Once I've posted my thing, this thread can be used to discuss or post photos of any early automobiles, but what I wanted to talk about was what might have been the first one. You may have assumed that cars were invented by Henry Ford, or maybe that the Stanley Steamer was the first one. However, a French inventor by the name of Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built one before the American Revolution. In 1767, Cugnot completed a working horseless carriage. Propelled by a steam engine, it looked a bit like a steampunk Big Wheel. His car could carry four tons while traveling at the breakneck speed of 2.25 miles per hour. While driving his vehicle in 1771, Cugnot lost control and crashed into a brick wall. He ran out of money to improve on his invention and, while the French government initially showed some interest in subsidizing his work, the French Revolution put an end to that.
Early-on, it was widely believed that as speeds of self-propelled conveyances became higher, human beings would experience extremely serious effects, including illnesses not yet known. In a way they were right. An awful lot of injury and death results from vehicles. Frank
Cars were not invented by Henry Ford. Henry Ford was the first automaker to mass produce cars on an assembly line, and the first to produce interchangeable parts. Germany's Karl Benz invented the first automobile in 1885, before Ford's first auto in 1896. Hal
In 1768, the first steam powered automobile capable of human transportation was built by Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot. In 1807, François Isaac de Rivaz designed the first car powered by an internal combustion engine fueled by hydrogen. In 1870 Siegfried Marcus built the first gasoline powered combustion engine. In 1885, Karl Benz developed a petrol or gasoline powered automobile. This is considered to be the first production vehicle as Benz made several other identical copies.
Many of the mechanical contrivances in current use which were not always implemented, were actually devised quite long ago. My Dad lamented most Ford engines having mechanical valve-lifters, while Chevy always had hydraulic lifters, which were quieter. Our 1955 Mercury with the relatively-new (then second-year production) "Y-Block" V-8 still had "solids", and did notably produce audible clicking. I learned to drive in that car, and it was handed down to me in 1959, when I was 17, as the folks acquired a new Ford Galaxie, with the newly-introduced (in 1958) "Big Block" V-8 known as the "FE" series. FEs ran forever, had hydraulic valve lifters (Ahhhh), were big and heavy, due to their Y-block design, which extended the cylinder block casting downward below the crankshaft centerline, thus enveloping the crankshaft within the block: heavy, but strong. The future engines Ford employed for racing purposes utilized that enclosure by cross-bolting the main bearing caps, super strong. Frank
I learned to drive in 1950 at age 14, in a 1938 Studebaker, like the one pictured, I got my driver license on the day I turned 16, on July 11, 1952. I've been driving legally for 66 years. Hal
@Hal Pollner Nice car! One of the things which I've always wondered about regarding the automotive industry, was why do the manufacturers try out the newest techniques on their most revered products? Ford introduced power steering on the Lincoln for a year or two, before offering it on other lines; likewise I believe for power brakes. First overhead valve V-8 for them was Lincoln, dubbed the "Mexican Lincoln" since it won the Mexican road race several years running. First Ford engine having hydraulic valve lifters: Lincoln. Frank
This is another one of the old time steam engine vehicles. It seems like a very beautiful one, as compared with the one that Ken posted in the OP, which looks more like it was meant to haul stuff, and not carry people. It appears that both of them are 3-wheels, like a tricycle.
This is another one that is used for taking people places, and this one does have 4 wheels, and you can see the little steam engine in the front. I wonder why we do not have more pictures of these, instead of all of the horse-drawn carriages, since they were obviously in use as far back as the early 1800’s ?
This is Admiral Byrd’s Snow Cruiser, passing through Framingham , Mass., in 1939. This is huge ! Look at the size of the people compared to the size of the vehicle . There was also a similar one planned for use in the desert, but that one was never put into use, as far as what I read.
When I was a kid my dad had a Model A as his "fix it up someday" car, but he sold it when we moved from Indiana to Virginia. I used to sit in that thing and play with all the knobs & levers. In the early 70s my father purchased land out in the middle of nowhere. We felled the trees and pulled the stumps with one of these: 1933 Farmall In fact, ours looked a lot like this one. It was beat (but the radiator was intact.) Had a hand-crank to start it, but it would start even on cold mornings...after a few turns. The thing was a tank. I still recall bouncing up & down on that nasty spring seat.
Is it? I pulled up the pic from a web search for 1933 Farmall. I don't have a pic of the actual tractor from back then for comparison. Our tractor had no body parts, the same style wheels and seat mounting. I'm sure my father referred to it as a '33 International, although other pics I saw had the seat mounted on a vertical pole with a coil spring around it. eta: I zoomed in. The radiator says "Fordson." huh.