UNIT 18
THE EARLY DAYS OF THE AUTOM OBILE
1. One of the earliest attempts to propel a vehicle
by me chanical power
was suggested by Isaac Newton. But the first self-propelled vehicle was
constructed by the French military engineer Cugnot in 1763. He built a
steam-driven engine which had three wheels, carried two passengers and
ran at maximum speed of four miles. The carriage .was
a great
achievement but it was far from perfect and extremely inefficient. The
supply of steam lasted only 15 minutes and the carriage had to stop every
100 yards to make more steam.
2. In 1825 a steam engine was bult in Great Britain. The vehicle carried 18
passengers and covered 8 miles in 45 minutes. However, the progress of
motor cars met with great opposition in Great Britain. Further development
of the motor car lagged because of the restrictions resulting from
legislative acts. The most famous of these acts
was the Red Flag Act of
1865, according to which the speed of. the steam-driven vehicles was
limited to 4 m iles per hour and a man with a red flag .had to walk in front
of it.
3. In Russia there were cities where motor cars were outlawed altogether.
When the editor of the loeal newspaper in the city of Uralsk bought a ear,
the governor issued these instructions to the polis: "When thevehiele
appears inthe streets, it is to be stopped and eseorted to the police station,
where its driver is to be prosecuted."
4. From 1860 to 1900 was a period of the application of gasoline engines
to motor ears in many countries. The first to perfeet gasoline engine was
N. Otto who introdueed the four-stroke cycle of operation.
By that time
motor cars got a standard shape and appearance.
hi 1896 a procession of motor ears took place frorn London to Brighton to
show how reliable the new vehieles were, to faet, many of the ears broke
for the transmissions were still unreliable and constantly gave trouble.
The ears of that time were very small, two-seated cars with no roof, driven
у an engine placed under theseat.. Motorists had to carry large cans of
and
spare tyres, for there were no repair or filling stations to
serve them.
After World War I it became possible to achieve greater reliability of
motor ears, brakes became more efficient. Constant efforts were made to
stan ar lze common components. Multi-eylinder engines came into use,
most commonly used are four-cylinder engines.
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5. Like most
other great human achievements, the motor car is not the
product of any single inventor. Gradually the development of vehicles
driven by internal combustion engine - cars, as they had come to be
known, led to the abolition of earlier restrictions.
Huge capital began to
flow into the automobile industry.
From 1908 to 1924 the number of cars in the world rose from 200 thousand
to 20 million; by 1960 it had reached 60 million! No other industry had
ever developed at such a rate.
6. There are about 3,000 Americans who like to collect antique cars. They
have several clubs whieh possess great influenee sueh as Antique
Automobile Club and Veteran Motor Car Club, which specialize in rare
models. The clubs practise meetings where members can exhibit their cars.
Collectors can also advertise in the magazines published bytheir clubs.
Some magazines specialise in a single type of car such as glorious Model
"T". A number of museums have exhibitions of antique automobile models
whose glory rings
in automobile history. But practically the
best collection
100 old cars o f great rarity - is in possession of William Harrah. He is very
influential in his field. The value of his collection is not only historical but
also practical: photographs of his cars are used for films and
advertisements.
7. In England there is the famous "Beaulieu Motor Museum" - the home
for veteran cars.
The founder of the Museum is Lord Montague, the son of one of England s
motoring pioneers, who opened it in 1952 in memory of his father. Lord
Montague's father was the first person in England to be fined by. the police
for speed'ing. He was fined 5 pounds for going faster than 12 miles per
hour!
In the Museum’s collection there is a car called the Silver Ohost which
people from near and far go to see. It was built by Rolls-Royce in 1907,
and called the Silver Ghost because it ran so silently and was painted
silver.
There is a car called The Knight. It is the
first British petrol-driven
car. Its top speed was only 8 m.p.h.!
In the Museum there is also a two-seater car, built in 903.
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