The Invention of the Modern Automobile Essays

What would America be today if Henry Ford’s impact in history would have never occurred? Could the wealthy be the only citizens who could own a car? Could it be possible that the assembly line would have never been perfected? Thankfully, we don’t have to live in a world where all these possibilities are unknown. During the 20th century being able to travel from one place to another in their own car was rather strenuous to most Americans. Although the automobile did exist, it was extremely expensive and only the wealthy were able to afford it. Without Henry Ford’s impact on American history, this scenario would have never changed, only the wealthy would be driving in their own automobile today. America would not be what it is today if it weren’t for Ford. Henry Ford made an extremely impact in America through his Model T, which made automobiles more accessible for the majority of Americans, and perfecting the assembly line, which would increase mass production.

Henry Ford had only a modest education. He didn’t invent the gasoline engine; he didn’t invent the auto mobile; he didn’t really invent anything. Yet, when he died in 1947, Ford, and the company he founded had a profound effect on the world he taught to drive. Given all that he had accomplished, it’s hard to believe Henry Ford was almost 40 when he established the Ford Motor Company. At the time America was more agricultural than industrial. Horse-less carriages were toys for a wealthy few. But in just four decades, Henry Ford had in his own words, “invented the modern age”.

The automobile has had a profound impact on the United States. It has brought us

The automobile began as a rich man’s toy, and in today’s society almost every single person owns one of these miraculous inventions. After the automobile became more popular, society has evolved around it, creating highways and fast food chains. The automobile has revised from a bare invention, such as the horseless carriage, to now technologically advanced motor vehicles with bluetooth and wireless internet. Since the beginning age of the automobile in 1885, the invention has advanced, prospered, and changed society throughout the world.

In the twentieth century, the introduction of the motor vehicle in the United States became not only noteworthy, but also vital in the development of modern American civilization. This technologically complex machine led citizens to vast future dependency on the invention. While mobility was suddenly not limited to alternative, more convoluted options such as railroad stations or bicycles, yet copiously amplified to aid convenience and expanded leisure opportunities.  From auto-racing to redesigning infrastructure, motor vehicles allowed progression, digression, and essentially uttermost change to lifestyles of the American people.

something that everyone once dreamed of owning. Now after the war. they could finally own one. Automobiles of the 1940’s were dull and very plain. This was because designers were too busy designing tanks, planes, etc... for the ongoing war. The major event that took place that changed the way cars looked and how they performed happened on October 14, 1947. This was when Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier. From this point on everyone wanted to go faster.

Whether or nor the inventor of the car imagine our developed automobile industry and very convenient transportation facilities may don’t be known. Obvious no man had more effect on the daily lives of most people in the United States than did Henry ford a pioneer in automobile production. Automobile culture change America society in different ways. For example, lifestyle, infrastructure and economy. There’s no question about that car is a necessity, we don’t lose it.

It is hard to credit one single person for the invention of the automobile. There was over 100,000 people who created different versions of the automobile. The person who takes credit for the first is Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, a French military engineer who built the steam-powered tricycle for hauling artillery in 1769. Tricycle means it only had three wheels. The single front wheel performed both wheel functions and steering. It could drive at a speed of 2.25 miles per hour with four passengers within 15 minutes. Henry Ford is also given credit for the first automobile. Henry Ford invented the Model T the Model T changed the way people lived, worked, and traveled the way that Ford made this was through an assembly line. Also the assembly line made the Model T affordable to the majority of America. This way that the average working man could afford the car and not just a wealthy man. There was more the 15 Million Model Ts built in Michigan. The Model T was built from 1908 until 1927. This was made so that it is a affordable transportation for the common man. This became very popular for the very low price, durability, versatility, and easy to maintenance. The use of the assembly line saved the cost from in 1908 of $850 all the was to $300 in 1925. Even before it lost popularity to larger, or more powerful, and more comfortable cars, it was known as “Tin Lizzy” and “flivver.” These had became American folkloric symbol, Ford's goal was to democratize the automobile. The Model T was offered in several different body styles. One of the cars was a two seater runabout car. Another car was a five seater car. The last one was a seven seat town car. All of these bodies were put onto a 100 inch wheelbase chassis. It was usually available to have a color of your choice but from 1913 through 1925 the only color they had manufactured was black. The fuel tank also held ten gallons. If the Model T was driven fast it would be less comfortable because of it rattling. People don't usually get in a car and think wow i wonder how this car was made. They will just go throughout the motion that they always do and think nothing about it. The only time you ever take a look and think about how it was made is when something bad happens.

