The History of Cars
The History of cars
By Luke Geisz
Today, we do not think much of our cars. Everyone has them, they’re a common object. They weren’t always like that. Cars used to be only owned by wealthy enthusiasts. They weren’t today’s enclosed, climate controlled, easy to use devices at all. In fact, they were incredibly hard to use. There was no standard controlling system like today’s gas/brake/clutch pedals, auto transmission, steering wheel, and other controlling devices. Some had a steering wheel, some had a long stick that you turned one direction to go the other called a tiller.
There was no power steering, no fuel injection, and no traction control. The first cars had engines the size of the engines found commonly on today’s sport touring motorcycles, but produced about the same amount of power as a toy car like this one
These cars weren’t factory built, they were built in a shed by a man who some would call crazy. These cars weren’t an everyday object; they were a hobby that only crazed gear heads could get into. They were inventive, clever, intelligent, and most of all, speed crazy. These cars would take YEARS to build, thousands of dollars, many new egg ideas, several ruined tools, and very many injuries. They were VERY basic. They usually had no brakes, Auto transmission? Forget about it. Electric start?
Hahaha, you’re joking right? Try a hand crank. Many basic components of modern cars that seem very universal; radio, automatic transmission, power steering, brakes, speedometer, rear view mirrors, computer based control systems, all very common on the cars of today, many of these now considered fundamental components did not exist on the first cars.
There were many different eras, or periods of time of development of cars. Veteran era, Brass era, Vintage era, Pre-WWII era, Post-war era, and Modern era are all different eras of development.
Pre-Veteran Era
Before the real
By Luke Geisz
Today, we do not think much of our cars. Everyone has them, they’re a common object. They weren’t always like that. Cars used to be only owned by wealthy enthusiasts. They weren’t today’s enclosed, climate controlled, easy to use devices at all. In fact, they were incredibly hard to use. There was no standard controlling system like today’s gas/brake/clutch pedals, auto transmission, steering wheel, and other controlling devices. Some had a steering wheel, some had a long stick that you turned one direction to go the other called a tiller.
There was no power steering, no fuel injection, and no traction control. The first cars had engines the size of the engines found commonly on today’s sport touring motorcycles, but produced about the same amount of power as a toy car like this one
These cars weren’t factory built, they were built in a shed by a man who some would call crazy. These cars weren’t an everyday object; they were a hobby that only crazed gear heads could get into. They were inventive, clever, intelligent, and most of all, speed crazy. These cars would take YEARS to build, thousands of dollars, many new egg ideas, several ruined tools, and very many injuries. They were VERY basic. They usually had no brakes, Auto transmission? Forget about it. Electric start?
Hahaha, you’re joking right? Try a hand crank. Many basic components of modern cars that seem very universal; radio, automatic transmission, power steering, brakes, speedometer, rear view mirrors, computer based control systems, all very common on the cars of today, many of these now considered fundamental components did not exist on the first cars.
There were many different eras, or periods of time of development of cars. Veteran era, Brass era, Vintage era, Pre-WWII era, Post-war era, and Modern era are all different eras of development.
Pre-Veteran Era
Before the real
Cited: Model T: the car that put the world on wheels, By Lindsay Brooke Go Like Hell, By A.J. Baime The History of NASCAR, By A.R. Schaefer Nascar special On Speed Channel The History of the Automobile, On Wikipedia. World History of The Automobile, by Erik Eckermann Drive On! By LJK Setright The Coming of The Automobile, by Henry Norman Pictures From Google Images, On images.google.com