History of Cars

The history of cars can be traced all the way back to the late 1700s. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot was the first man to create a steam-powered vehicle that would propel itself due to its back and forth motion of a steam piston. It is believed that his “car” could travel about 4 km per hour. When it crashed into a brick wall in 1771, it became known as the first car wreck. The first internal combustion engine was created by Francois Isaac de Rivaz. In 1807, he created a vehicle that would run with this new engine that combined a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen to run. While many of these types of engines were designed, none were really successful until Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir built a two-stroke gas engine in 1860. It took him two more years to build a vehicle to put his engine in, but when he did build it, the cars became successful and were often seen on the road by 1865.

The term horsepower is very important in the history of cars and it was first used in England. This term was used to define the pull or weight of a horse when determining the power of a car. Frederick William Lanchester of Birmingham England was the inventor of the first four wheel drive automobile. He became of one of the most famous car engineers in England and was known for experimenting with fuel injection and turbochargers as well as the inventor of wire wheels which could be removed, stamped steel pistons, harmonic balancer, piston rings and hollow connecting rods.

One of the most famous names in the history of cars as far as Americans are concerned is Henry Ford. He made cars more affordable by creating a production line (later known as an assembly line) that was efficient and made cars more affordable. He created the Ford Motor Company is 1903 and set a land speed record with his newly designed car. Because of his love for cars and speed, he was one of the early backers of the Indianapolis 500. In 1908, the Ford Motor Company released the famous Model T, a remarkable time in the history of cars.