World History of theAutomobile

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by Carl Breer(Order No. R-144)

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For more information or to order this book, contact SAE at 400 Commonwealth Drive,Warrendale, PA 15096-0001; phone (724) 776-4970; fax (724) 776-0790; e-mail:publications@sae.org.

World History of theAutomobile

Erik Eckermann

Translated by Peter L. Albrecht

Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.Warrendale, Pa.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Eckermann, Erik.[Vom Dampfwagen zum Auto. English]World history of the automobile / Erik Eckermann ; translated by

Peter L. Albrecht.p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 0-7680-0800-X1. Automobiles—History. I. Title.

TL15.E282413 2001629.222'09—dc21 2001034148

Copyright © 2001 Erik Eckermann

Updated English translation ofVom Dampfwagen zum Auto by Erik Eckermann,Copyright © 1989 Erik Eckermann

Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.400 Commonwealth DriveWarrendale, PA 15096-0001 U.S.A.Phone: (724) 776-4841Fax: (724) 776-5760E-mail: publications@sae.orghttp://www.sae.org

ISBN0-7680-0800-X

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America.

Permission to photocopy for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific cli-ents, is granted by SAE for libraries and other users registered with the Copyright Clearance Center(CCC), provided that the base fee of $.50 per page is paid directly to CCC, 222 Rosewood Dr.,Danvers, MA 01923. Special requests should be addressed to the SAE Publications Group. 0-7680-0800-X/01-$.50.

SAE Order No. R-272

Dedicated to my grandfather,

Willy Eckermann

to whom I owe so much.

Contents

Introduction ix

The Prehistory of the Automobile—From Ancient Times to 1884 1The Development of Animal-Drawn Transportation .... 1The Quest for a Prime Mover 10

The Pioneering Era and Coming of Age—1885 to 1918 25The Four-Stroke Engine and Early Vehicles by Daimler, Maybach, and Benz ...... 25Further Developments at Daimler and Benz to the Turn of the Century 32France as the Pacemaker of Motorization 36Europe and North America Embrace the Idea of the Automobile 40The Automobile Industry at the Turn of the Century, I .... 48The Mercedes Era 49The Great Awakening 52Commercial Vehicles and Buses to 1914 64The Role of Motorized Vehicles in World War I, 1914 to 1918 72

The Automobile as an Industrial Product—1919 to 1945 79American Superiority .. ... 79The Situation in Germany, 1918 to 1932 ..... 83Europe Between Imitation and Independence 87The Automobile Industry and Automotive Technology in the 1930s 101The Renaissance of German Automotive Technology 110Commercial Vehicles and Buses, 1919 to 1939 125The Diesel Engine Arrives on the Automotive Scene 133Motorized Forces in World War II, 1939 to 1945 142

The Mass-Produced Automobile—1946 to 1979 153The Automobile Industry and Automotive Technology in the 1950s . 153The German Auto Industry: Reconstruction and Consolidation 160The Beetle and Mini Establish New Directions 168Mass Motorization, and American Legislative and Oil Crises 176The Japanese Challenge 190

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World History of the Automobile

The Automobile as a Consumer Good—1980 to 2000 ... 197New Horizons through Electronics 197Auto Production in Other Countries 205Commercial Vehicles and Buses, 1945 to 2000 213Maintenance Methods: From Village Blacksmith to On-Board Diagnostics 227Alternative Fuels, Engines, and Drive Systems 233The Automobile Industry and Automotive Technology, 1980 to 2000 246The Automobile Industry at the Turn of the Century, II ..... ... 266

115 Years of Motorized Traffic and Transportation—The Road Behind, The Road Ahead ......... .. 269

AppendixGlossary .. 273Industrialists and Engineers 295

Bibliography 303

Figure Credits 309

Abbreviations .. 313

Index of NamesPersons 317Brands, Manufacturers, Types, and Organizations 323Sporting Events and Sites 353

Keywords Index 355

About the Author 371

viii

Introduction

Thousands of years separate the invention of the wheel and the first self-propelled vehicle.The intervening centuries witnessed wind-powered vehicles (Figure 1), wheeled sailing ships,and muscle-driven vehicles (Figure 2), in which human or animal power, hidden or in plainsight, served as motive power. However, these did not represent real progress, becauseneither wind nor muscle power was faster, more powerful, or blessed with greater endurancethan the combination of horse and wagon. In other words, development of self-propelled roadvehicles depended on finding a suitable power source.

Figure 1. Wind-powered vehicle, circa 1600. A sail car built by Simon Stevin, with rear-wheel steering. The helmsman used a tiller to swing the rear axle around a kingbolt.

The availability of this power source around 1885, in the form of a lightweight combustionengine, resulted in a paradigm shift 50 years after the railway had revolutionized transporta-tion. Suddenly, it was possible to equip not only two-wheeled vehicles, coaches, and trucks,but also ships and boats, streetcars, airships, airplanes, fire engines, and many other deviceswith an engine that, thanks to liquid fuel carried on board, could operate anywhere. Motorized

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World History of the Automobile

Figure 2. Muscle-powered carriage, 1765. Four-wheeled muscle-powered vehicle,treadle operated with a ratchet-and-pawl mechanism on the left rear wheel.

road transport quickly overcame the decades-old advantage of the railroad, and set new stan-dards for free-ranging surface transportation, time savings, and individual mobility. In theprocess, mass motorization has spawned problems of its own which threaten to grow touncontrollable proportions: energy consumption, dwindling resources, environmental pollution,climate changes, and traffic accidents, to name just a few. The automobile must be regardednot only from technological or economic standpoints, but also from an ecological perspective.

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