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PREFACE:
Automobiles through the Years - Since they originated in the late 1800s, automobiles have changed and developed in response to consumer wishes, economic conditions, and advancing technology .
The first gas-powered vehicles looked like horse buggies with engines mounted underneath because this was the style to which people were accustomed. By 1910, however, features like the frontmounted engine were already established, giving the automobile a look that was all its own.
As public demand for cars increased, the vehicles became more stylized.The classic cars of the 1920s and 1930s epitomize the sleek, individually designed luxury cars called the “classic cars.” During the 1940s and 1950s, automobiles generally became larger until the advent of the “compact” car , which immediately became a popular alternative.
The gasoline crisis is reflected in the fuel efficient cars made in the 1970s and 1980s. Current designs continue to reflect economy awareness, although many different markets exist.
The history of the automobile actually began about 4,000 years ago when the first wheel was used for transportationin India. In the early 15th century the Portuguese arrived in China and the interaction of the two cultures ledto a varietyof new technologies, including thecreation of a wheelthatturned underits own power .
By the 1600s small steam-powered engine models had been developed, but it was another century beforea full-sized engine-powered vehiclewas created. In 1769 French Army officer Captain Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot built what has been called the first automobile. Cugnot’s three-wheeled, steam-powered vehicle carried four persons. Designed to move artillery pieces, it had a top speed of a little more than 3.2 km/h (2 mph) and had to stop every 20 minutes tobuild up a fresh headof steam.
British inventor Walter Handcock built a series of steam carriages in the mid-1830s that were used for thefirst omnibus service inLondon. By the mid-1800s England had an extensive network of steam coach lines. Horse-drawn stagecoach companies and the new railroad companies pressured the British Parliament to approve heavy tolls on steam-powered road vehicles.
The tolls quickly drove the steam coach operators out of business. During the early 20th century steam cars were popular in the United States. Most famous was the Stanley Steamer , built by American twin brothers Freelan and Francis Stanley . A Stanley Steamer established a world land speed record in 1906 of 205.44 km/h (121.573 mph). Manufacturers produced about125 models of steam-powered automobiles, including theStanley ,until1932.