The History of Automotive Technology

  • The First self propelled road vehicle created

    The First self propelled road vehicle created
    First self propelled road vehicle Invented by Nicholas Joseph Cugnot, was sucessful for2 yearsuntil being driven into a stone wall,causing the first car accident.
  • Patented!

    Oliver Evans files patent for first steam-powered land vehicle.
  • First internal combstion engine created.

    Francois Isaac de Rivaz of Switzerland invented an internal combustion engine that used a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen for fuel. Rivaz designed a car for his engine that was the first internal combustion powered automobile. However, it was extremely unsuccessful as the byproduct was water, rusting the engine from thei nside out..
  • A taste of success.

    Samuel Brown invents the first working internal combustion engine, has seperate cylinders for work and combustion
  • electric automobile

    first electric horseless carriage created, but unsucessful due to range.
  • horseless carriage

    Jean-Joseph-Etienne Lenoir builds a “horseless carriage” that uses an internal combustion engine that can reach speed of a blistering 3 miles per hour.
  • An explosive discovery.

    julius hock takes internal combustion engine design and modifies it to run off of liquid gasoline.
  • Ottomotive breakthrough

    Ottomotive breakthrough
    Nicholaus August Otto develops an improved internal combustion engine, is still used in 99.9% of cars today.
  • Wagons.

    George Baldwin files for the first U.S. patent for an automobile - which is actually a wagon fitted with an internal combustion engine.
  • The first benz.

    Karl Benz builds a three-wheel automobile powered by a gasoline engine. the world’s first motorbike uses one of his internal combustion engines.
  • a filling innovation

    The first gasoline pump is installed in fort wayne
  • The first ford.

    In michigan henry ford builds his first automobile.
  • The first modern automobile.

    Gottlieb Daimler uses his internal combustion engine to build a four-wheel vehicle, considered the first modern automobile.
  • A shocking find

    A shocking find
    The first telescope shock absorber invented by C.L. Horock, is still used in many cars today.
  • oldsmobile automobile factory opens.

    oldsmobile automobile factory opens.
    The Olds automobile factory starts production in Detroit. Ransom E. Olds contracts with outside companies for parts, thus helping to originate mass production techniques. Olds produces 425 cars in its first year of operation, introducing the three-horsepower "curved-dash" Oldsmobile at $650. The car is a success; Olds is selling 5,000 units a year by 1905.
  • Drum brakes invented.

    Drum brakes invented.
    Standard drum brakes are invented by Louis Renault. His brakes work by using a cam to force apart two hinged shoes. Drum brakes are improved in many ways over the years, but the basic principle remains in cars for the entire 20th century; even with the advent of disk brakes in the 1970s, drum brakes remain the standard for rear wheels.
  • GM.

    GM.
    william durant forms General Motors.
  • Ford model-t is introduced.

    Ford model-t is introduced.
    The first ford model t rolls off of the assemblyl ine.
  • Electric starter introduced.

    The first electric starter is introduced by charles kettering, this severley reduced the amount of broken wrists due to kickback while starting with a hand crank.
  • first moving assembly line is created.

    first moving assembly line is created.
    ford motor company creates firstmoving assembly line.
  • First power steering used on car

    First power steering used on car
    in 1926 pierce-arrow introduced a power steering system that tied into the hydralic system of the car.
  • first sucessful mass-produced front wheel drive car introduced.

    first sucessful mass-produced front wheel drive car introduced.
    the citroen avant traction is the first car to feature front wheel drive.
  • first flashing turn signals introduced.

    first flashing turn signals introduced.
    acompany in delaware uses a thermal interuptor switch to make turn signals flash.
  • air-conditioning introduced

    air-conditioning introduced
    nash integrates air-conditioning into their line of automobiles, is an automotive first.