100 years? History of car is longer than that ! The earliest record of car was displayed on a wall picture locating in the Middle East, which was created as early as 3200 B.C.. The picture clearly showed a car with solid wooden wheels. Later, Egypt established a huge team of battle horse carriages, although somewhat destroyed in the Red Sea according to Christian Bible. Then cars evolved to the fearsome Roman iron battle cars, further became the commercial passengers or cargo carriages in the 19th century, cars were still powered by animal.
In 1770, Frenchman Cugnot created the first steam car. Nevertheless, steam car had limited potential - heavy, slow and took a long time to preheat the water. It was actually worse than horse so that did not become popular.
Petrol cars finally appeared in the late 19th Century. In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz created petrol internal combustion motorcycle and 3-wheeler respectively. Daimler's car was very raw, basically a wooden bicycle installed with his own motor. His son test drove it successfully. Benz's car appeared several months later but it included some advanced design such as battery-powered ignition and differential, though it could only reached 8 mph because the motor produced less than 1 hp.
In 1886, Daimler further put his world-leading engine into a horse carriage, this became the first 4-wheel motor car in the world.
French car-maker Panhard Levassor created the first front-engined car in 1891, then made the first Saloon (a car with enclosed cabin) four years later, which became standard until today.
In 1908, Henry Ford adopted stream production method in Model T, thus greatly lowered the price of cars. This opened the first page of mass production.
All-steel body appeared in 1914 and became popular since the 20s.
In 1912, Cadillac invented electric motor starter, since then, car starting no longer needed someone to rotate the engine winder, thus women could drive by their own.
In 1959, British engineer Alexander Issigonis designed a revolutionary car called Mini Minor, which established the standard for front-drive small cars. In 1971, Volkswagen Golf arouse the popularity of hatchback small cars.
Enter the 80s, electronics gave new life to modern cars. No matter mechanical parts (eg. engine management system, ABS), luxurious equipments (eg. memory seats, central lock) and the design / production process (eg. CAD / CAM), electronics involved in nearly all areas.
In the 90s, due to the stricter regulations, cars became far more environmental-friendly. Safety was also greatly enhanced. What about next Century ? Who knows ?!
In 1770, Frenchman Cugnot created the first steam car. Nevertheless, steam car had limited potential - heavy, slow and took a long time to preheat the water. It was actually worse than horse so that did not become popular.
Petrol cars finally appeared in the late 19th Century. In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz created petrol internal combustion motorcycle and 3-wheeler respectively. Daimler's car was very raw, basically a wooden bicycle installed with his own motor. His son test drove it successfully. Benz's car appeared several months later but it included some advanced design such as battery-powered ignition and differential, though it could only reached 8 mph because the motor produced less than 1 hp.
In 1886, Daimler further put his world-leading engine into a horse carriage, this became the first 4-wheel motor car in the world.
French car-maker Panhard Levassor created the first front-engined car in 1891, then made the first Saloon (a car with enclosed cabin) four years later, which became standard until today.
In 1908, Henry Ford adopted stream production method in Model T, thus greatly lowered the price of cars. This opened the first page of mass production.
All-steel body appeared in 1914 and became popular since the 20s.
In 1912, Cadillac invented electric motor starter, since then, car starting no longer needed someone to rotate the engine winder, thus women could drive by their own.
In 1959, British engineer Alexander Issigonis designed a revolutionary car called Mini Minor, which established the standard for front-drive small cars. In 1971, Volkswagen Golf arouse the popularity of hatchback small cars.
Enter the 80s, electronics gave new life to modern cars. No matter mechanical parts (eg. engine management system, ABS), luxurious equipments (eg. memory seats, central lock) and the design / production process (eg. CAD / CAM), electronics involved in nearly all areas.
In the 90s, due to the stricter regulations, cars became far more environmental-friendly. Safety was also greatly enhanced. What about next Century ? Who knows ?!
