1865
Roper Steam Car

Development of the Automobile

Early automobiles were simply buggies with an engine, instead of a horse. Just as radios were the tinkerer's rage in the 1940's or computers in the 1970's, automobiles were the fascination among young tinkerers in the late 1800s.

Henry Ford didn't invent the automobile. That honor goes to French inventor Nick Cagnot, in 1770. Nor did Ford invent the gasoline engine, Carl Benz did that in Germany, in 1885. At that time, inventors were building cars powered by steam or electricity; gas was considered too dangerous and dirty. But in the end, the gasoline engine proved to be more reliable, and more versatile.

For a time, almost anyone could start a car company to exploit some new advance in technology. Cadillac invented the self-starter, Chevrolet introduced the first six cylinder engine. It seemed like every new idea meant a new company.

Many people think that Henry Ford invented the assembly line, but that honor, too belongs to someone else. What Henry Ford did was to use all these ideas to produce a car that his own employees could afford to own. He saw the autmobile not as a luxury item, but a way to freedom for the average family. His efficent assembly lines produced cars so inexpensively that nearly anyone with a job could afford one.

Style was an important part of the early automobile industry, with many companies offering unique styles to suit customers not satisfied with Ford's black Model T. As technology and car styles changed, car companies came and went. Many companies were swallowed up by General Motors in the 1930s, or by Ford, Nash or Chrysler in the 1950s. Eventually, the manufacture of automobiles became so expensive that fewer companies could survive.

 

1885
Benz Phaeton

1906
Sears Motor Buggy

1908
Ford Model T