The history of the automobile begins as early as 1769, with the creation of steam-powered

automobiles capable of human transport.[1] In 1806, the first cars powered by internal combustion
engines running on fuel gas appeared, which led to the introduction in 1885 of the ubiquitous
modern gasoline- or petrol-fueled internal combustion engine. Cars powered by electricity
briefly appeared at the turn of the 20th century but largely disappeared from commonality until
the turn of the 21st century, when interest in low- and zero-emissions transportation was
reignited. As such, the early history of the automobile can be divided into a number of eras based
on the prevalent method of automotive propulsion during that time. Later periods were defined
by trends in exterior styling and size and utility preferences.

Contents
[hide]

 1 Eras of invention
o 1.1 Pioneer inventors
o 1.2 Early automobiles
 1.2.1 Steam automobiles
 1.2.2 Electric automobiles
 1.2.3 Internal combustion engines
o 1.3 Veteran era
 1.3.1 Brass or Edwardian era
o 1.4 Vintage era
o 1.5 Pre-WWII era
o 1.6 Post-war era
o 1.7 Modern era
o 1.8 Future directions
 2 See also
 3 References
 4 Further reading
 5 External links

[edit] Eras of invention

[edit] Pioneer inventors

Although German engineer Karl Benz, the inventor of numerous car-related technologies, is
generally regarded as the inventor of the modern automobile when he received a German patent
in 1886, American George B. Selden filed for a patent on May 8, 1879. His application included
not only the engine but its use in a 4 wheeled car. Mr. Selden then filed a series of amendments
to his application which stretched out the legal process resulting in a delay of 16 years before the
US patent 549160 pdf was granted on November 5, 1895. The four-stroke petrol (gasoline)
internal combustion engine that constitutes the most prevalent form of modern automotive
propulsion is a creation of German inventor Nikolaus Otto. The similar four-stroke diesel engine
was also invented by a German, Rudolf Diesel. The hydrogen fuel cell, one of the technologies
hailed as a replacement for gasoline as an energy source for cars, was discovered in principle by
yet another German, Christian Friedrich Schönbein, in 1838. The battery electric car owes its
beginnings to Hungarian Ányos Jedlik, one of the inventors of the electric motor, and Gaston
Planté, who invented the lead-acid battery in 1859.

[edit] Early automobiles

[edit] Steam automobiles

See also: History of steam road vehicles

Cugnot's steam wagon, the second (1771) version

Ferdinand Verbiest, a member of a Jesuit mission in China, built the first steam-powered vehicle
around 1672, designed as a toy for the Chinese Emperor, it being of small scale and unable to
carry a driver or passenger but, quite possibly, the first working steam-powered vehicle ('auto-
mobile').[2][3]

A replica of Richard Trevithick's 1801 road locomotive 'Puffing Devil'

Steam-powered self-propelled vehicles are thought to have been devised in the late-18th century.
Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot demonstrated his fardier à vapeur, an experimental steam-driven artillery
tractor, in 1770 and 1771. Cugnot's design proved to be impractical and his invention was not
developed in his native France, the centre of innovation passing to Great Britain. By 1784,
William Murdoch had built a working model of a steam carriage in Redruth, and in 1801 Richard
Trevithick was running a full-sized vehicle on the road in Camborne.[4] Such vehicles were in
vogue for a time, and over the next decades such innovations as hand brakes, multi-speed
transmissions, and better steering developed. Some were commercially successful in providing
mass transit, until a backlash against these large speedy vehicles resulted in passing a law, the
Locomotive Act, in 1865 requiring self-propelled vehicles on public roads in the United
Kingdom be preceded by a man on foot waving a red flag and blowing a horn. This effectively
killed road auto development in the UK for most of the rest of the 19th century as inventors and
engineers shifted their efforts to improvements in railway locomotives. The law was not repealed
until 1896, although the need for the red flag was removed in 1878.

In Russia in the 1780s, Ivan Kulibin started working on a human-pedalled carriage with a steam
engine. He finished working on it in 1791. Some of its features included a flywheel, brake,
gearbox, and bearing, which are also the features of a modern automobile. His design had three
roadwheels. Unfortunately, as with many of his inventions, the government failed to see the
potential market and it was not developed further.[5][6]

The first automobile patent in the United States was granted to Oliver Evans in 1789. In 1805,
Evans demonstrated his first successful self-propelled vehicle, which not only was the first
automobile in the USA, but was also the first amphibious vehicle, as his steam-powered vehicle
was able to travel on roadwheels on land, and via a paddle wheel in the water.

