Looking at the History of the Automobile

Carl Benz

For around 120 years, cars have been around.

A patent is a government authority or license conferring a right or title for a set period, especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention.

When Carl Benz obtains a patent in January of 1886 for his invention, he labels the automobile as "vehicle with gas engine."

Benz's wife Berta is the first to drive the automobile along with her two sons - but Carl had no idea that she did.

The axial pivot steering system solved the problem of having to steer the front two wheels simultaneously.

When the two companies merged, they became the common known name "Mercedes Benz."

Carl Benz lived to see his dream come true. Other pioneers in technology probably never could have experienced that.


Henry Ford and the Model T

Henry Ford had three employees who came to him inspiring him with the idea of having the actual assembly line move - rather than have people move down the assembly line. This way the workers could just stay in one place, making it easier.

The employees were treated fairly when it came to their wage, and work was simple. Therefore - people were a lot more committed to his plant and stayed longer as a result.

The first Model T Ford vehicles costed a little over $1,000.

The price then dropped to $800, and again to $365 (which in this day & age would be $7,000). The reason I think it dropped so dramatically was possibly because it was becoming more of a common thing to have a vehicle, the automobile was becoming the dominant form of transportation all across the U.S.

After the automobile started to become so popular as a form of transportation, people sort of had that mentality of feeling more free, being able to go wherever they want whenever they wanted to. It offered people the satisfaction of just being able to drive for fun, to visit people, or to go places faster. People got a sense of personal freedom.




My Video Selections

The Ford Edsel:
- has gone down in history as the synonym of failure, was a flop.

- named after Henry Ford's only son.

- people did not like it because it was ugly.


Tucker's Dream Impacts Auto Industry:

- Tucker planned to start a company from scratch.

- designed a car, putting a lot of emphasis on the word "safety."

- money quickly dried up for him, only 50 cars were ever built.