These early automobiles were loud, uncomfortable, and often dangerous, but that didn’t stop the dreamers and innovators from pushing forward. Henry Ford was one such visionary. He knew early on the automobile industry was going to change America. He strategically positioned himself to be at the forefront of this new invention sweeping the nation.

Karl Benz invented the first automobile in 1866; it has changed the world in how we commute every day. From riding in carriages to now cutting our time travel whether it is riding a bus or our on car. It has become more of a necessity in today's world to have a car because its something that we choose to have in our daily life that it is a choice that is high on the priority list to own. As to wealthier people the type of car you drive puts in a different class. Where some get the choice of car that they want others have a certain budget on what to look for. The way an automobile symbolizes today, changed in society, and how a car has become a collection.

The Model T, first manufactured by Henry Ford with the assembly line on 1908, changed the way of people’s lives during the interwar period and is still affecting our lives currently. It integrated cars into the daily lives of the people by lowering the price, it changed the way of manufacturing products with the use of the “assembly line”, and it established the American middle class. It’s evident that a car is faster than a horse carriage, but what was not so obvious is that a car like the model T was cheaper than a horse carriage. A car only consumes fuel when it circulates, however, horses have to eat every day of the year. In addition, as travelling by horse required constant changes of animals as they got tired, the tireless car also represented an opportunity to take unexpected and spontaneous trips.

Rudi Volti’s Cars and Culture: The Life Story of a Technology (Greenwood Press, 2004) examines the evolution of the automobile, starting from 1765, with Nicholas Cugnot’s steam-powered vehicles, to the present day. The goal of the book, as stated by Volti in the introduction, is to “pay particular attention to the automobile’s technical evolution while at the same time delineating the cultural, social, and political context in which that evolution has taken place” (xi). Thus, Volti also demonstrates the cultural and societal effects that resulted from the emergence and mass production of automobiles. Volti divides the history of automobiles into seven time periods, each a separate chapter that achieves his goal. He accomplishes his objectives by stating the technological advances and societal context under different headings, occasionally linking the two topics together.

Since the development of the steam engine people had been interested in creating self-powered vehicles, this manifested during the industrial revolution as the train. However, as time went on people became interested in creating a vehicle that wasn’t confined to tracks. The earliest attempts were moderately successful but served little practical purpose. Automobiles first began to truly spread with the invention of the electric motor which created cheaper, more powerful, and safer automobiles. Still the automobile still had numerous problems and were mainly in the hands of the rich. It was the development of the internal combustion engine and the assembly line that was truly able to create a practical vehicle that could be used by all and

In the beginning, man’s only form of transportation was his own feet. Later, to comfort his journey on foot, was the invention of footwear. Through envy of the speed of other animals he would learn to tame these animals. People who live in the desert ride atop camels. The people who live in the frigid climates travel by dogs. Some people from places like India ride elephants. But the must widely used form of transportation by animal power was by horse. Man would soon develop boats and ships to travel long distances over water and time would flow like the rivers and hundreds of years later, in the late 1700s steam power became the new craze. Steam power got the wheels turning amongst many inventors who

A man that went by the name of Henry Ford, once said, “I invented nothing new. I simply assembled the discoveries of other men behind whom were centuries of work…” The Ford Motor Company is an American continental automobile maker founded by Henry Ford on June 16, 1903. During the 1920s, this firm marketed automobiles that were reliable, low-cost, easy-to-operate and easier-to-fix device for the masses (Rise of the Automobile). In addition, the Ford Motor Company led the world into the expansion and refinement of the assembly line; revolutionizing our society to greater heights through its mobile products. Meanwhile, the company’s contributions benefited society through the means of the renovation of the suburbs and the invention of new services. Like no other during the 1920s, the Ford Motor Company supplied to the boom of innovations; marking its footprint to a superior society.