1769 - Nicolas Joseph Cugnot of France built first automobile (self-powered road vehicle powered by steam vs. gasoline-powered); recognized as first by British Royal Automobile Club, Automobile Club de France.

April 25, 1794 - George Washington granted U.S. letters patent to John J. Staples, Jr., of New York, for what the inventor described as a "Carriage to be Propelled by the Mechanic Powers" (not steam power); text of the patent shows that the specifications were vague, invention wholly impractical.

December 24, 1801 - Richard Trevithick drove three-wheeled steam-powered vehicle carrying seven passengers up a hill in Camborne, Cornwall, England; one of first automobiles in history; high-pressure steam engine was lighter, more powerful than low-pressure engine invented by James Watt; used to hoist loads in mines, drive locomotives and ships, run rolling mills. Trevithick  sometimes called "Father of the Steam Locomotive."

March 29, 1806 - Congress appropriated $30,000 for Army's Corps of Engineers to begin surveying for construction of Great National Pike, also known as Cumberland Road, first highway funded by national treasury; road stretched from Cumberland, MD through Appalachian Mountains to Wheeling, VA, on Ohio River; over $6 million appropriated for highway; 1811 - construction began, Corps of Engineers built road (important precedent for  military's involvement in building transportation routes that would be used for non-military purposes); 1818 - 130-mile road completed; 1850 - National Road reached all way to Indianapolis; 1856 - states through which Pike ran took control of highway; resulting network of roads greatly facilitated American expansion into western territory.

April 1, 1826 - Samuel Morey of New Hampshire received a patent for the internal combustion engine.

August 29, 1828 - Robert Turner, of Ward, MA (now Auburn, MA), received patent for a "Self-Regulating Wagon Brake".

February 25, 1837 - Thomas Davenport, of Brandon, VT,  received a patent for an "Electric Motor" ("Improvement in Propelling Machinery by Magnetism and Electro-Magnetism"); probably the first commercially successful electric motor; first to secure a US patent for his direct current motor.

March 27, 1841 - Paul Rapsey Hodge gave public test of steam fire engine; 8-ton weight too heavy, its fire showered sparks,  abandoned.

May 12, 1847 - William Clayton invented the odometer.

1850 - Ignaz Schustala set up wagon shop, Ignaz Schustala & Co., in the small Moravian town of Nesselsdorf, located in the Austro-Hungarian Empire; 1853 - formed a partnership with wealthy businessman, Adolf Raschka, produced quite a few wagons and carriages, prospered for over two decades; 1881 - Stauding-Stramberger Railroad requested manufacture of railway cars; 1891 - name changed to Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau Fabriks Gesellschaft (Nesselsdorf Wagon Works), managed by Hugo von Roslerstamm; 1897 - built first car, called President, largely based on design of the Benz ( 2.7-litre water-cooled two-cylinder Benz engine mounted in rear of chassis, top speed of 35 km/h); shown publicly in late 1897 at exhibition in Vienna; 1899 - Hans Ledwinka (23), formerly employed in railway division of NW, put himself into unofficial position as chief of automobile design; 1919 - Moravian town of Nesselsdorf became Koprivnice, Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau called Koprivnicka Vozovka a.s. (Koprivnice Wagon Works); name Tatra (named after Tatra High Mountains, higher peaks of Carpathian mountain range) replaced Nesselsdorfer marque; 1921 - Ledwinka returned to Tatra for good after having left it twice before; became chief engineer responsible for design of numerous Tatra automobiles; signaled emergence of company as maker of very technically significant, advanced automobiles; late 1920s - Ledwinka became technical director; third oldest car maker in world after Daimler Mercedes-Benz and Peugeot.

Hans Ledwinka - Tatra (http://cll.hemmings.com/story_image/46712-150-0.jpg)

February 16, 1852 - Henry and Clement Studebaker founded H. & C. Studebaker, blacksmith and wagon building business, in South Bend, IN; 1868 - incorporated as Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company; became world’s largest manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages during Civil War; 1902 - entered automotive business with electric vehicles; 1904 - partnered with other manufacturers to offer gasoline vehicles; 1913 - introduced  first gasoline powered automobiles under “Studebaker” brand; became one of larger independent automobile manufacturers; 1954 - acquired by Packard Motors Corporation; 1956 - formed "joint program" agreement with Curtiss-Wright Corporation (ran Studebaker-Packard, took option on Studebaker stock for future  merger); 1966 - left automobile business.

