Possibly the first powered vehicle was a steam-powered toy built in 1672 for the Chinese Emperor by Flemish Priest Ferdinand Verbiest. It wasn’t until the late 18th century that steam-powered vehicles were able to carry people, and later attempts were made to develop this, with brakes, transmissions, and improved steering introduced.

1. A BRIEF HISTORY OF CARS

2. INTRODUCTION
Possibly the first powered vehicle was a steam-powered toy built in 1672
for the Chinese Emperor by Flemish Priest Ferdinand Verbiest.
It wasn’t until the late 18th century that steam-powered vehicles were
able to carry people, and later attempts were made to develop this, with
brakes, transmissions, and improved steering introduced.

3. 01
The earliest cars were essentially carts with engines,
known as ‘horseless carriages’.
However, the Locomotive Act of 1865 brought the
development of road automobiles to an end by
demanding that a man carrying a red flag and sounding
a horn walked ahead of any self-propelled vehicles on
public roads!
The law was not repealed until near the end of the
century, but in the meantime attention turned to
developing the railway instead.

4. 02
The first car powered by an internal combustion engine was
designed by François Isaac de Rivaz in the early 1800s. It used a
hydrogen and oxygen mixture.
Nikolaus Otto later patented the internal combustion engine that
remains the most common type today, while Rudolf Diesel
invented a diesel version.

5. 03
A little over 60 years later, Siegfried Marcus gave us the first gasoline-
powered version.
Putting this on a cart, he improved his design over the years, adding
steering, a clutch, and brakes.
Siegfried Marcus’s place in history as the inventor of the motorcar was
almost entirely erased by the Nazis in World War II because he was of
Jewish descent and credit was given to Karl Benz instead.

6. 04
The Karl Benz automobile came in 1885, and he began selling
them the next year, making his the first mass-produced car.
Operating under license from Benz, they were also produced
in France by Emile Roger.
It’s top speed? About 6mph!

7. 05
With cars being mass-produced, a way to keep track of them was needed…
Vehicle registration plates were introduced by France in 1893.
In 1898 the Netherlands introduced the first nationally recognised registration
plate that used sequential numbers.
America followed suit in 1903, having previously only required the car owner’s
initials on the back of the vehicle.
In the UK, the 1903 Motor Car Act made plates a requirement from 1904. The first
of these - A1 - was claimed by Earl Russell, who allegedly camped out overnight to
ensure he was the first in line.
The first number plates were made of baked porcelain on iron or ceramic. They
were very fragile and few survive to this day. Other materials were also tried,
including leather, cardboard, and plastic. During wartime, when supplies were in
short supply, some plates were made pressed soy beans!

8. 06
The Ford Motor Company began mass-producing cars in 1908.
In 1913 the assembly line was introduced, allowing Henry Ford to
make the Ford Model T in vast quantities which, in turn, allowed
him to keep the price down, making it more affordable.
Capable of producing 10,000 on the assembly line each day, Ford
sold over 15 million cars by the time he stopped making them, a
figure not topped until the Volkswagen Beetle, 45 years later.
At first all Ford Model T vehicles were all black because black
paint dried the quickest!
They used wooden wheels just like the ones used to shift artillery,
but by 1926 wire wheels were used with inflatable tyres rather
than solid ones. You started the car via a crank handle at the
front.

9. 07
Benz may have been the first when it came to mass-production, but by the end of the 20th
century, Japan had overtaken America to become the leading manufacturer of
automobiles. Now it’s China who leads the way.
Car designs have changed many times over the years, and the 21st century is seeing
electrically-powered cars rise in popularity, with self-driving cars no longer an idea confined
to science fiction! Who knows where they’ll take us next…

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