Part Three and Four: Looking at The History of The Automobile

Tucker's Dream Impacts Auto Industry

• Creating the newer version of the automobile was said to be an impossible task
• Made a new window so that if you got into an accident and hit the window, the window would pop out rather than you break through it
• A middle headlight was created in between the other headlights to turn with the steering wheel so you'd always have light
• Only 50 of his cars were ever built

The Ford Edsel

• Was a big failure
• It was named after Ford's only son
• People thought it looked odd and ugly
• It was the industry's biggest flaw

Automobile Timeline

1939- The Nash Motor Company adds the first air conditioning system to cars. I selected this point because I'd imagine this would have been a big break through for car businesses because everyone would want one to be able to cool down in the hot summers. 

1950's- Ralph Teeter, a blind man, senses by ear that cars on the Pennsylvania Turnpike travel at uneven speeds, which he believes leads to accidents. Through the 1940's he develops a cruise control mechanism that a driver can set to hold the car at a steady speed. Unpopular when generally introduced in the 1950's, cruise control is now standard on more than 70 percent of today’s automobiles. I thought this was important because it makes it so much easier to drive long distances.

1911- Charles Kettering introduces the electric starter. Until this time engines had to be started by hand cranking. Critics believed no one could make an electric starter small enough to fit under a car’s hood yet powerful enough to start the engine. His starters first saw service in 1912 Cadillac's. Without this being found, we probably wouldn't have the auto start cars we have today. 

1913- Ford Motor Company develops the first moving assembly line for automobiles. It brings the cars to the workers rather than having workers walk around factories gathering parts and tools and performing tasks. Under the Ford assembly line process, workers perform a single task rather than master whole portions of automobile assembly. The Highland Park, Michigan, plant produces 300,000 cars in 1914. Ford’s process allows it to drop the price of its Model T continually over the next 14 years, transforming cars from unaffordable luxuries into transportation for the masses. This made the production of cars way faster and is why we have so much cars available today and also allowed other kinds of companies to use this method so they could have their product made a lot faster.