Stupidpp Essay, Research Paper
History of the Automobile- 1920-present The United States became the forerunner in the automobile industry early and the automobile quickly found a place in almost every American home. In the decades after World War I, American demands on automobiles increased and the increased demands imbued many changes in the form and function of cars. The United States was host to countless developments for the car and became a large influence in the future of the automobile and its industry. Pre-World War I automobiles were far from refined machines. Manufacturers traveled a long way after the war to perfect their cars. Perhaps the biggest improvement in car technology in this time period was the development of faster engines, mainly due to two factors. New steel alloys and aluminum replaced cast-iron in the making of engines that were much lighter. These new aluminum pistons could move twice as fast as the old cast-iron ones. The second contributing factor for faster engines was the replacement of the side valves in the cylinders with valves operated by a camshaft. This allowed the gasoline and air mixture to be sucked more quickly into the cylinder, resulting in a better engine (Evans 24). The debut of the modern V8 engine was one significant engineering development of the 1940s. Companies had built V8s for years, Cadillac since 1915 and Ford since 1932. But these were relatively heavy, long-stroke, low-compression engines, known for smoothness rather than performance (Ludvigsen and Wise 124). With the new lighter technology, manufactures produced a new breed. In 1949, Cadillac and Oldsmobile pioneered this new generation of V8s. Their product was the forebear of the engines powering most large American cars up through the fifties and even until today. America’s efficient, powerful, light V8 gained fame around the worldwide for its performance and reliability (Cars 40s 12). Another extremely important engineering development was the perfection of the automatic transmission. Oldsmobile, part of General Motors, had offered a semi-automatic transmission in 1937. The company then dropped it in 1938 for GM’s Hydra-Matic, the most successful automatic transmission of all time. General Motors owned the automatic transmission market to in the 1940s and other companies adopted the Hydra-Matic. Buick built its Dynaflow Drive in 1948 and Chrysler developed its Fluid Drive, which eliminated most of the shift motions of early transmissions. Chrysler continued to use these right on into the 1950s. Ford was conservative, however, and stayed with the gear-shift, with and without overdrive, for all their 1940-1949 cars. Reluctantly, Ford later offered the GM-built Hydra-Matic on the 1949 Lincoln. Ford eventually developed an automatic of its own in 1951 (Car 40s 89). Other smaller, independent companies stayed with stickshifts but some gave in and purchased the Hydra-Matic transmissions as well. Two independents that did not give in to the Hydra-Matic were Packard and Studebaker. Packard’s Ultramatic was the only automatic developed entirely by an independent without help from a transmission firm. Studebaker teamed up with Detroit Gear to create an automatic, but it was not complete until 1950 (Evans 33). American engines and transmissions, the life lines of automobiles were soon impeccable, but the cars still needed other mechanical refinements. Again, many changes transpired. Hydraulic brakes became common and so too did windshield wipers, turn signals and dimming lights. Superchargers were also developed in this era of innovation. These were mechanically driven fans that increased the pressure of the air and gasoline mixture and allowed for much faster acceleration (Ludvigsen and Wise 47). Unfortunately, pre-war automobiles could not brake well because they had brakes on only a few wheels. In the twenties, brakes were fitted to all four wheels, providing much greater safety and stopping power. In earlier cars, the magneto was the part that started the car and it needed rewiring every four or five years. All around improvements in car dependability resulted in a new replacement. The magneto began to be replaced by a more modern coil that lasted much longer (Ludvigsen and Wise 54). Other developments of the 1920s-1950s took automotive comfort to a new level, which was becoming a major concern among buyers. Shock absorbers and independent suspension became more common. These additions allowed each wheel to move up and down separately over rough roads, and in turn gave a much smoother ride (Evans 29). Pneumatic tires became standard and they also helped give a smoother ride. Furthermore, tire life was prolonged by as much as 5,000 miles by the invention of cord fabric, a thick-ribbed cloth fitted beneath the rubber (Cars 50s 39). Cars were slowly smoothing out the wrinkles in the road and were mechanical sound. Manufactures were going further by trying to make driving easier and more pleasurable. In 1922, Gottlieb Daimler experimented with in-car entertainment for the first time. A radio set was fitted beneath the driver’s seat and the driver could listen through headphones. The idea was some years before its time, however, as radios were not very good and not many programs were broadcast. In the thirties, some cars had adjustable steering columns to better suit the driver. Better all-round visibility was another progression in this decade. Yet another innovation to make the automobile more “user friendly” were synchromesh gears. They made gear changing, during the time before the automatics, much smoother and no longer the nightmare it had often been in the early days of driving (Evans
61). The appearance of cars was increased in import
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