|
By
1860, the gasoline engine had been invented in Europe and in 1885, Karl Benz had introduced the first gasoline powered automobile.
His car ran on 3 wheels and looked like a very big tricycle that had no pedals and could hold two people. In America, the
first gasoline-powered auto to grace the rough horse and buggy roads was in 1891. The man to build this car was John W. Lambert.
The
vintage era lasted from the end of World War I (1919) through the stock market crash at the end of 1929. During this period,
the front-engined car came to dominate, with closed bodies and standardized controls becoming the norm. In 1919, 90% of cars
sold were open; by 1929, 90% were closed Development of the internal combustion engine continued at a rapid pace, with multi-valve
and overhead cam engines produced at the high end, and V8, V12, and even V16 engines conceived for the ultra-rich.
Information
about the Tony Huber Classic Car image: French made 1903 Tony Huber Classic Car. Two cylinder petrol engine producing eight
horse power.
A
vintage car is commonly defined as a car built between the start of 1919 and the end of 1930. There is little debate about
the start date of the vintage period—the end of World War I is a nicely defined marker there—but the end date
is a matter of a little more debate. The British definition is strict about 1930 being the cut-off, while some American sources
prefer 1925 since it is the pre-classic car period as defined by the Classic Car Club of America. Others see the classic period
as overlapping the vintage period, especially since the vintage designation covers all vehicles produced in the period while
the official classic definition does not, only including high-end vehicles of the period. Some consider the start of World
War II to be the end date of the vintage period.
1953
Morris Minor Series 2, at a Classics Rally, Bristol, England, in October 2003.
Picture taken by Adrian Pingstone and
released to the public domain.
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
standardization, platform sharing, and computer-aided design.
Some particularly notable advances in modern times
are the wide spread of front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive, the adoption of the V6 engine configuration, 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 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, minivan, and sport utility vehicle, dominate today's market yet are relatively recent
concepts. All originally emphasized 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 1970s were conquered with computerized engine management
systems, power began to rise rapidly. In the 1980s, a powerful sports car might have produced 200 hp (150 kW)—just 20
years later, average passenger cars have engines that powerful, and some performance models offer three times as much power.
The
Coupe deVille (sometimes spelled Coupe Deville or Coupe DeVille) was a model of Cadillac from 1949 through 1993. The name
has become famous through pop culture, with references in pop songs, movies, and other media.
Do
you know what this car is ? just for fun no prizes
Let
us look in detail what an antique car is and about antique car history. According to the Antique Automobile Club of America
and several other organizations worldwide, an antique car can be defined as any car which is more than 25 years of age. Sometimes
it is seen that some classic cars are misrepresented as antique cars, but the real classic cars are those certain specific
high quality cars from the pre-World War II era. However antique cars are not profitable to use for everyday transportation,
these antiques cars are much popular for leisure driving. Antiques cars which had survived for more than 25 years are considered
great survivors. And that’s why owning, collecting and restoring such rare antique cars are considered as a well-liked
hobby by people all over the world.
Car
number plates act as a vehicles unique identifier. Similar to DNA, there are no two number plates the same and one specific
registration can only be found on one specific vehicle. All the information regarding registration numbers is held on a central
database which, administered by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency commonly known as the DVLA.
Over the years
car number plates have followed various formats to meet the increase in the amount of cars our roads. Car registrations were
first made compulsory in 1903 when the Motor Car Act was introduced. Back then the DVLA did not exist so it was the local
council’s responsibility to administer registration numbers. Problems arose however when vehicles were sold or the owners
move to a different area as it was necessary for the registration details to be transferred to another council. Over time
this problem grew with the massive rise in the volume of traffic on our roads. It was clear that the council system of car
registrations could not cope.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Centre (DVLC) was formed in 1965 and took over the
responsibility of administering car number plates across the country. The head office was based in Swansea and had 81 local
offices supporting the administration of car registrations as well as other road and vehicle related issues such as supplying
information on vehicles to the Police. Gradually even Post Offices became involved in the car registration system causing
many local DVLA offices to close. The number of local offices had reduced to 53 by 1985 and the DVLC changed its name to the
Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA). Currently there are 40 local offices across England, Scotland and Wales.
Since the introduction of the DVLC/DVLA, there have been 3 different registration number formats: suffix registration numbers,
prefix registration numbers and the current or new style registration numbers. Suffix number plates began being issued in
1963 and ran until 1983. The format displayed three letters, up to three numbers and then an age identifier letter for example
ABC 321A. Prefix car registration numbers were released when the suffix series was exhausted and reversed the format by putting
an age identifying letter at the beginning of the registration plate. This was followed by up to three numbers and then three
letters for example A321 ABC). I, U, Z, Q and O registrations were never issued for either the suffix or prefix series. Our
current style of DVLA number plates were first issued in 2001. These registration numbers display the format of two letters,
two numbers followed by three letters. The numbers give an estimate of the age that the vehicle was first registered and the
first two letters related to the area where the vehicle was first registered. An example of a current style DVLA number plate
is NE02 ABC.
Since the introduction of car number plates there have literally been millions of combinations created
so the chances of finding a private plate to suit you are high. Nevertheless, popular names and initials sell incredibly fast
and are therefore extremely scarce. Nowadays number plates are no long just an identifier for our vehicles, rapidly becoming
collector’s items and the ultimate car accessory.
