History

The first functional automobile was invented in 1769 by Joseph Cugnot under the name of dray Cugnot4 but it was not until the second half of the nineteenth century and the progress associated with the industrial revolution to the personal motor vehicles grow and ultimately take their current name automobile. The birth of the automobile is made by adaptation of a steam engine on a chassis but autonomous technical and social issues have delayed its development. The size of the boiler, inappropriate materials at high pressures and frame supporting evil vibrations were the main technical barriers and perceived dangerousness and the actual gear on the road at the time led to binding legislation, as Locomotive Act in the United Kingdom.

The automobile adventure began in France, where the first successful experiments took place in 1873. Such a success that in 1895 about 350 cars were already circulating on French territory, as against 75 in Germany and only 80 in the United States. It was a time when we did not really talk to car manufacturers, but rather bodybuilders. In France, they were able to turn the page of the decorative splendor, who had made their reputation in the eighteenth century, and have learned to play with the new aesthetic codes.

The first cars were produced and marketed steam (The Obedient Amedee Bollee in the 1873) and the first prototypes using the new internal combustion engines are made less cumbersome to 1885. At the same time, the development of knowledge related to electricity leads to the realization of the first electric cars: it has three modes of propulsion compete at the turn of the twentieth century. The vapor is rapidly supplanted and the rapid development of electric cars performance is stopped by the lack of significant progress in energy storage, it is the internal combustion engine that overrides other modes of propulsion. This is the time of the race for speed, and this is the first electric car that it shows (La Jamais Contente is the first to surpass the 100 km / h in 1899) before being supplanted by the car engine explosion. This is also the time of birth of the first car races like Paris-Rouen in 1894. The car is then a luxury product, use binding used on infrastructure totally unsuitable.

The history of the car was born and live different trades. At this point in history, was to build a car in which a collective body builders, but also wheelwrights, locksmiths, a trunk, saddlers, upholsterers, saddlers, platers and painters were involved together. Everything was done to measure, which is adapted to the body frame through the seat or luggage stowed in the rear for first trips.


Two factors will contribute to its development: the gradual coating of roads in the city and in the country to facilitate the use of bicycles and cars, and the development of new methods of production (Taylorism, Fordism), leading to the first car mass production, Ford T. This definitely raises the footprint of the automobile on society in the twentieth century. Innovations succeed then, but no fundamental change in concept. The outline of the automobile current series are plotted in 1922 with the Lancia Lambda monocoque body and independent front suspension, the Chrysler Airflow in 1934 which introduces aerodynamics in automotive series, Citroen and development the Traction Avant in 1934 and the introduction of disc brakes on the DS in 1955, or by the Porsche gearbox synchronizers of the conical 356.

The development of the car is strongly influenced by the crisis, such as the crash of 1929 and the Second World War. Redistribute these cards industry by promoting clusters and cause the comeback of small cars, the peak of this phenomenon has been reached in Germany in the 1950 with the micro-cars like the Isetta. This crisis is also the beginning of the postwar boom, a period in all sectors of the automobile by a boom, which results in an increase in the selection, production and accession to the motor via opening the use of credit in the year 1960. This growth in production, but also the size of cars, their speed is stopped short by the first oil shock. This, combined with the increase in road safety, will be long-term consequences on the relationship between the automobile and society, leading in particular to a strong wave of regulations on speed limits. Social aspects (ecology, road safety) become important issues in the design of automobiles at the end of the twentieth century, leading to a new wave of innovations that downsizing and especially the hybrid Toyota Prius launched on (1997) and Honda Insight (1999).