Among other efforts, in 1815, a professor at Prague Polytechnich, Josef Bozek, built an oil-fired
steam car.[7]:p.27 and Walter Hancock, builder and operator of London steam buses, in 1838 built a
four-seat steam phaeton.[7]:p27 Steam car development would from them on continue, leading to
significant advances by the early 1900s (see Edwardian Era car).

[edit] Electric automobiles

See also: History of the electric vehicle

In 1828, Ányos Jedlik, a Hungarian who invented an early type of electric motor, created a tiny
model car powered by his new motor.[8] In 1834, Vermont blacksmith Thomas Davenport, the
inventor of the first American DC electrical motor, installed his motor in a small model car,
which he operated on a short circular electrified track.[9] In 1835, Professor Sibrandus Stratingh
of Groningen, the Netherlands and his assistant Christopher Becker created a small-scale
electrical car, powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.[10] In 1838, Scotsman Robert
Davidson built an electric locomotive that attained a speed of 4 miles per hour (6 km/h). In
England, a patent was granted in 1840 for the use of rail tracks as conductors of electric current,
and similar American patents were issued to Lilley and Colten in 1847. Between 1832 and 1839
(the exact year is uncertain), Robert Anderson of Scotland invented the first crude electric
carriage, powered by non-rechargeable primary cells.
[edit] Internal combustion engines

1885-built Benz Patent Motorwagen, the first car to go into production with an internal
combustion engine

1870, Vienna, Austria: world's first gasoline-run vehicle, the 'first Marcus car'

The second Marcus car of 1888 (Technical Museum Vienna)

Early attempts at making and using internal combustion engines were hampered by the lack of
suitable fuels, particularly liquids, and the earliest engines used gas mixtures.
Early experimenters using gases included, in 1806, Swiss engineer François Isaac de Rivaz who
built an internal combustion engine powered by a hydrogen and oxygen mixture, and in 1826,
Englishman Samuel Brown who tested his hydrogen-fuelled internal combustion engine by using
it to propel a vehicle up Shooter's Hill in south-east London. Belgian-born Etienne Lenoir's
Hippomobile with a hydrogen-gas-fuelled one-cylinder internal combustion engine made a test
drive from Paris to Joinville-le-Pont in 1860, covering some nine kilometres in about three hours.
[11]
A later version was propelled by coal gas. A Delamare-Deboutteville vehicle was patented
and trialled in 1884.

About 1870, in Vienna, Austria (then the Austro-Hungarian Empire), inventor Siegfried Marcus
put a liquid-fuelled internal combustion engine on a simple handcart which made him the first
man to propel a vehicle by means of gasoline. Today, this car is known as "the first Marcus car".
In 1883, Marcus secured a German patent for a low-voltage ignition system of the magneto type;
this was his only automotive patent. This design was used for all further engines, and the four-
seat "second Marcus car" of 1888/89. This ignition, in conjunction with the "rotating-brush
carburetor", made the second car's design very innovative.

It is generally acknowledged that the first really practical automobiles with petrol/gasoline-
powered internal combustion engines were completed almost simultaneously by several German
inventors working independently: Karl Benz built his first automobile in 1885 in Mannheim.
Benz was granted a patent for his automobile on 29 January 1886, and began the first production
of automobiles in 1888, after Bertha Benz, his wife, had proved - with the first long-distance trip
in August 1888, from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back - that the horseless coach was absolutely
suitable for daily use. Since 2008 a Bertha Benz Memorial Route commemorates this event.

