. (2001). The automobile in American history and culture: a reference guide.
Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 9780313245589.
Black, Edwin (2006). Internal Combustion: How Corporations and Governments Addicted the
World to Oil and Derailed the Alternatives. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 9780312359089.
Clarke, Sally H. (2007). Trust and Power: Consumers, the Modern Corporation, and the Making
of the United States Automobile Market. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521868785.
"discusses trust, consumerism, and the modern corporation"
Halberstam, David (1986). The Reckoning (https://archive.org/details/reckoning00halbrich).
Morrow. ISBN 0688048382.
Norton, Peter D. (2011). Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City. The
MIT Press. ISBN 978-0262516129.
Kay, Jane Holtz (1997). Asphalt nation: how the automobile took over America, and how we
can take it back (https://archive.org/details/asphaltnationhow00kayj). Crown Publishers.
ISBN 0517587025.
Krarup, M.C. (November 1906). "Automobities for Every Use" (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=3IfNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA8163). The World's Work: A History of Our Time. Vol. XIII.
pp. 8163–8178. Retrieved 8 November 2020. Includes photos of many c.1906 special purpose
automobiles.
"New England in Motor History; 1890 to 1916" (https://books.google.com/books?id=V_9YAAAA
YAAJ&pg=RA1-PA7). The Automobile Journal. 41: 9. 25 February 1916.
Norman, Henry (April 1902). "The Coming of the Automobile" (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=DoDNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA3304). The World's Work: A History of Our Time. Vol. V.
pp. 3304–3308. Retrieved 10 July 2009.

External links
Automuseum Dr. Carl Benz, Ladenburg/Germany (https://web.archive.org/web/2011020221481
4/http://www.automuseum-dr-carl-benz.de/)
Bertha Benz Memorial Route (http://www.bertha-benz.de/indexen.php?inhalt=home)
University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections – Transportation photographs (http://digit
alcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/search/collection/transportation/searchterm/automobile*/fi
eld/subjec/mode/all/conn/and/cosuppress/) Digital collection depicting various modes of
transportation (including automobiles) in the Pacific Northwest region and western US during
the first half of the 20th century.
 History of the automobile (http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aacarssteama.htm) on
About.com:Inventors site
History of Automobile Air Conditioning (https://web.archive.org/web/20160111133623/http://ww
w.nyc.net.au/node/149398) on NYC.net
Automotive History (https://web.archive.org/web/20160131044758/http://www.automotivehistor
yonline.com/) – An ongoing photographic history of the automobile.
Taking the Wheel (http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/explore/dgexplore.cfm?topic=industry
&collection=TakingtheWheelManufa&col_id=153), Manufacturers' catalogs from the first
decade of American automobiles

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