LEVEL 4
THE HISTORY OF CARS
THE HISTORY 1920s 1930s
1940s 1950s 1960s
OF CARS CI LIFTOFF E-LIT
the first cars the benz motorwagen The first car was the 1885 Benz Motorwagen. It was manufactured in Mannheim, Germany.
1885 Benz Motorwagen
It had three wheels and
DaimlerChrysler AG - CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=659884
one seat. The price was 600 German Marks, or about $150 U.S. dollars. Today, that would be about $6,000. Between 1885 and 1893, 25 Benz Motorwagens were built.
new engine technology The Motorwagen used a gasoline engine. This was a new invention in 1885. Before the gasoline engine, cars used steam power.
gasol ine
steam car internal combus tion Johannes
Maximili
an - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://c
gasoline engine
ommons.
wikimed
ia.org/w/
index.ph
p?curid=6
3650780
how does steam power work? Steam power uses combustion, or burning, to heat water and make steam. The steam moves a piston, which causes the crankshaft to rotate the wheels. This steam engine is burning, or combusting, coal.
extra space rumble seats Some cars had "rumble seats" for extra passengers to ride in. There were no seatbelts at that time. The first
a rumble seat
seatbelt law was passed in 1968.
the first trunks The first trunks were actually a trunk, or a large box. Some cars had slide-out trunks,
rumble seat
like a drawer.
trun k
Trunk and rumble seat
k a slide-out trun
draw er
the model t the first automotive factory The American inventor Henry Ford developed the Model T. It was the first car to be made in an
the model t ford
automotive factory. Making cars in a
fac tory
factory was much faster. The factory made 10,000 Model Ts every day. The
first Model T cars were produced in 1913. From 1913 to 1925, all Model Ts were black.
The last Model Ts were made in 1927. 15 million Model Ts were made in total.
the ford factory
the price of a model t The first Model Ts were about $850. That is about $21,000 in today's dollars. By 1925, the price had fallen to about $260, or about $3,900 today. More people could afford a car, and the Model T was very popular.
Pig & Ford Races pigs and cars going fast in oregon In 1925, the Model T Ford was very popular. In Tillamook County, Oregon, in the U.S.A., a new sport was invented in 1925:
Driving with a pig under your arm
Pig & Ford Racing. Drivers must carry a pig in their arms and drive a Model T. The Pig & Ford Races are now 95 years old!
starting a model t To start a Model T, you turn a crank on the front of the car.
t the moderlank starter c
cranking a model t ford
the model t goes to war model t ambulances In 1914, World War I began. From 1914 to 1918, over 125,000 Model T Fords were manufactured for the war effort.
model t ambulance
Some Model Ts were used as ambulances.
model t tanks Some Model Ts were used as tanks during World War I. The Ford
tank
factory made Model Ts with eight wheels and a traction belt.
traction b elt
model t tank from wwI
model t tank from
wwI
the first Luxury cars fast and fancy The first luxury cars were very fancy. They were built by hand.
Roadster 9 2 19 i in h c s Isotta Fra
The interiors were hand-made from leather and wood.
1929 Rolls Royce By Rex Gray rvl, CC BY 2.0, https:/ /commons.wi
erior leather int
luxury interior
kimedia.org/w/inde
x.php?curid=156301
leather inte rior
58
automotive timeline prethe pre-automotive era and Buggy, or 1880s Horse Horse-Drawn Carriage
1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s
The first automobile The Benz Motorwagen People called it the "horseless carriage."
the horsey horseless A car with a horse head on the front
the model t era The first car to be produced in a factory
the world war I era First war to use automobiles
the mainstream era The automobile enters the mainstream. Many people begin to drive cars.
the luxury car era Automotive design becomes more luxurious.
the world war II era No cars are made from 1942 to 1946. Automotive factories make war equipment instead.
the "golden age" of cars The automotive industry becomes the largest industry in the U.S.
the muscle car era Many people consider the cars from the 1960s to be the most classic designs ever.
the gas crisis era The 1973 oil crisis made gas hard to find & very expensive, so people wanted smaller, compact cars.
automotive timeline 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s 2020s
????
the japanese cars era In the 1980s, Americans began to buy more Japanese cars than American cars.
The suv era SUVs, or "Sport Utility Vehicles," became popular in the 1990s.
the humvee era Humvees, or "hummers," were popular in the 2000s. They were originally designed for the military.
the electric car era The Nissan Leaf, Toyota Prius, and the first Teslas lead the way in electric automobiles.
the self-driving car era Honda releases 100 Legend Hybrid EX cars, the first selfdriving cars on the market.
the future of cars What new ideas do YOU think the future automotive industry will develop?