January 1, 1853 - First successful U.S. steam fire engine, named  Uncle Joe Ross after city councilman who championed it, began service in Cincinnati, OH; invented by Abel Shawk and Alexander Latta (nine months to build at a cost of $10,000), four horses pulled three-wheeled, five-ton carriage; propelled up to six water streams up to 240 ft range; 1928 - largest German carmaker (37.5% market share).

December 15, 1854 - First practical street cleaning machine put into operation in Philadelphia; chain driven by turning of cart's wheels turned series of brooms attached to cylinder mounted on cart.

January 24, 1860 - French inventor Etienne Lenoir received a patent for first successful internal-combustion engine; 1862 - built first automobile powered by internal-combustion engine; capable of making six-mile trip in two to three hours.

1862 - Adam Opel founded Adam Opel AG to make household goods (sewing machines); April 10, 1863 - advertised sewing machines for first time; 1886 - expanded production to sell fully assembled bicycles in Germany; 1895 - made 2,000 bicycles a year, led Europe in sewing machine sales; 1899 - started to build cars; first Opel automobile named "Opel-Patent-Motorwagen System Lutzmann"; 1906 - one-thousandth Opel automobile left factory; 1920s -  world’s largest bicycle producer; 1928 - Germany’s largest automobile manufacturer (37.5% market share);  March 17, 1929 - 80% interest  acquired by General Motors for just under $26 million (100% control acquired by 1931; part of Alfred Sloan's corporate policy of buying existing companies in countries with desirable markets vs. entering foreign markets by setting up manufacturing subsidiaries a la Ford).

July 5, 1865 - Locomotives and Highways Act in Britain lowered speed limit (2 mph in town and 4 mph in the country); required three drivers for each vehicle - two on the vehicle and one to walk ahead carrying a red flag; 1896 - repealed, after nearly two decades of strong support from horse interests (celebrated by a 60 mile car run from London to Brighton, at the new and previously illegal speed of 12mph).

1868 - Thomas Humber founded Humber cycle company in Sheffield , UK; 1898 - produced 3.5 horsepower Phaeton, three-wheeled tricar; 1901 - introduced Voiturette, first conventional four-wheeled car; 1913 - second largest manufacturer of cars in United Kingdom; 1925 - acquired Commer Cars Ltd (truck builders) to produce commercial vehicles; 1928 - acquired Hillman; 1931 - control acquired by Rootes Brothers; late 1930s - known for Humber Snipe, Super Snipes models (lasted until 1964); 1975 - name disappeared as all Hillmans named Chryslers.

December 10, 1868 - First traffic control light in London used  gas-lighted lantern.

1871 - William Hillman, qualified engineer, joined John Kemp Starley (later formed Rover) in cycle business; soon formed his own bicycle building company, Auto Machinery; millionaire before turn of twentieth century; 1907 - entered auto industry, launched 24HP Hillman-Coatalen (named after its designer); 1913 - first success with 9HP car (sold into1920s); 1926 - launched 14HP car; 1928 - acquired by Humber.

1872 - George N. Pierce bought out two partners, created George N. Pierce Company; 1896 - added bicycles to range of household products; 1901 - Pierce built its first single-cylinder two-speed (no reverse) Moterette production car; 1904 - built four-cylinder Great Arrow, sold for $4,000, a luxury car; 1909 - company name changed its name to Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company; U.S. President William Howard Taft ordered two Pierce-Arrows to be used for state occasions (first official automobiles of the White House); 1914 - most enduring styling hallmark, headlights moved from the traditional placement on either side of the radiator to flared housings molded into the front fenders of the car; 1915 -  Pierce-Arrow had established itself at the highest echelon of the luxury car market; 1928 - Studebaker acquired controlling interest in Pierce-Arrow; 1938 - company declared insolvent, ordered into liquidation.

