America on the move - AUTOMOBILES!

Henry Ford

Henry Ford himself called it a car for the great multitude. It was functional, and simple, like your sewing machine, or your cast-iron stove. You could learn to drive it in less than a day. And you could get any color you wanted, so long as it was black. When Ford first conceived the Model-T, it took thirteen hours to assemble. Within five years he was turning out a vehicle every ninety seconds.
                                                                                       -Seabiscuit (2003)


I love cars. Even before I could drive I loved looking at cars. By the time I was ten or twelve I could name the brand of almost any car in the parking lot or driving on the road. I was excited to learn more about automobiles.

Diesel. Rudolf Diesel designed the diesel engine in Germany in 1898. That is where the name for a certain grade of refined oil gets the name, Diesel. Herr Diesel wanted the engine to compete with the steam engine.

Steam engines used an external fire to heat a tank of water to turn it into pressurized steam in order to turn a wheel. This builds off the ancient concept of a water wheel. Think of those old westerns where the engineer on a train is shoveling coal into a furnace, they are really just heating water.

Diesel created a self contained engine where the combustion occurred on the inside. Therefore becoming an internal combustion engine. Diesel engines are different from gasoline engines you may be familiar with. Gasoline engines compress oxygen and fuel in the cylinder and ignite it with a spark. The need for electrical circuits makes the system less dependable and more susceptible to fouling. Diesel on the other hand relied more on compression. Instead of a spark plug, diesel engines use what is called a glowplug that is basically a hot piece of metal in the cylinder. Oxygen and fuel are added and then compressed at incredible levels. Usually around 590 psi. The compression actually heats up the oxygen and with the help of the glowplug, ignites the mixture.

Diesel became a millionaire as more and more applications were found in industry, agriculture and business for his engines.

Henry Ford. He didn't invent the automobile but he made it available to the masses by refining the assembly line process. What I didn't know is that prior to Ford's application in the automobile industry, the moving assembly line was used in meat packing plants. Interesting. I wanted to know how much a model T would cost today. When they first came out in 1914 the Model T was $490. By 1921 they had come down to $310, in today's dollars that's about $10,000 and $3,000 respectively.

Can you imagine buying a new car for $3,000? Why have cars become so expensive? Well, mostly because you're not buying a car anymore. You're buying a high-tech safety device, a self-contained transportable climate controlled environment, a surround sound stereo, gps and navigation system and self analyzing computer system in addition to buying a vehicle. Let alone the improvements in the actual vehicle's performance. A Model T was closer to an ATV than the automobiles we know today. In short, you pay more because you get a lot more.

Transportation. Internal combustion engines, cars and trucks allowed people to move. Prior to this time in history people were limited in the distance they could travel regularly by the speed of a horse, and occasionally a train ride or ship voyage. This was improved slightly by trolleys but cities were typically bound by they same rules as the majority of history. A Cities size depended on its access to shipping, which meant all large cities had to be by water, either a major seaport or river.

Because people now had cars they could move out of the cities. Suburbs began to show up and people began to commute to work. Large trucks were able to deliver goods conveniently to towns not located near major rail or shipping hubs. Americans began to have much more freedom in where they lived and traveled because of the automobile.

In the 50's and 60's people were fascinated with their cars. They became status symbols, and things people identified with. People were so excited about their cars they wanted to do everything in them. Entire industries popped up just for the novelty of doing something in your car. Drive in restaurants were established, Drive-in movies were constructed, car washes erected and a host of other associated businesses.

The national interstate highway system was constructed, further easing the ability of Americans to travel and move about the country. Recreational Vehicles (RV's) came into existence. No longer was it fun to just camp, we wanted to live in our vehicles and take the comfort of home with us to tour the country.

Research and Development. In the early days of automobiles, competition was fierce. Automobile manufacturers needed a way to prove the superiority of their cars as well as advertise and create excitement for them. Automobile racing became a national pastime. As racing became more rigorous, engineers were forced to continually improve their automobiles. These improvements were usually transferred to the mainstream vehicles in some form.

For example, I learned from my friend, Mark Kendell, that Porsche's ignition switch is on the left hand side of the steering wheel. Why is that? A major race in Europe is the 24 hours of Le Mans. This race is unique in that the drivers start by standing across the street from their parked vehicles. The shot of a gun signals the beginning of the race and the drivers run across the street, jump in their cars, turn it on, shift into gear and take off. Porsche engineers noticed that if you have to use your right hand to turn on the ignition and shift into first gear it takes up precious time. However, if you can turn the ignition with your left hand it leaves your right hand free to shift into gear, eliminating the need for one hand to do two motions. That year the Porsche team were the first three cars out of the gate. Since then, every Porsche has had its ignition on the left hand side. Not everything makes it from the racing world to mainstream but this is one small example of how racing heritage still effects us today.