The Motor Car: Evolution and Development

Sun (Christchurch), Volume VI, Issue 1790, 8 November 1919, Page 11 (Supplement)

The Motor Car: Evolution and Development

gS3WgjS7| T is interesting to trace the sSnMfS?!p| gradual stages of the evolution /nlHjnr of the motor car from the embryonic attempts of the 18th century to the splendidlyluxurious achievements of the present time. The evolution of the present luxurious limousine car from the original forms of

A TYPE THAT HAS PASSED. A car competing in a reliability trial in Canterbury a dozen years ago.

steam-propelled carriages has been a long one. The first practical steam-driven carriage was made by Richard Trevethick in 1802, and was a wonderful contraption with wheels resembling those in use on a watermill. A rudimentary machine had previously been constructed by Cugnot in France as far back as 1769, but very little was done in this direction at all until 1824, from which date a number of vehicles were constructed and used with considerable success, taking the form of stage coaches, propelled by steam. Some of these ran regular passenger services, notably between Cheltenham and Gloucester, attaining average speeds of 10 to 14 miles per hour; but great opposition was met with owing to the narrow prejudice of those whose interests related to horsehaulage, and every obstruction was offered in the shape of prohibitive tolls and legislative enactments. The crushing blow came in 1865, when the legislature prescribed that the number of persons required to drive a locomotive be increased to three, that a man should precede with a red flag, that the maximum speed be reduced to four miles per hour, and that they should r>? forbidden even

to blow off steam. This resulted in the development of the heavy traction-engine; and light motor vehicles were-little more heard of in Great Britain. There were a few exceptions, however, notably the steam vehicles of Rickett (1860), Carrett (1861), Tangye (1862), Yarrow (1862), Holt (I860), Todd (1870), Perkins (1870), McKenzie (1875) and Blackburn (1878), and some electrical carriages made by Elwell (1884), Ward (1886) and Volk (1888). Internal-Combustion Engine. An important departure was made in 1885, when Butler constructed what was believed to be the first vehicle (a tricycle) propelled

by an internal-combustion engine. He used the vapour of benzoline exploded electrically. Later, Roots successfully employed heavy oil, as did Knight. The chief prohibitory clauses of the Acts were repealed in 1896, when the development of the internal-com-bustion engine had opened up entirely new prospects and suggested new possibilities. The next "step towards the modern selfpropelled road vehicle was the recognition, in 1887, of the advantages of Daimler's "system by M. Levassor and his application of

that system to the propulsion of ,a> carriage. In the nine years that immediately followed, French manufacturers spent large sums of money in experimenting with and developing the motor car, and, by 1896, when the Enabling Act was passed, there were a few practical vehicles in England, but perhaps System to the propulsion of boats, one or fewer probable buyers. First Motor Bicycle. Daimler fitted one of his motors to a bicycle in 1885, and afterwards applied the system to the propulsion of boats, one or more of which were running on the River Seine in 1887. MM. Panhard and Levassor, securing the French patents from Daimler,

devised the transmission which, as far as the general scheme is concerned, remains unaltered to-day. M. Levassor placed the engine in front, the axis of the crankshaft being parallel with the side members of the frame of the vehicle. The drive was taken through a clutch to a set of reduction gears, and hence to a differential gear on a countershaft, from which the road wheels were driven by chains. With all the modification of details, the combination of clutch, gearbox and transmission remains unaltered, so

that France, in the person of M. Levassor, must be given the honour of having led the development of the motor car. Progress and improvement of design was slow until the year 1894, when a great impetus was given to the French industry by. a trial run from Paris to Bouen, organised by "Le Petit Journal." The measure of success attained by the cars caused considerable surprise, and, in the year 1895, a race was organised from Paris to Bordeaux and back, a distance of 744 miles, when the winning vehicle covered the distance at an average speed of 15 m.p.h. From that date on racing played an important part in the development of the car. In fact, it is not going too far to state that, up to 1904, it played a vitally-important part in it. The effect was a rapid development in speed and efficiency, and v others besides the sportsmen were attracted towards the new vehicle. The Gordon-Bennett Cup. In 1902 Mr S. F. Edge, driving a 50 h.p. Napier, won the Gordon-Bennett Cup in an open race from Paris to Vienna. This trophy has played an important part in the history of the motor car. It was offered for competition among cars entered by recognised national automobile clubs, no more than three cars being permitted to represent a country, . each car to be built in the country it represented. After the win in 1902 the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland (now the Boyal Automobile Club) at once secured Parliamentary sanction for the use of certain roads in Ireland for a limited period, and proceeded to organise a race worthy of the issue at stake. British manufacturers forged ahead in their competition with the ' French. The great factor in the triumph of British motor engineering arose from the fact that, in England, there was such a wealth of knowledge concerning the properties of steel and steel alloys. Lightness of moving parts led to increased efficiency and to economy of fuel, while the inert parts of the mechanism, the frame and other fixed details, by being lighter, called for a smaller expenditure of power to overcome their inertia. Concurrently with its development into a reliable, silent, odourless and smokeless power-propelled vehicle, the motor car came into general use. It no longer appealed to a few, but daily gained converts, and its final triumph came when it displaced the horse vehicle and became the useful friend of the business man, the man about town and the farmer, and was recognised as an indispensableadjunct to modern civilisation.