The Birth and Development of the Automobile

The automobile is, first of all, a matter of the engine. For the wagon invented by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot in 1770 corresponds to the literal meaning of the word automobile, that is, a car, but it is perhaps useless to include it in the catalogue of the countless steam-powered vehicles that were later built all over the world. In any case, we note the car invented by the Frenchman Pecquer in 1828, because it was the first to be equipped with a differential. We also note another important part, the steering wheel, invented by the Bavarian Lankenoperger in 1817 (but the patent was granted to his compatriot Rudolf Ackerman, a London industrialist, so people often attribute the invention to Ackerman). As for the internal combustion engine, see the section on internal combustion engines; here we refer to the entire automobile engine.

The first vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine, operating on the four-stroke cycle of Beau de Rochas, was an old bicycle, which the German engineer Gottlieb Daimler tested with his single-cylinder engine in 1885. Then in 1886, another German engineer, Carl Benz, built a three-wheeled vehicle, and achieved great success. It was to exploit Daimler’s patents that in 1886, Panhard et Levassor, the first large French automobile manufacturer, was founded in France. In 1894, the vehicle designed by these three men had the main components, arranged in positions that would later become classics.

But many other manufacturers also joined in, notably De Dion-Bouton, who patented the rear-wheel drive by cardan in the same year; the following year, he introduced the battery ignition system. 1895 was also the first year that Daimler’s automobiles were fitted with pneumatic tires, thanks to Michelin. And about Daimler, we note that in 1897 he invented the honeycomb radiator. In 1898, a manufacturer named Louis Renault had immediate success with his small car. In particular, it was the first car equipped with a three-speed gearbox, one of which was directly connected. It was also on this car that the first direct current generator appeared. Boudeville in 1900 completed the ignition magneto (up to that time the usual system was an incandescent tube, whose tip was heated red hot by a stove, and pressed deep into the cylinder). Meanwhile, inventors continued to persevere in researching and perfecting the electric car. Their faith in this formula is understood when one of them, Jenatzy, sets an absolute speed record in 1899, driving his Jamais Contente (never satisfied) at 105.882 km/h. At the beginning of the 20th century, the automobile had already freed itself from the horse-drawn carriage form, in its appearance the 1901 Mercedes was the symbol of this change, which Renault had initiated in 1898. This period also marked the beginning of mass production: Ramson E. Olds produced 1,500 cars a year.

However, technical progress continued. The early years of the 20th century saw the use of drum brakes and stamped-iron chassis (Daimler chassis, in Germany, Arbel chassis, from the Douai forge, in France). Then, from 1904, the Vauxhall car had a gearshift mounted on the steering column. In 1905, Piere Bossu invented the electric starter (however, it was not used by Kettering until 1911 on a Cadillac, so it is often attributed to Kettering). Also in 1905, the American Christie invented front-wheel drive and Truffault invented the friction shock absorber. That was also the year the windshield appeared. Finally, in 1908, André Michelin had the idea of ​​using double-wishbone wheels for heavy vehicles. Fifteen years of progress passed, and 1913 marked the real promise of the automobile industry, with Henry Ford putting the first mass-production assembly line into operation. This was the Ford-T, the first mass-production car, stripped of all excess parts, and 18 million of them were produced. The rules of mass production were so strictly enforced that all cars were delivered to customers painted black. “Any color you want…” Ford said, adding, “…as long as it’s black.”

Immediately after World War I, all-steel bodies appeared in the United States (in France, they were adopted by Citroën only in 1925, but at a cost that nearly bankrupted the company). In 1922, the Italian manufacturer Vincenzo Lancia introduced another type of car, with front suspension and independent wheels. It was essentially a mass-produced car without a chassis, meaning the body carried itself, giving the car an extremely low floor. In 1926, two young engineers, Jean A. Grégoire and Pierre Fenaille, launched the Tracta, the first front-wheel drive vehicle, which performed flawlessly, especially thanks to the synchromesh connection, a system that was applied during World War II to Jeeps and other four-wheel-drive vehicles. Also in this year, the Delco ignition system (Delco, an abbreviation of Dayton Engineering Laboratorie Co, Ohio) began to replace the magneto ignition system.

1928 saw an innovation, the first synchronized gearbox (Cadillac) and, oddly enough, the German Adam Opel’s rocket-propelled car. The Czech Tatra was notable in many ways, in 1931 the first mass-produced car with an aerodynamic body (German prototypes with a drop-body, built by Rumpler in 1921, and Benz in 1923, were not accepted). In 1932, Cotal invented the electromagnetic gearbox. Then in 1940, Oldsmobile launched the first cars with automatic transmission.

The most important advances were recorded since the end of World War II: in 1950, the first gas turbine-powered car was built in Britain (Rover); in 1952, the first mass-produced cars with power steering were produced by Chrysler; In 1953, disc brakes appeared on British Jaguar cars, when participating in the “Twenty-four Hours in Mans”. In 1960, the NSU Wankel car with a rotary piston engine and the car running on an air cushion appeared.

From the 1970s onwards, new generations of cars were mainly characterized by increased power, reduced fuel consumption, and reduced air pollution. increasing role of electronics (in 1990 electronic systems installed in cars accounted for 6% of the price of a car, and this figure tripled by 2000), efforts to increase comfort, safety, refinement and equipment: for example, seat belts (mandatory since 1973 in France), ABS braking systems, self-inflating safety cushions, or Air Bags (first introduced by Mercedes in 1981), catalytic exhaust (perfected by General Motors in 1974), which became mandatory in many industrialized countries. In general, mid-range cars tend to catch up with the level of equipment and refinement previously reserved for luxury cars. The body is streamlined to minimize air resistance and uses alloys or composite materials that are lightweight, but resistant to both collision and corrosion. Finally, the development of external driver assistance systems is also expected, which, based on information already installed in the car and signals received from the outside (weather, traffic jams, etc.), provide the driver with instructions and advice on how to take the best route: in 1995 the Safrana Carmina, which was the first car in Europe to be equipped with a GPS and route guidance system.

As for electric cars, which are actually more than 100 years old, they are also receiving renewed attention due to rising fuel prices and increased pollution. But the main issue that many manufacturers are “questioned” about is the energy reserve and the cost of batteries; therefore, electric cars are temporarily only used in cities. Since 1993, in La Rochelle, the first French test of an “electric car” designed by Peugeot, which is recharged at public stations installed by EDF, has been taking place. Finally, it is also possible to think of a hybrid car, whose engine uses both electric and thermal energy: this is the case of the Swatchmobile, a project developed by Mercedes for the famous watchmaker.