Soon after, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Stuttgart in 1889 designed a vehicle from
scratch to be an automobile, rather than a horse-drawn carriage fitted with an engine. They also
are usually credited with invention of the first motorcycle in 1886, but Italy's Enrico Bernardi of
the University of Padua, in 1882, patented a 0.024 horsepower (17.9 W) 122 cc (7.4 cu in) one-
cylinder petrol motor, fitting it into his son's tricycle, making it at least a candidate for the first
automobile, and first motorcycle;.[7]:p.26 Bernardi enlarged the tricycle in 1892 to carry two adults.
[7]:p.26

One of the first four-wheeled petrol-driven automobiles in Britain was built in Birmingham in
1895 by Frederick William Lanchester, who also patented the disc brake; and the first electric
starter was installed on an Arnold, an adaptation of the Benz Velo, built between 1895 and 1898.
[7]:p.25

In all the turmoil, many early pioneers are nearly forgotten. In 1891, John William Lambert built
a three-wheeler in Ohio City, Ohio, which was destroyed in a fire the same year, while Henry
Nadig constructed a four-wheeler in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is likely they were not the only
ones.[7]:p.25

[edit] Veteran era

The Selden Road-Engine

The French 1898 Renault Voiturette

The first production of automobiles was by Karl Benz in 1888 in Germany and, under licence
from Benz, in France by Emile Roger. There were numerous others, including tricycle builders
Rudolf Egg, Edward Butler, and Léon Bollée.[7]:p.20-23 Bollée, using a 650 cc (40 cu in) engine of
his own design, enabled his driver, Jamin, to average 45 kilometres per hour (28.0 mph) in the
1897 Paris-Tourville rally.[7]:p.23 By 1900, mass production of automobiles had begun in France
and the United States. The first company formed exclusively to build automobiles was Panhard
et Levassor in France, which also introduced the first four-cylinder engine.[7]:p.22 Formed in 1889,
Panhard was quickly followed by Peugeot two years later. By the start of the 20th century, the
automobile industry was beginning to take off in western Europe, especially in France, where
30,204 were produced in 1903, representing 48.8% of world automobile production that year.[12]
[citation needed]
The first automobile in Japan, a French Panhard-Levassor, in 1898

1903 World's Work Article

In the United States, brothers Charles and Frank Duryea founded the Duryea Motor Wagon
Company in 1893, becoming the first American automobile manufacturing company. However,
it was Ransom E. Olds and his Olds Motor Vehicle Company (later known as Oldsmobile) who
would dominate this era of automobile production. Its large scale production line was running in
1902. Within a year, Cadillac (formed from the Henry Ford Company), Winton, and Ford were
producing cars in the thousands.

Within a few years, a dizzying assortment of technologies were being produced by hundreds of
producers all over the western world. Steam, electricity and petrol/gasoline-powered automobiles
competed for decades, with petrol/gasoline internal combustion engines achieving dominance in
the 1910s. Dual- and even quad-engine cars were designed, and engine displacement ranged to
more than a dozen litres. Many modern advances, including gas/electric hybrids, multi-valve
engines, overhead camshafts, and four-wheel drive, were attempted, and discarded at this time.
In 1898, Louis Renault had a De Dion-Bouton modified, with fixed drive shaft and ring and
pinion gear, making "perhaps the first hot rod in history" and bringing Renault and his brothers
into the car industry.[13] Innovation was rapid and rampant, with no clear standards for basic
vehicle architectures, body styles, construction materials, or controls. Many veteran cars use a
tiller, rather than a wheel for steering, for example, and most operated at a single speed. Chain
drive was dominant over the drive shaft, and closed bodies were extremely rare. Drum brakes
were introduced by Renault in 1902.[14] The next year, Dutch designer Jacobus Spijker built the
first four-wheel drive racing car;[15] it never competed and it would be 1965 and the Jensen FF
before four wheel drive was used on a production car.[16]

Innovation was not limited to the vehicles themselves, either. Increasing numbers of cars
propelled the growth of the petroleum industry,[17] as well as the development of technology to
produce gasoline (replacing kerosene and coal oil) and of improvements in heat-tolerant mineral
oil lubricants (replacing vegetable and animal oils).[18]

There were social effects, also. Music would be made about cars, such as "In My Merry
Oldsmobile" (a tradition that continues) while, in 1896, William Jennings Bryan would be the
first presidential candidate to campaign in a car (a donated Mueller), in Decatur, Illinois.[19] Three
years later, Jacob German would start a tradition for New York City cabdrivers when he sped
down Lexington Avenue, at the "reckless" speed of 12 mph (19 km/h).[20] Also in 1899, Akron,
Ohio, adopted the first self-propelled paddy wagon.[20]

