Automobile
A self-powered vehicle that travels on land typically with three or four wheels and with 2 to 9 seats.
- Historical Notes
- 1769 Cugnot's carriage is the first large steam tractor. It was slow, clumsy and difficult to control.
- 1801 Richard Trevithick built a road carriage powered by steam.
- 1863 Jean-Joseph-Etienne Lenoir builds a horseless carriage that uses an internal combustion engine.
- 1877 Four stroke internal combustion engine invented by Nikolaus Otto.
- 1885 Karl Benz builds a three-wheel automobile powered by a gasoline engine.
- 1892 Diesel engine invented by Rudolf Diesel.
- 1887 Gottlieb Daimler uses his internal combustion engine to build a four-wheel vehicle, considered the first modern automobile.
- 1908 Henry Ford begins making the Model T. First-year production is 10660 cars.
- 1913 Ford Motor Company develops the first moving assembly line for automobiles.
See also: Aircraft, Electric Vehicle, Hybrid Vehicle, Vehicle.
Subjects: Automotive Mechanical Engineering Transport
- Weblinks:
- VCAcarfueldata.org.uk New Car Fuel Consumption and Exhaust Emissions Figures.