A Short History of Automobiles By Brenda Williams At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The word auto or automobile is a combination of Greek word autos meaning 'self ‘ and the Latin word mobilis meaning 'movable'. Any transportation mean or vehicle that has power to move itself rather than being pulled or pushed by a separate animal or force is called an automobile.

The name given to automobiles as ‘car’ might have originated from the Latin word carrus or carrum meaning a vehicle with wheels. Another explanation for this term is middle English word carrie or cart. It is also found in old Northern French words as Korrus meaning ‘Wagon’.

Means of transportation have a great impact on human social development. From the basic movement related to personal transportation to the delivery of goods highly efficient modes were required and automobiles have played a remarkable role in this regard. The first steam-powered vehicle was built around 1672 by Ferdinand Verbiest, it was designed as a toy for a Chinese emperor, and it was very small and unable to carry a driver or a passenger. It was possibly the first known working steam-powered vehicle or automobile in the recorded history.

The first ever locomotive which was practically used on roads was built by Richard Trevithick in 1801. It had many shortcomings since the steam pressure was never sufficient enough to cover long distances. Nonetheless, it had an enormous impact on the early auto motive inventions and innovations. To meet the modern day needs of transportation, changes came in 1769 when first ever self-propelled mechanical vehicle or automobile by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot was built. It was made by utilizing and modifying an existing horse-drawn vehicle and it was a three-wheeler. There has been dissent in view among experts that this vehicle was just experimentation and not an accomplished task nonetheless; it indeed was a remarkable achievement at that time. In 1780s Ivan Kublibin of Russia developed first human-pedaled, three-wheeled carriage vehicle. It had many modern features as found in the modern day cars, such as the gearbox, brakes, ball bearings and even a flywheel. It was not further developed at that time but obviously had a positive role in shaping the face of newer auto motive transportations and vehicles.

A Swiss inventor François Isaac De Rivaz in 1806 designed the first internal combustion engine that was fueled by a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen. This design was very new but like other inventions, it was not very successful with its drawbacks and weaknesses. A French inventor Gustave Trouve developed a working engine that was powered by electricity in November 1881. This unique invention was exhibited in the International Exhibition of Electricity Paris. As far as the modern automobile and the technology is concerned, the credit goes to Karl Benz. He invented a four stroke engine in Mannheim in the period 1879 -1885. It was granted a patent in January the same year, under the auspices of his major company ‘Benz and Cie’. The formal production of these automobiles began in 1888 and general public started utilizing them as an efficient means of transportation.

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