In My Merry Oldsmobile songbook featuring an Oldsmobile Curved Dash automobile (produced

1901-1907) and period driving clothing

By 1900, it was possible to talk about a national automotive industry in many countries,
including Belgium (home to Vincke, which copied Benz; Germain, a pseudo-Panhard; and Linon
and Nagant, both based on the Gobron-Brillié),[7]:p,25 Switzerland (led by Fritz Henriod, Rudolf
Egg, Saurer, Johann Weber, and Lorenz Popp),[7]:p.25 Vagnfabrik AB in Sweden, Hammel (by A.
F. Hammel and H. U. Johansen at Copenhagen, in Denmark, beginning around 1886),[7]:p.25 Irgens
(starting in Bergen, Norway, in 1883, but without success),[7]:p.25-26 Italy (where FIAT started in
1899), and as far afield as Australia (where Pioneer set up shop in 1898, with an already archaic
paraffin-fuelled centre-pivot-steered wagon).[7] Meanwhile, the export trade had begun to be
global, with Koch exporting cars and trucks from Paris to Tunisia, Egypt, Iran, and the Dutch
East Indies.[7]:p25

On 5 November 1895, George B. Selden was granted a United States patent for a two-stroke
automobile engine (U.S. Patent 549,160). This patent did more to hinder than encourage
development of autos in the USA. Selden licensed his patent to most major American auto
makers, collecting a fee on every car they produced. The Studebaker brothers, having become
the world's leading manufacturers of horse-drawn vehicles, made a transition to electric
automobiles in 1902, and gasoline engines in 1904, but also continued to build horse-drawn
vehicles until 1919.[21]:p.90 In 1908, the first South American automobile was built in Peru, the
Grieve.[22] Motor cars were also exported very early to British colonies and the first motor car
was exported to India in 1897.

Throughout the veteran car era, however, automobiles were seen as more of a novelty than a
genuinely useful device. Breakdowns were frequent, fuel was difficult to obtain, roads suitable
for travelling were scarce, and rapid innovation meant that a year-old car was nearly worthless.
Major breakthroughs in proving the usefulness of the automobile came with the historic long-
distance drive of Bertha Benz in 1888, when she travelled more than 80 kilometres (50 mi) from
Mannheim to Pforzheim, to make people aware of the potential of the vehicles her husband, Karl
Benz, manufactured, and after Horatio Nelson Jackson's successful trans-continental drive across
the United States in 1903.

[edit] Brass or Edwardian era

T-model Ford car parked outside Geelong Library at its launch in Australia in 1915
Main article: Brass Era car

Named for the widespread use of brass in the United States, the Brass (or Edwardian) Era lasted
from roughly 1905 through to the beginning of World War I in 1914. 1905 was about the time
when sales began shifting from the hobbyist and enthusiast to the average user.[citation needed]

Within the 15 years that make up this era, the various experimental designs and alternate power
systems would be marginalised. Although the modern touring car had been invented earlier, it
was not until Panhard et Levassor's Système Panhard was widely licensed and adopted that
recognisable and standardised automobiles were created. This system specified front-engined,
rear-wheel drive internal combustion engined cars with a sliding gear transmission. Traditional
coach-style vehicles were rapidly abandoned, and buckboard runabouts lost favour with the
introduction of tonneaus and other less-expensive touring bodies.
A Stanley Steamer racecar in 1903. In 1906, a similar Stanley Rocket set the world land speed
record at 205.5km/h at Daytona Beach Road Course.

By 1906, steam car development had advanced, and they were among the fastest road vehicles in
that period.[23][not in citation given]

Throughout this era, development of automotive technology was rapid, due in part to hundreds of
small manufacturers competing to gain the world's attention. Key developments included the
electric ignition system (by dynamotor on the Arnold in 1898,[24] though Robert Bosch, 1903,
tends to get the credit), independent suspension (actually conceived by Bollée in 1873),[24] and
four-wheel brakes (by the Arrol-Johnston Company of Scotland in 1909).[7]:p27 Leaf springs were
widely used for suspension, though many other systems were still in use, with angle steel taking
over from armored wood as the frame material of choice. Transmissions and throttle controls
were widely adopted, allowing a variety of cruising speeds, though vehicles generally still had
discrete speed settings, rather than the infinitely variable system familiar in cars of later eras.
Safety glass also made its debut, patented by John Wood in England in 1905.[14] (It would not
become standard equipment until 1926, on a Rickenbacker.)[14]

