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"Vive La France
Although the car was invented by German Karl Benz, it wasn't the Germans who dominated car production in the earliest days of motoring. You could be forgiven for thinking that it was the Americans – but it wasn't them either, nor the Brits. Until 1906 it was the French who made more cars than any other nation. America took over in 1907."
"Model T rules the world
In 2020, car buyers have never had such a bewildering number of makes and models to choose between – or such an array of powertrains either. But things were simpler a century ago with the Henry Ford’s Model T dominating new car sales around the globe. In fact the car was so popular that it's reckoned half of the cars on the world’s roads in 1920 were Ford Model Ts."
"Mighty Michigan
Talking of Model Ts… most Model Ts back then came from Michigan. Great Britain today has around 35 million cars on its roads. Back in 1920, the state of Michigan alone had more cars in it than the whole of Great Britain, then including Ireland. In 1923, sparsely populated Kansas had more cars than France or Germany. Yes, America - with its distances - took to the car like nowhere else. By 1927, America was building 85% of the world’s cars."
"Titanic’s car
When the Titanic sank in 1912 it had a solitary car in its hold – a brand new Renault Type CB Coupé de Ville. The car was bought by William Carter of Pennsylvania, while he was touring Europe with his wife and two children. The Renault was then loaded on to the Titanic when the Carters returned home – only to sink to the bottom of the Atlantic, never to be seen again. And yes, it’s the car you see play an, ahem, important role in the blockbusting 1997 movie. The Carters happily all survived the sinking. Auctioneers RM Sothebys sold an example for $270,000 in 2008"
"Mass production
Ford is often credited with inventing the moving production line. But the Curved Dash Oldsmobile (pictured) was the world's first mass-produced car, introduced in 1901 – the Model T didn't appear until 1908. Despite this, Henry Ford took his inspiration from the clockmaking and armaments industries, with his production line cutting manufacturing times from 12.5 hours to just 1.5 hours. Incidentally, the reason why his Model T came only in black for a while, was that it was the only colour that dried fast enough to keep up with the rate of production."
"Electric car set first speed record
The first land speed record was broken in December 1898 – by an electric car named Jeantaud Duc (pictured), travelling at 39.24mph. The next five records were all broken by electric cars, which raised the bar to 65.79mph. The seventh record was broken by a steam car (75.06mph) – it wasn't until the eighth record that a car powered by an internal combustion engine reigned supreme. That was in 1902, when William K Vanderbilt drove his Mors to 76.03mph."
"Samsung’s cars
Yes, that Korean company that makes your phone and your TV briefly also made cars. It started in 1994 but was clobbered by the Asian financial crisis of 1998. It sold the company to Renault in 2000."
"Hitler’s cars
After Adolf Hitler committed suicide in April 1945, the fuel tanks of his now redundant motor pool were drained to obtain the fuel to burn his body. He was a huge fan of cars, however, he never learned how to drive."
"First electric cars
No, the first electric cars were not Teslas, milk floats or dodgems. The first one appeared in 1884, invented by the Briton Thomas Parker (1843-1915), a year before the first car equipped with an internal combustion engine (ICE) from Karl Benz. Electric power was very popular in the motor car’s early days - especially as they didn’t require cranking to start - and only gave way to the ICE as the latter became much better and more practical.
And electric starters arrived to solve the cranking problem, pioneered by Cadillac in 1912."
"Lamborghini’s tractors
Lamborghini is famous today for making some of the world’s fastest and most glamorous supercars. But it started out making tractors – and the original firm still does; the sports car side is today owned by Audi. Lamborghini’s biggest and baddest tractor today until recently was called the R8, a name it shares with the fastest Audi.
Porsche also produced tractors for a period in the ‘50s and early ‘60s."
"Peugeot created the Porsche 911
Well, not quite but hear us out. Porsche’s replacement for the 356 was to be called 901. However, Peugeot protested, saying that only it could launch cars with three-digit names with zero in the middle, so it was changed to the number that would become a legend: 911."
"The origins of Alfa Romeo
How did Alfa Romeo get its name? Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (the Lombardy Car Manufacturing Company) was set up in 1910 and taken over by industrialist Nicola Romeo (1876-1938) in 1915. He merged his name with ALFA and we get ALFA Romeo - one part is an acronym and the other isn’t…"
Although the car was invented by German Karl Benz, it wasn't the Germans who dominated car production in the earliest days of motoring. You could be forgiven for thinking that it was the Americans – but it wasn't them either, nor the Brits. Until 1906 it was the French who made more cars than any other nation. America took over in 1907."
