When was cars created

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What are you looking for? Try different keywords Try it with general keywords. Long-distance journey by Bertha Benz Double-pivot steering, contra engine, planetary gear transmission — It was Carl Benz who had the double-pivot steering system patented in , thereby solving one of the most urgent problems of the automobile.

The Benz patent motor car Victoria is the first vehicle with the double-pivot steering for which Carl Benz filed a patent in By GM claimed 43 percent of the U. During World War II, in addition to turning out several million military vehicles, American automobile manufacturers made some seventy-five essential military items, most of them unrelated to the motor vehicle.

Because the manufacture of vehicles for the civilian market ceased in and tires and gasoline were severely rationed, motor vehicle travel fell dramatically during the war years. Models and options proliferated, and every year cars became longer and heavier, more powerful, more gadget-bedecked, more expensive to purchase and to operate, following the truism that large cars are more profitable to sell than small ones. Engineering in the postwar era was subordinated to the questionable aesthetics of nonfunctional styling at the expense of economy and safety.

And quality deteriorated to the point that by the mids American-made cars were being delivered to retail buyers with an average of twenty-four defects a unit, many of them safety-related. The era of the annually restyled road cruiser ended with the imposition of federal standards of automotive safety , emission of pollutants and , and energy consumption ; with escalating gasoline prices following the oil shocks of and ; and especially with the mounting penetration of both the U.

After peaking at a record In response, the American automobile industry in the s underwent a massive organizational restructuring and technological renaissance. Managerial revolutions and cutbacks in plant capacity and personnel at GM, Ford and Chrysler resulted in leaner, tougher firms with lower break-even points, enabling them to maintain profits with lower volumes in increasingly saturated, competitive markets.

Manufacturing quality and programs of employee motivation and involvement were given high priority. Functional aerodynamic design replaced styling in Detroit studios, as the annual cosmetic change was abandoned.

Cars became smaller, more fuel-efficient, less polluting and much safer. Product and production were being increasingly rationalized in a process of integrating computer-aided design, engineering and manufacturing.

The automobile has been a key force for change in twentieth-century America. During the s the industry became the backbone of a new consumer goods-oriented society. By the mids it ranked first in value of product, and in it provided one out of every six jobs in the United States.

In the s the automobile became the lifeblood of the petroleum industry, one of the chief customers of the steel industry, and the biggest consumer of many other industrial products. The technologies of these ancillary industries, particularly steel and petroleum, were revolutionized by its demands.

The automobile stimulated participation in outdoor recreation and spurred the growth of tourism and tourism-related industries, such as service stations, roadside restaurants and motels. The construction of streets and highways, one of the largest items of government expenditure, peaked when the Interstate Highway Act of inaugurated the largest public works program in history.

The automobile ended rural isolation and brought urban amenities—most important, better medical care and schools—to rural America while paradoxically the farm tractor made the traditional family farm obsolete. The modern city with its surrounding industrial and residential suburbs is a product of the automobile and trucking.

The automobile changed the architecture of the typical American dwelling, altered the conception and composition of the urban neighborhood, and freed homemakers from the narrow confines of the home. No other historical force has so revolutionized the way Americans work, live, and play.

In , Americans have become truly auto-dependent. But though automobile ownership is virtually universal, the motor vehicle no longer acts as a progressive force for change. New forces—the electronic media, the laser, the computer, and the robot probably foremost among them—are charting the future.

A period of American history that can appropriately be called the Automobile Age is melding into a new Age of Electronics. Eric Foner and John A. Garraty, Editors. All rights reserved. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present.

In his 84 years, Thomas Edison acquired a record number of 1, patents singly or jointly and was the driving force behind such innovations as the phonograph, the incandescent light bulb and one of the earliest motion picture cameras. Farmers, factory workers, school teachers, and many other Americans changed from horses or trains to cars when they bought Model Ts.

The gasoline engine has been reliable, practical, and fairly efficient since about It is easier to control than a steam engine and less likely to burn or explode. A gasoline car can go much further on a tank of gasoline than an electric car can go between battery charges. Gasoline engines have been improved by the use of computers, fuel injectors, and other devices.

But growing concern about chemicals that gasoline engines release into the air i. The automobile collection attempts to include significant automotive milestones as cars changed from horseless carriages to an intrinsic part of American life.

The Smithsonian has been collecting cars since , and almost all of them have been given by people or businesses. Early Cars: Fact Sheet for Children. Who made the first cars? How did the first cars work? Who drove the first cars? Why do so many people use cars?

What was different about the Ford Model T? Why do most cars today run on gasoline? How many cars are in the Smithsonian? Where can I see more early cars in person and on the Web? Where else can I find out about cars on the Web?