Between 1907 and 1912 in the United States, the high-wheel motor buggy (resembling the horse
buggy of before 1900) was in its heyday, with over seventy-five makers including Holsman
(Chicago), IHC (Chicago), and Sears (which sold via catalog); the high-wheeler would be killed
by the Model T.[7]:p.65 In 1912, Hupp (in the U.S., supplied by Hale & Irwin) and BSA (in the
UK) pioneered the use of all-steel bodies,[25] joined in 1914 by Dodge (who produced Model T
bodies).[14] While it would be another two decades before all-steel bodies would be standard, the
change would mean improved supplies of superior-quality wood for furniture makers.[7]

Some examples of cars of the period included

 1908–1927 Ford Model T — the most widely produced and available car of the era. It
used a planetary transmission, and had a pedal-based control system.
 1910 Mercer Raceabout — regarded as one of the first sports cars, the Raceabout
expressed the exuberance of the driving public, as did the similarly-conceived American
Underslung and Hispano-Suiza Alphonso.
 1910–1920 Bugatti Type 13 — a notable racing and touring model with advanced
engineering and design. Similar models were the Types 15, 17, 22, and 23.

[edit] Vintage era

1926 Austin 7 Box saloon

Lineup of Ford Model As

Main article: Vintage car

The vintage era lasted from the end of World War I (1919), through the Wall Street Crash at the
end of 1929. During this period, the front-engined car came to dominate, with closed bodies and
standardised controls becoming the norm. In 1919, 90% of cars sold were open; by 1929, 90%
were closed.[7]:p.7 Development of the internal combustion engine continued at a rapid pace, with
multi-valve and overhead camshaft engines produced at the high end, and V8, V12, and even
V16 engines conceived for the ultra-rich. Also in 1919, hydraulic brakes were invented by
Malcolm Loughead (co-founder of Lockheed); they were adopted by Duesenberg for their 1921
Model A.[14] Three years later, Hermann Rieseler of Vulcan Motor invented the first automatic
transmission, which had two-speed planetary gearbox, torque converter, and lockup clutch; it
never entered production.[14] (Its like would only become an available option in 1940.)[14] Just at
the end of the vintage era, tempered glass (now standard equipment in side windows) was
invented in France.[14]

Exemplary vintage vehicles:

 1922–1939 Austin 7 — the Austin Seven was one of the most widely copied vehicles
ever, serving as a template for cars around the world, from BMW to Nissan.
 1924–1929 Bugatti Type 35 — the Type 35 was one of the most successful racing cars of
all time, with over 1,000 victories in five years.
 1922–1931 Lancia Lambda — very advanced car for the time, first car to feature a load-
bearing monocoque-type body and independent front suspension.
 1925–1928 Hanomag 2 / 10 PS — early example of ponton styling, without fully
articulated fenders and running boards.
  1927–1931 Ford Model A (1927-1931) — after keeping the brass era Model T in
production for too long, Ford broke from the past by restarting its model series with the
1927 Model A. More than 4 million were produced, making it the best-selling model of
the era.
 1930 Cadillac V-16 — developed at the height of the vintage era, the V16-powered
Cadillac would join Bugatti's Royale as the most legendary ultra-luxury cars of the era.

[edit] Pre-WWII era

Citroën Traction Avant

Main article: Classic car

The pre-war part of the classic era began with the Great Depression in 1930, and ended with the
recovery after World War II, commonly placed at 1948. It was in this period that integrated
fenders and fully-closed bodies began to dominate sales, with the new saloon/sedan body style
even incorporating a trunk or boot at the rear for storage. The old open-top runabouts, phaetons,
and touring cars were phased out by the end of the classic era as wings, running boards, and
headlights were gradually integrated with the body of the car.

By the 1930s, most of the mechanical technology used in today's automobiles had been invented,
although some things were later "re-invented", and credited to someone else. For example, front-
wheel drive was re-introduced by André Citroën with the launch of the Traction Avant in 1934,
though it had appeared several years earlier in road cars made by Alvis and Cord, and in racing
cars by Miller (and may have appeared as early as 1897). In the same vein, independent
suspension was originally conceived by Amédée Bollée in 1873, but not put in production until
appearing on the low-volume Mercedes-Benz 380 in 1933, which prodded American makers to
use it more widely.[24] In 1930, the number of auto manufacturers declined sharply as the industry
consolidated and matured, thanks in part to the effects of the Great Depression.

