A Quick History Of The Automobile

A QUICK HISTORY OF THE AUTOMOBILE Pre-1880s The World Before Cars 1880s The years before 1885 were The Bad Old Days, if you're a fan of four-wheeled, self-propelled transportation. To get anywhere you walked or rode a horse, perched on a tippy bicycle, or if you were lucky, boarded a steam-powered locomotive. Lucky for you, a smattering of geniuses were working on a new idea: the "horseless carriage," the ancestor of today's cars. A Car is Born Karl Benz is considered to have built and 1900s patented the first proper automobile, in Cars 1886-the aptly named, three-wheeled Patent-Motorwagen. Through the end of the century, inventors would experiment with vehicles powered by other means: diesel, electric, even steam. For The Masses By the beginning of the 20th 1920s century, the automobile was changing the landscape of cities and cultures around the world. With their Oldsmobile and Model T machines, Ransom Olds and Henry Ford made the car a ubiquitous part of American ife. 1940s Cars Go To War Cars Get Rich, Quick In the pre-war era, cars became ordinary, unless you were wealthy. Transportation was no longer the luxury-the car itself was, and coachbuilt art objects from Duesenberg. Cadillac, and Bugatti competed for the attention of the super-rich, until everything and everyone ran headlong into the Great Depression. World War Il reconfigured the auto industry, shaking out minor players and turning the major companies into manufacturers for the military for a time. The