By Ross O'Donnell
Published: 11/26/2006
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) keeps a list of plates
that it has not approved because of words formed by their sequence of numbers and letters, an MP has found. Reportedly included on the list is 054MA, which could be seen to resemble the first
name of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qa'eda chief. Other terrorism-related banned plates are H057AGE (hostage), MA56ACA (massacre),
HE580LA (Hezbollah) and even BU580MB (bus bomb). The DVLA is also thought to prohibit combinations resembling jihad or Hamas.
|
The
electric vehicle was the preferred choice of many because it did not require the manual effort to start, as with the hand
crank on gasoline vehicles, and there was no wrestling with a gear shifter. While basic electric cars cost under $1,000, most
early electric vehicles were ornate, massive carriages designed for the upper class. They had fancy interiors, with expensive
materials, and averaged $3,000 by 1910. Electric vehicles enjoyed success into the 1920s with production peaking in 1912.
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). After 1930, the number of auto manufacturers
declined sharply as the industry consolidated and matured.
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 their 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 mini cars swept Europe, while the similar keicar class put Japan on
wheels for the first time. The legendary VW 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 GT cars, 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 U.S. and UK as conglomerates like the British Motor Corporation consolidated
the market. Eventually, this trend reached Italy as niche makers like Maserati, Ferrari, and Lancia were acquired by larger
companies. By the end of the decade, the automobile manufacturing world was much smaller.
From
the public domain comes 12 vintage auto vector clipart cars from a prior age. They range from the first horseless carriages
to motorized coaches to turn of the century gangster and “Great Gatsby” age cars. Click
image for full screen size
The
first piston engines did not have compression, but ran on an air-fuel mixture sucked or blown in during the first part of
the intake stroke. The most significant distinction between modern internal combustion engines and the early designs is the
use of compression and, in particular, in-cylinder compression.
The
Wankel engine is a type of internal combustion engine which uses a rotary design to convert pressure into a rotating motion
instead of using reciprocating pistons. Its four-stroke cycle is generally generated in a space between the inside of an oval-like
epitrochoid-shaped housing and a roughly triangular rotor. This design delivers smooth high-rpm power from a compact, lightweight
engine. Since its introduction the engine has been commonly referred to as the rotary engine, though this name is also applied
to several completely different designs.
The engine was invented by engineer Felix Wankel. He began its development
in the early 1950s at NSU Motorenwerke AG (NSU) before completing a working, running prototype in 1957. NSU then subsequently
licenced the concept to other companies across the globe, who added more efforts and improvements in the 1950s and 1960s.
Because of their compact, lightweight design, Wankel rotary engines have been installed in a variety of vehicles and
devices such as automobiles including racing cars, along with aircraft, go-karts, personal water craft, chain saws, and auxiliary
power units. The most extensive automotive use of the Wankel engine has been by the Japanese company Mazda.
The
Austin 7 was a vintage car produced from 1922 through to 1939 in the United Kingdom by the Austin Motor Company. It was one
of the most popular cars ever produced there and wiped out most other British small cars and cyclecars of the early 1920s[1],
its effect on the British market was similar to that of the Model T Ford in the USA. It was also licensed and copied by companies
all over the world
Thomas
Humber founded the Humber cycle company in Sheffield in 1868, but it was not until much later that the company would become
involved with the production of motor vehicles. The Humber company expanded through the 1870s to the point where it was producing
bicycles in Nottingham, Beeston and Wolverhampton. Factory number four was opened in Coventry in 1889, by which time Humber
was seriously looking at motorized transport. There was a brief flirtation with such oddities as tricycles and quadricyles
— one of which sported front wheel drive and rear wheel steering.
In 1899 the first Humber car, the 3 1/2
horsepower Phaeton, was built at Beeston, but the first Coatalen designed car, the Voiturette, did not appear until 1901.
This was followed by the 1903 Humberette, which sported a tubular frame and 5hp single-cylinder engine. Larger cars came in
the shape of the 1902 four-cylinder 12hp, which was soon followed up in 1903 by a three-cylinder 9hp and a four-cylinder 20hp
model. By this time, Humber car production was concentrated at a new factory in Folly Lane, Coventry, which - coincidentally
- was situated close to Hillman.
After 1905, the smaller engined models were dropped, allowing Humber to concentrate
on the production of its staple 10/12hp model and the larger 16/20hp. In 1907, this range was supplemented by the arrival
of the Humber 15hp.
A
man in the UK has recorded the fastest ever speeding offence
in the nation’s history with a 172mph (277km/h) run
in a Porsche 911 Turbo. Timothy Brady, 33, was travelling on the A420 roadway near Oxfordshire at more than 100mph (161km/h)
over the 70mph (113km/h) posted speed limit. The previous record for a speeding offence in the UK was held by a Jason McAllister
who was clocked doing 156.7mph (252km/h) in an M3.
Brady was eventually stopped by local police after they set
up a roadblock, reports the Daily Mail. For the offence, the speed-freak had his license immediately suspended
Motorists
are almost universally required to take lessons with an approved instructor and pass a driving test before being granted a
license. The trend has been towards increasingly tougher tests in recent decades. Almost all countries allow all adults with
good vision to apply to take a driving test and, if successful, to drive on public roads. Saudi Arabia, however, bans women
from driving vehicles (whether pedal or motor powered) on public roads. Saudi women have periodically staged driving protests
against these restrictions.
In many countries, even after passing one's driving test, new motorists may be
initially subject to special restrictions. For example, in Australia, novice drivers are required to carry "P" ("provisional")
plates, and are subject to lower speed limits, alcohol limits, and other restrictions for their first two years of driving.
This varies between states.
Most countries have also implemented laws in relation to driving whilst under the influence
of alcohol or drugs. The limits up to which drivers are permitted to drive vary according to the jurisdiction in which the
offence occurs
|
