The History of Cars - ESOL

LEVEL 4 content-based leveled reader

CARS IN FO RM

TT EX ATIONAL T

THE HISTORY 1920s

1930s

1940s 1950s 1960s

OF CARS KID E-LIT

O F Y R C O A T RS S I H

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CI LIFTOFF E-LIT (c) 2022 CI Liftoff All rights reserved.

May be duplicated & shared for CLASSROOM USE ONLY.

WORD LIST stagecoach engine steam locomotive rumble seat gasoline battery steering wheel wheel England Japan factory Model T Ford seatbelt combustion engine power steam car sink passengers carriage water horse

tank transmission crank pig war Oregon ambulance race luxury car leather past interior car show fancy present hand built bike tinted table jeep van aluminum wood Germany

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 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.

DaimlerChrysler AG - CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=659884

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

1

internal combus tion Johannes Max

imilian - Own work

, CC BY-SA 4.0,

gasoline engine

https://commons.

wikimedia.org/w/

index.php?curid=6

3650780

The Road engine was invented in 1895

2

Steam-powered road locomotive from England

Steam power cars were used from around 1850-1920, until the combustion engine was invented.

3

A steam bus was a bus powered by a steam engine. Early steam-powered vehicles designed for carrying passengers were more usually known as steam carriages. They look like stagecoaches but were powered by steam and not pulled by horses. The one pictured was from 1875.

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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.

5

extra space rumble seats Some cars had "rumble seats" for extra passengers to ride in.

There were no seatbelts a rumble seat at that time. The first seatbelt law was passed in 1968.

the first trunks

rumble seat

The first trunks were actually a trunk, or a large box. Some cars had slide-out trunks, like a drawer. trun k

draw er

Trunk and rumble seat

k a slide-out trun

6

1898 First Car in Japan A panhard

Panhards are credited with having the first modern transmission. They also had the first steering wheel.

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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 automotive factory. the model t ford Making cars in a factory was much faster. fac tory 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.

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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

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combustion engine Car

Patented by Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir in 1860 First successful internal combustion engine Two-stroke gas driven engine

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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

tank

Some Model Ts were used as tanks during World War I. The Ford factory made Model Ts with eight wheels and a traction belt.

model t tank from wwI traction b elt

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model t tank from

wwI

the first Luxury cars fast and fancy The first luxury cars were very fancy. They were built by hand. ter i 1929 Roads in h c s a r F Isotta

The interiors were hand-made from leather and wood.

By Rex Gray rvl, CC BY 2.0, https:/

erior leather int

1929 Rolls Royce

/commons.wikimedia.org/w/inde

x.php?curid=15630158

leather inte rior

luxury interior

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automotive timeline pre1880s

1880s 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 13

the pre-automotive era Horse and Buggy, or Horse-Drawn Carriage

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

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.

2010s

the electric car era

2020s

the self-driving car era

????

The Nissan Leaf, Toyota Prius, and the first Teslas lead the way in electric automobiles.

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?

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15

Car Show

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A car show is where people gather to show their cars.

Usually, you will see old cars. People walk around and look at all the cars. It is interesting to see cars from the past and present.

1950 Dodge The 1950s were a decade of power for Dodge cars including the introduction of Dodge's first V8 engine. Engines got stronger and more powerful, and styling became sleeker. Power steering, automatic transmission, power brakes, electronic fuel injection, and even tinted glass were some innovative options in Dodge vehicles during the 50s.

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Land Rover British 1960 The Land Rover was the first mass-produced civilian four-wheel drive car with doors on it and also available with a hard roof. It used a sturdy box-welded frame. At the time they were built there was not much steel available, so they were built with aluminum which does not rust. This makes them last a long time.

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Volkswagon 1968 Camper VAN Volkswagon sold these campers from 1950 until 2003. People today have clubs and groups that shre their love of these unique camping vans.

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Volk swag 1968 Camp on er V AN CAME WITH THES E: fold out s eat for s leep ing, cabi netS for stor age, Ice b ox, Sink , Elec tric al hook ups, Curt ai Scre ns, en wind ed ows, AND A fol ding tabl e

Marlins were fastback Two-door hardtop Rambler Classic, with a major redesign in which the car was given the new, longer AMC Ambassador fullsized chassis. it had a longer hood and improvements, including more interior room and the new V8 engines.

Rambler Marlin 1965-1967 20

Marlin Interior

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Military Jeep 1940-1960 Jeeps were milita built ry use for .

C ivilia becam ns soo e inte n reste and no d in th w man e m y are driven owned by civ and ilians turne . they d the Milita into c ry Jee ivilia ps n Jeep begin s i n ning i n 1945 .

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Mercury Woodie 1930-1969 A woodie is a station wagon that had real wood panels. They were made more than 30 years. After this, the manufacturers made them with materials that looked like wood but were longer lasting than wood.

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Vanderhall Speedster The company’s 2019 Venice Speedster is a turbocharged, single-seat threewheeler that looks both like old and future cycles. Vanderhall describes its vehicles as “autocycles,” which is a little car and a little motorcycle.

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elec tric car

electric car

elect ric ca r

bus c i r t elec

25

plug

Electric cars are the newest kind of car being made. Will they be the car of our future?

They are thought to be more efficient and sustainable.

END OF BOOK

LEVEL 4

THE HISTORY OF CARS

THE HISTORY 1920s

1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s

OF CARS CI LIFTOFF E-LIT

model T 1908 Ford Model T Touring Car This is a advertisement in a 1908 magazine to sell the Model T. from Ford's full-page advertisement of the first Model T in the Oct. 1, 1908 This picture shows the lubrication chart for a Model T.

Model T 10

piston

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