Exemplary pre-war automobiles:

 1932–1939 Alvis Speed 20 and Speed 25 — the first cars with all-synchromesh gearbox.
 1932–1948 Ford V-8 — introduction of the powerful flathead V8 in mainstream vehicles,
setting new performance and efficiency standards.
 1934–1940 Bugatti Type 57 — a singular refined automobile for the wealthy.
  1934–1956 Citroën Traction Avant — the first mass-produced front-wheel drive car, built
with monocoque chassis.
 1936–1955 MG T series — sports cars with youth appeal at an affordable price.
 1938–2003 Volkswagen Beetle — a design for efficiency and low price, which
progressed over 60 years with minimal basic change.
 1936–1939 Rolls-Royce Phantom III — V12 engined pinnacle of pre-war engineering,
with technological advances not seen in most other manufacturers until the 1960s.
Superior performance and quality.

[edit] Post-war era

1953 Morris Minor Series II

Jaguar E-type coupe

1985 Mini
See also: Antique car

Automobile design finally emerged from the shadow of World War II in 1949, the year that in
the United States saw the introduction of high-compression V8 engines and modern bodies from
General Motors' Oldsmobile and Cadillac brands. The unibody/strut-suspended 1951 Ford
Consul joined the 1948 Morris Minor and 1949 Rover P4 in waking up the automobile market in
the United Kingdom. In Italy, Enzo Ferrari was beginning his 250 series, just as Lancia
introduced the revolutionary V6-powered Aurelia.

Throughout the 1950s, engine power and vehicle speeds rose, designs became more integrated
and artful, and cars spread across the world. Alec Issigonis' Mini and Fiat's 500 diminutive cars
swept Europe, while the similar kei car class put Japan on wheels for the first time. The
legendary Volkswagen Beetle survived Hitler's Germany to shake up the small-car market in the
Americas. Ultra luxury, exemplified in America by the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham, reappeared
after a long absence, and grand tourers (GT), like the Ferrari Americas, swept across Europe.

The market changed somewhat in the 1960s, as Detroit began to worry about foreign
competition, the European makers adopted ever-higher technology, and Japan appeared as a
serious car-producing nation. General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford tried radical small cars, like
the GM A-bodies, but had little success. Captive imports and badge engineering swept through
the US and UK as amalgamated groups like the British Motor Corporation consolidated the
market. BMC's revolutionary space-saving Mini, which first appeared in 1959, captured large
sales worldwide. Minis were marketed under the Austin and Morris names, until Mini became a
marque in its own right in 1969.[26] The trend for corporate consolidation reached Italy as niche
makers like Maserati, Ferrari, and Lancia were acquired by larger companies. By the end of the
decade, the number of automobile marques had been greatly reduced.

In America, performance became a prime focus of marketing, exemplified by pony cars and
muscle cars. In 1964 the popular Ford Mustang appeared. In 1967, Chevrolet released the
Camaro to compete with the Mustang. But everything changed in the 1970s as the 1973 oil crisis,
automobile emissions control rules, Japanese and European imports, and stagnant innovation
wreaked havoc on the American industry. Though somewhat ironically, full-size sedans staged a
major comeback in the years between the energy crisis, with makes such as Cadillac and Lincoln
staging their best sales years ever in the late 70s. Small performance cars from BMW, Toyota,
and Nissan took the place of big-engined cars from America and Italy.

On the technology front, the biggest developments of the era were the widespread use of
independent suspensions, wider application of fuel injection, and an increasing focus on safety in
the design of automobiles. The hottest technologies of the 1960s were NSU's "Wankel engine",
the gas turbine, and the turbocharger. Of these, only the last, pioneered by General Motors but
popularised by BMW and Saab, was to see widespread use. Mazda had much success with its
"Rotary" engine which, however, acquired a reputation as a polluting gas-guzzler. Other Wankel
licensees, including Mercedes-Benz and General Motors, never put their designs into production
after the 1973 oil crisis. (Mazda's hydrogen-fuelled successor was later to demonstrate potential
as an "ultimate eco-car".[27]) Rover and Chrysler both produced experimental gas turbine cars to
no effect.
A so-called yank tank in Havana, Cuba

Cuba is famous for retaining its pre-1959 cars, known as yank tanks or maquinas, which have
been kept since the Cuban revolution when the influx of new cars slowed because of a US trade
embargo.