"Model T rules the world
In 2020, car buyers have never had such a bewildering number of makes and models to choose between – or such an array of powertrains either. But things were simpler a century ago with the Henry Ford’s Model T dominating new car sales around the globe. In fact the car was so popular that it's reckoned half of the cars on the world’s roads in 1920 were Ford Model Ts."
"Mighty Michigan
Talking of Model Ts… most Model Ts back then came from Michigan. Great Britain today has around 35 million cars on its roads. Back in 1920, the state of Michigan alone had more cars in it than the whole of Great Britain, then including Ireland. In 1923, sparsely populated Kansas had more cars than France or Germany. Yes, America - with its distances - took to the car like nowhere else. By 1927, America was building 85% of the world’s cars."
"Titanic’s car
When the Titanic sank in 1912 it had a solitary car in its hold – a brand new Renault Type CB Coupé de Ville. The car was bought by William Carter of Pennsylvania, while he was touring Europe with his wife and two children. The Renault was then loaded on to the Titanic when the Carters returned home – only to sink to the bottom of the Atlantic, never to be seen again. And yes, it’s the car you see play an, ahem, important role in the blockbusting 1997 movie. The Carters happily all survived the sinking. Auctioneers RM Sothebys sold an example for $270,000 in 2008"
"Mass production
Ford is often credited with inventing the moving production line. But the Curved Dash Oldsmobile (pictured) was the world's first mass-produced car, introduced in 1901 – the Model T didn't appear until 1908. Despite this, Henry Ford took his inspiration from the clockmaking and armaments industries, with his production line cutting manufacturing times from 12.5 hours to just 1.5 hours. Incidentally, the reason why his Model T came only in black for a while, was that it was the only colour that dried fast enough to keep up with the rate of production."
"Electric car set first speed record
The first land speed record was broken in December 1898 – by an electric car named Jeantaud Duc (pictured), travelling at 39.24mph. The next five records were all broken by electric cars, which raised the bar to 65.79mph. The seventh record was broken by a steam car (75.06mph) – it wasn't until the eighth record that a car powered by an internal combustion engine reigned supreme. That was in 1902, when William K Vanderbilt drove his Mors to 76.03mph."
"Samsung’s cars
Yes, that Korean company that makes your phone and your TV briefly also made cars. It started in 1994 but was clobbered by the Asian financial crisis of 1998. It sold the company to Renault in 2000."
"Hitler’s cars
After Adolf Hitler committed suicide in April 1945, the fuel tanks of his now redundant motor pool were drained to obtain the fuel to burn his body. He was a huge fan of cars, however, he never learned how to drive."
"First electric cars
No, the first electric cars were not Teslas, milk floats or dodgems. The first one appeared in 1884, invented by the Briton Thomas Parker (1843-1915), a year before the first car equipped with an internal combustion engine (ICE) from Karl Benz. Electric power was very popular in the motor car’s early days - especially as they didn’t require cranking to start - and only gave way to the ICE as the latter became much better and more practical.
And electric starters arrived to solve the cranking problem, pioneered by Cadillac in 1912."
"Lamborghini’s tractors
Lamborghini is famous today for making some of the world’s fastest and most glamorous supercars. But it started out making tractors – and the original firm still does; the sports car side is today owned by Audi. Lamborghini’s biggest and baddest tractor today until recently was called the R8, a name it shares with the fastest Audi.
Porsche also produced tractors for a period in the ‘50s and early ‘60s."
"Peugeot created the Porsche 911
Well, not quite but hear us out. Porsche’s replacement for the 356 was to be called 901. However, Peugeot protested, saying that only it could launch cars with three-digit names with zero in the middle, so it was changed to the number that would become a legend: 911."
"The origins of Alfa Romeo
How did Alfa Romeo get its name? Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili (the Lombardy Car Manufacturing Company) was set up in 1910 and taken over by industrialist Nicola Romeo (1876-1938) in 1915. He merged his name with ALFA and we get ALFA Romeo - one part is an acronym and the other isn’t…"