Giles Chapman - The Story of the Car: The Definitive History of Automobiles

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Inventing the car

18851905

Glance between the pioneer automobiles of the late 19th century and the slick, targeted consumer products of today and it is almost impossible to believe that they are one and the same thing: the car. It is a very big leap indeed.

Nowadays, the built environment seems to be absolutely subordinated to serving the motor vehicle. However, in the beginning, townscapes and countrysides across the world were ill-prepared for the self-propelled, individually directed vehicles that would shortly and unremittingly be imposed on these communal spaces.

But for the advent of the reliable, rapid, and widely popular railway between 1820 and 1850, the transport revolution of motoring might have progressed a whole lot sooner. Steam power applied to the roads did not work anything like as well, and there was an interval of some 125 years between the earliest (in effect) boilers-on-wheels hissing at French citizens and the invention in Germany of the small internal combustion engine that could finally make a carriage horseless.

An uncertain reception

Across wider society, there was less love and more loathing for the first automobiles. In the UK, they were restricted to virtually walking pace, and in France road racing was banned after a series of accidents in which out-of-control drivers, ignorant spectators, and even wandering cattle collided, with devastating results. Across the rural vastness of the US, there were precious few roads consisting of anything but dirt. So it was little wonder that, while Europe busied itself making playthings for the rich, American car designers concentrated on mechanical durability and the ability of their products to conquer long distances without breaking into pieces. Indeed, ambitious individuals, partnerships, and companies everywhere faced tremendous problems in turning automobile designs into manufactured products. It was an era of hand tools, and of trial and error. Perhaps surprisingly, electricity was equal to petrol in these early years as a source of motive power not for concerns about air pollution, but for sheer ease and dependability of use.

Across the rural vastness of the US, there were precious few roads

Reliability and refinements

Once the nascent mechanical technology had mostly been mastered, carmakers and their customers turned to creature comforts. The advent of the pneumatic tyre was a huge advance in improving the motoring experience. Further improvements came thick and fast from attention to the layout of cars to make them safer and easier to handle, to solid improvements in lighting and weather protection. This all helped to broaden the appeal of the automobile from its place as a Sunday afternoon diversion into something more significant.

Mass car commuting, though, was something no-one had yet considered. For one thing, motor vehicles were simply not trustworthy enough. That was why so-called reliability trials rose to prominence much earlier than competitive racing as a way to break down widespread public scepticism. Slowly, however, the increasing versatility and performance of the internal combustion engine meant that the automobile crept into every sphere of modern life. Something unstoppable was clearly afoot.

PIONEERING MOTORISTS IN THE 19TH CENTURY

BATTERY-POWERED VEHICLES SHOW EARLY PROMISE

RELIABILITY TRIALS BRING IMPROVEMENTS TO CAR DESIGN

MOTOR RACING SOON CAPTURES THE PUBLICS IMAGINATION

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Before the car

The need to travel long distances over land has been a part of human history for millennia, from the time of the first roads to the birth of mechanized transport.