The car Pathe refs: 3307_02.wmv1951 History of Austin cars. Some good shots but would need editing.

‘Horseless carriages’ and steam The first steam carriage was meant to pull a cannon, but when it was demonstrated it went out of control and the French army decided to keep horses. It only travelled at 5mph for 12 minutes at a time. Very few people used cars at this time. They were expensive, experimental, slow, and unreliable. Key dates 1769Nicholas Cugnot invented a steam powered carriage 1801Richard Trevithick (see next slide) Some steam powered stagecoaches used on the roads in Britain 1860Internal combustion engine invented, ran on gas 1865Steam traction engines travelled on the roads at 4 mph (the speed limit) and a red flag man walked in front 1878The red flag was dropped but a fotoman still had to walk 12 paces in front 1880sFirst petrol engines 1896The footman was dropped and the speed limit raised to 12mph

Richard Trevithick In 1801 Richard Trevithick built a full-size road carriage powered by steam. It was the first in Great Britain. It blew up after just four days of operation because he had carelessly let the boiler go dry.

1900 Cars were handmade and cost about 32 weeks wages for someone on an average wage (today a new car would cost about 18 weeks wages for someone on an average wage). Cars on average had about 100 parts, today they have 14,000. In 1900 there were 50 car manufacturers in America, whilst in Europe the most popular cars were made by Daimler and Benz. Only 1 in 10,000 people owned a car. Cars were only owned by the wealthy and driving a car was seen as something of an adventure.

1908 The Model T Ford This was the first mass-produced car. It was also known as the ‘Tin Lizzy’. Mass production meant that cars became a lot cheaper, making them affordable for more people.

1950s and 60s 27% of distance travelled in Great Britain was by car. 31% of households had regular use of a car in In the 1950s ownership of cars began to increase steadily. Mass production meant they were more affordable, and society was generally more affluent. Growing consumerism meant that cars were better for shopping too!

2000 Cars today are owned by almost every household (75% of households have one car and many have 2 or more). 86% of distance is travelled by car (11 times more than 1952). There is a great variety of cars available with all sorts of gadgets: gps, computer controlled engines and systems, electric windows and sunroofs, CD players, MP3 players, etc. Brakes and steering have improved considerably. Cars are a lot faster and high end road cars can reach nearly 200mph. Safety is of paramount importance with cars being tested and new features introduced to make them safer.

Future cars It is widely accepted that cars are not good for the environment, particularly through their use of fuel. Cars use up natural reserves of oil, which could run out, and produce harmful emissions. Other ways of powering cars are being investigated, including electric, solar and other fuel sources.