Car History

Main

The Start

1769 - 1784

Cugnot a French inventor makes thew 1st self-propelled road vehicle. He did it by employing a device for converting the reciprocating motion of a steam piston into rotary motion by means of a ratchet arrangement.

A Working Model

1784 - 1789

William Murdock, who was a scottish engenieer, built a working model for steam carriage.

Steam Road Carriage

1789 - 1801

Richard Trevithick was a Cornish inventor, mining engineer, and builder of the first working railway steam locomotive. Trevithick built a full-size steam road carriage in 1801.

Internal Combustion Engine

1832 - 1860

Francois Isaac de Rivaz of Switzerland invented an internal combustion engine that used a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen for fuel. Rivaz designed a car for his engine that was the first internal combustion powered automobile.

"Marcus Car"

1860 - 1879

Siegfried Samuel Marcus was a German inventor and automobile pioneer. At about 1870 he put an internal combustion engine on a simple handcart. This appliance was designed for liquid combustibles and made him the first man propelling a vehicle by means of gasoline.

Commercial Auto

1879 - 1885

Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and automobile engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered automobile. In 1885, Karl Benz created the Motorwagen, the first commercial automobile. It was powered by a four-stroke gasoline engine, which was his own design.

1st Car Company

1885 - 1893

The first American firm to build gasoline automobiles was founded by Charles Duryea and his brother Frank, they built a one-cylinder "Ladies Phaeton", first demonstrated on September 21, 1893 at Springfield, Massachusetts. It was considered the 1st successful gas powered automotive in the U.S.

Racing

1893 - 1894

Car racing is organized for the first time. The first contest was organized by Paris magazine, Le Perit Journal, a reliability test to determine best performance.

Model "A"

1894 - 1903

Henry Ford was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. His 1st car he released is a model "A".

More Racing

1903 - 1910

The transformation from high-priced road cars into pure racers, with Delage, Auto Union, Mercedes-Benz, Delahaye, and Bugatti constructing streamlined vehicles with engines producing up to 450 KW (612 hp), aided by multiple-stage supercharging.

Electric Starter

1910 - 1911

Charles Franklin Kettering was an American farmer, school teacher, mechanic, engineer, scientist, inventor and social philosopher. In 1912, Cadillac was the first manufacturer to incorporate an electric starter on their cars equipped with gasoline internal combustion engines, replacing the crank start.

Assembly line

1911 - 1913

In 1913, the company had developed all of the basic techniques of the assembly line and mass production. Ford introduced the world's first moving assembly line that year, which reduced chassis assembly time from 12½ hours in October to 2 hours, 40 minutes, and boosted annual output to 250,000 units.

Foot-Pedal

1913 - 1919

A French luxury car demonstrates the first single foot pedal to operate coupled four-wheel brakes. Previously drivers had to apply a hand brake and a foot brake simultaneously.

Luxury Cars Invented

1919 - 1920

A personal luxury car is a highly styled, luxurious automobile intended for the comfort and satisfaction of its driver.

Power Steering

1920 - 1926

Power steering is a system for reducing the steering effort on cars by using an external power source to assist in turning the wheels. It is said that Power steering was invented in the 1920s by Francis W. Davis and George Jessup.

Air Conditioning

1926 - 1939

The Nash Motor Company made the first air conditioning in cars.

Jeep

1939 - 1940

During the second world war the US Army recognized the need for a fast, lightweight all-terrain vehicle. So the Jeep was created.

Air Bag

1940 - 1951

The airbag was invented by John W. Hetrick in 1951 and he patented the device the following year. Hetrick came up with the idea to help protect his own family using expertise from his naval engineering days.

Hi-Tec

1951 - 1980

The modern era is normally defined as the 25 years preceding the current year. However, there are some technical and design aspects that differentiate modern cars from antiques. The spread of front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, the adoption of the V6 engine configuration, and fuel injection. While all of these advances were first attempted in earlier eras, they so dominate the market today that it is easy to overlook their significance.

Continuos Innovations

1980 - 2013

The Car continues to advance.