Exemplary post-war cars:

 1948–1971 Morris Minor — a popular, and typical post-war car exported around the
world.
 1959–2000 Mini — this quintessential small car lasted for four decades, and is one of the
most famous cars of all time.
 1961–1975 Jaguar E-type — the E-type saved Jaguar on the track and in the showroom,
and was a standard for design and innovation in the 1960s.
 1964–present Ford Mustang — the pony car that became one of the best-selling and
most-collected cars of the era.
 1969 Datsun 240Z — one of the first Japanese sports cars to be a smash hit with the
North American public, it paved the way for future decades of Japanese strength in the
automotive industry. It was affordable, well built, and had great success both on the track
and in the showroom.

[edit] Modern era

The wedge profile of the 1967 NSU Ro 80 was often copied in subsequent decades[citation needed]

The modern era is normally defined as the 25 years preceding the current year. However, there
are some technical and design aspects that differentiate modern cars from antiques. Without
considering the future of the car, the modern era has been one of increasing standardisation,
platform sharing, and computer-aided design.

Some particularly notable advances in modern times are the widespread of front-wheel drive and
all-wheel drive, the adoption of the diesel engine, and the ubiquity of fuel injection. While all of
these advances were first attempted in earlier eras, they so dominate the market today that it is
easy to overlook their significance. Nearly all modern passenger cars are front-wheel drive
monocoque/unibody designs, with transversely-mounted engines, but this design was considered
radical as late as the 1960s.

Body styles have changed as well in the modern era. Three types, the hatchback, sedan, and sport
utility vehicle, dominate today's market,[citation needed] yet are relatively recent concepts. All
originally emphasised practicality, but have mutated into today's high-powered luxury crossover
SUV and sports wagon. The rise of pickup trucks in the United States, and SUVs worldwide has
changed the face of motoring, with these "trucks" coming to command more than half of the
world automobile market.

The modern era has also seen rapidly rising fuel efficiency and engine output. Once the
automobile emissions concerns of the 1970s were conquered with computerised engine
management systems, power began to rise rapidly. In the 1980s, a powerful sports car might
have produced 200 horsepower (150 kW) – just 20 years later, average passenger cars have
engines that powerful, and some performance models offer three times as much power.

Exemplary modern cars:

 1966–present Toyota Corolla — a simple small Japanese saloon/sedan that has come to
be the best-selling car of all time.
 1967 NSU Ro 80 — the basic wedge profile of this design was much emulated in
subsequent decades.[28]
 1970–present Range Rover — the first take on the combination of luxury and four-wheel
drive utility, the original 'SUV'. Such was the popularity of the original Range Rover
Classic that a new model was not brought out until 1994.[29]
 1973–present Mercedes-Benz S-Class — electronic Anti-lock Braking System,
supplemental restraint airbags, seat belt pretensioners, and electronic traction control
systems all made their debut on the S-Class. These features would later become standard
throughout the car industry.
 1975–present BMW 3 Series — the 3 Series has been on Car and Driver magazine's
annual Ten Best list 17 times, making it the longest running entry in the list.
 1977–present Honda Accord saloon/sedan — this Japanese sedan became the most
popular car in the United States in the 1990s, pushing the Ford Taurus aside, and setting
the stage for today's upscale Asian sedans.
 1981–1989 Dodge Aries and Plymouth Reliant — the "K-cars" that saved Chrysler as a
major manufacturer. These models were some of the first successful American front-
wheel drive, fuel-efficient compact cars.
 1983–present Chrysler minivans — the two-box minivan design nearly pushed the station
wagon out of the market, and presaged today's crossover SUVs.
  1986–present Ford Taurus — this mid-sized front-wheel drive sedan with modern
computer-assisted design dominated the American market in the late 1980s, and created a
design revolution in North America.

[edit] Future directions

Main article: Future car technologies