Automotive Developments 1600-1894

Automotive Developments 1600-1894

No matter how well automobiles run, people complained about this or that and wanted continual improvements made. Pioneer drivers fretted about pesky details such as the buttoning down of side-curtains in a sudden storm; the stoking of a Clark charcoal auto heater; the frustration of a broken drive-chain wrapped around a rear axle and the feeble flicker of the carbide lamp on the dark country roads. Something had to be done to stop all the complaining! 1600 - The Dutch employed wind power to propel sail-mounted carriages which raced along at 20 mph and held scores of passengers. It is quite probable that both speed and load capacity were exaggerated. Later, small carriages were equipped with wind- mills, the mill vanes geared to the wheels. These were probably the first land vehicles to be propelled by anything other than animal or human muscle power, but people complained because the vehicles depended on the whim of a breeze.1680 - Sir Isaac Newton conceived of a vehicle propelled by a "rear- wardly directed jet of steam." This idea didn't evolve for use in the automobile, but it was later used in rocket thrust. 1698 - Thomas Savery invented the first steam engine in Britain. It was crude, inefficient, and even dangerous, since it blew up quite often.1711 - Thomas Newcomen, an English blacksmith, improved upon Savery's engine.1769 - James Watt, a Scottish instrument maker, patented a steam engine that became widely used in British mines, mills, and factories. Nicholas Joseph Cugnot, an officer financed by the French government, built a steam-propelled, 3-wheeled artillery wagon, which raced along at 3 mph. In a demonstration, it went out of control and ran into a wall. Most automotive historians trace the beginning of the true automobile back to Cugnot's cannon.1801 - Richard Trevithick, an engineer in Cornwall, built an experimental road steamer. Two years later, he improved on his invention, which was demonstrated in London and proved itself to have sustained, reliable performance at its maximum speed of 12 mph.1804 - American road steamers were built by Apollo Kinsley in Connecticut, Nathan Read in Massachusetts, and Oliver Evans in Pennsylvania. Evans' vehicle was 30 feet long and weighed 15 tons. Evans had applied for a patent on a "Steam Land Carriage" in 1792. He was commissioned in 1805 by the city's board of health to build a versatile steam-driven dredge. He added the idea that the machine also travel on land under its own power. A series of belts and gears transmitted the power of the boat's engine to the wagon wheels. On its first run, it clanked slowly along on huge iron wheels, frightening onlookers on its way to the Schuylkill River where its energy was diverted from the land wheels to a paddlewheel in the stern.1830s- Britain was providing a network of passenger and freight services which were steam-powered in a handful of cities.1831 - Michael Faraday discovered the principles of the induction coil.1839 - The first electrically-powered road vehicle is believed to have been built in Scotland by Robert Anderson, but it and others built in Britain in the next several years were mostly unsuccessful. Around 1880, longer-lasting batteries were developed, but these were cumbersome and bulky and needed frequent recharging. Electric cabs, however, appeared on the streets of London in the late 1800s.1845 - A Scot called Thomson patented a type of pneumatic tire, but John Boyd Dunlop is usually given credit for their development.1850 - A method of obtaining liquid hydrocarbons from coal and shale was patented by James Young, a Scotsman. This "coal oil" took the pressure off the dwindling numbers of whales which until that time had been a prime source of oil for lamps.1859 - On August 27, an ex-railroad conductor, Edwin L. Drake, made a revolutionary discovery with a 69-foot well at Titusville, Pennsylvania. "Rock oil" had previously been collected from ground seepage pools and used for medicinal and other limited purposes. With Drake's discovery on Oil Creek leading the way, great volumes of petroleum became available in the United States. It provided kerosene for millions of lamps, paraffin for candles and candy, hoof and harness oils, lubricants for ships and mills, a "miracle" salve called Vasoline, and many by-products to make varnishes, lacquer, oilcloth and patent leather. One of the waste products of the distilling process was an explosive, inflammable substance called "gasolene."1860 - Etienne Lenoir built and patented the first commercially satisfactory gas engine. Two years later, he constructed a crude vehicle on which to test his engine. Although it was crude, it worked, but ran so slowly (about 1 mph), he became discouraged and stopped his efforts. Lenoir's engine used an electric spark plug system.1864 - In Vienna, Austria, Siegfried Marcus built a one-cylinder engine that used a primitive carburetor and a magneto arrange- ment to create small explosions that applied alternating pressures against the piston within the cylinder.1872 - George Brayton of Boston patented a gasoline engine.1874 - H. J. Lawson invented the first so-called safety bicycle, a chain-driven device with two medium-sized wheels of equal diameter.1875 - Siegfried Marcus built his second gasoline-powered vehicle, which is preserved in the Technical Museum in Vienna; Marcus mysteriously washed his hands of the whole idea, deciding it to be a waste of time.1876 - In Deutz, Germany, Eugene Langen and Nikolaus August Otto improved upon Marcus' engine and introduced the first workable 4-stroke internal combustion gas engine after many years of experimental work. Gottlieb Daimler, an employee of Langen and Otto, was involved in the engine's design.1879 - George B. Selden, an attorney in Rochester, New York (who, at the time, had never built a motor vehicle), applied for and finally received U.S. patent No. 549,160 (1885)). As a result, claims against automobile manufacturers clouded the industrial scene for years.1883 - In Bad Cannstatt, Germany, Wilhelm Daimler succeeded in producing a more efficient, 4-stroke, gasoline-fueled engine which was granted a patent. (Earlier "gas" engines had been fueled by hydrogen or turpentine vapors or by coal gas.) Daimler's first engine was mounted on a sturdy bicycle and operated well on a test run in 1885. This is the prototype of the modern motorcycle.1885 - Carl Benz successfully tested his first gasoline engine motor vehicle at Mannheim, Germany; a 1-hp, 1-cylinder engine; a refinement of the 4-stroke engine which was designed by Otto. This 3-wheeler had all the essential elements characteristic of the modern automobile: electrical ignition, differential, mechanical valves, carburetor, a water cooling system, oil and grease cups for lubrication, and a braking system. He received a patent for his "carriage with gas engine" in 1886. It had a tubular steel chassis and an open wooden two-seater body. The single front wheel steered by means of a tiller, and the two large rear wheels were driven by chains. The single-cylinder engine was mounted horizontally over the rear axle. At 250 to 300 rpm, it produced about 1/2 horsepower and drove the car at about 8 to 10 mph (13-16 kph).1887 - Building on his experience with the motorcycle, Daimler built and installed his vertical single-cylinder engine into a 4- wheeled, converted carriage with encouraging results. It had an increased horsepower of 900 rpm (as compared to Benz's 300 rpm) and was the first high-speed internal combustion engine, developing one and one-half horsepower.1888 - John Boyd Dunlop introduced pneumatic bicycle tires for the safety bicycles.1892 - The Harris motor wagon, built in Baltimore, operated success- fully before Duryea brothers' cars. It was a sightseeing bus rather than a conventional auto and ran on hard rubber tires. Maybach introduced the first float-type carburetor at this time.1893 - Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea introduced what has been recognized as America's first successful internal combustion horseless carriage at Springfield, Massachusetts. This vehicle, called a "buggyaut" by its producers, was a well-worn, high- wheeled carriage with a small, one-cylinder gasoline engine mounted on its back.1894 - Vacheron introduced the steering wheel. The Michelin brothers produced a pneumatic tire for cars. Edgar and Elmer Apperson celebrated the 4th of July in Kokomo, Indiana, by unveiling a car they had built, based on plans conceived by Elwood G. Haynes.