1872 - Truckson S. LaFrance, former employee of Elmira Union Iron Works, Elmira, NY, John Vischer, head of Iron Works, started company to manufacture fire apparatus (hand pumps, rotary steam engines based on LaFrance’s patents; designs began winning major national competitions; April 1873 - acquired by Alexander S. Diven, wealthy Elmira businessman, his four sons; renamed LaFrance Manufacturing Company; 1880 - reorganized; renamed LaFrance Steam Engine Company, to take advantage of company's reputation as leading manufacturer of rotary, nest-tube boilers (invented, patented by LaFrance, used for fire engines); 1882 - manufactured extension ladder truck; considered major technological advancement; 1891 - American Fire Engine Company formed by merger of five companies; 1900 - International Fire Engine Company organized by New York investors; included American Fire Engine Company, LaFrance Fire Engine Company, Thos. Manning Jr. & Co., several other support equipment manufacturers; 1903 - name changed to American LaFrance Fire Engine Company; 1916 - produced 6-cylinder, gas-powered pumping apparatus; end of steam engine; November 1934 - filed for protection, to reorganize under Bankruptcy Act; 1973 - launched Century Series pumper; "modern" fire engine, revolutionary features, became industry standard; America's leading manufacturer of custom fire engines; 1995 - acquired by Freightliner LLC (subsidiary of Daimler-Chrysler); 2005 - acquired by Patriarch Partners LLC; America's leading manufacturer of custom fire engines; one of oldest fire, rescue, EMS vehicle manufacturers in United States; operates 8 manufacturing/servicing facilities, two company-owned vehicle dealerships; January 28, 2008 - filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection; July 25, 2008 - emerged.

April 2, 1872 - George B. Brayton, of Boston, MA, received a patent for an "Improvement in Gas-Engines" "means for making practically available, as a motive power, those compounds which result from the mixture of gases obtained from light hydrocarbons with atmospheric air"); gasoline powered engine, first American commercial internal combustion engine.

1873 - Carriage Builders' National Association of the United States held first annual convention; 1890 - 13,000 companies in wagon, carriage industry; 1926 - Association met for last time; signaled automobile's final triumph over horse-drawn carriage.

1877 -  John Kemp Starley and William Sutton founded Starley & Sutton Co. to produce safer, easier to use bicycles than prevailing "ordinary" bicycles; manufacturing tricycles; 1883 - products being branded as "Rover"; 1885 - produced Rover Safety Bicycle (rear-wheel-drive, chain-driven cycle with two similar-sized wheels, more stable than the previous high wheeler designs); an immediate success; 1889 - renamed J. K. Starley & Co. Ltd.; late 1890's -   renamed Rover Cycle Company Ltd.; 1902 - Harry Smyth, managing director upon Starley's death in 1901, released company's first motorcycle (motor-driven bicycle); 1904 - petrol-driven Rover 8 h.p. car released; 1948 - Land Rover introduced; 1967 - became part of Leyland Motor Corporation, which merged with the British Motor Holdings to become British Leyland; 1970 - Range Rover introduced; 1994 - Rover acquired by BMW; 2000 - BMW sold the business, retained rights to name.

August 14, 1877 - Nicolaus Otto, of Deutz, Germany, received a patent for "Gas-Motor Engines"; internal combustion engine.

April 23, 1878 - Benjamin H. Taylor, of Rosedale, MI, received a patent for a "Rotary-Engine" ("construction and arrangement of a rotary engine").

1880 - Georges Thadee Bouton, Charles-Armand Trepardoux (brother-in-law) established Trépardoux et Cie, ingénieurs-constructeurs" in Paris; manufactured small models for Ducretet, scientific toys for toy sellers Giroux; 1882 - with Comte Albert de Dion, formed company called De Dion-Bouton et Trépardoux et Cie; 1883 - produced first steam quadricycle; May 1883 - received French patent on it; 1884 - produced second steam quadricycle; 1887 - produced first steam tricycle; 1893 - produced first steam tractor; Trepardoux left company; 1894 - formed  "De Dion-Bouton et Cie" company; 1897 - 200 workers; 1899 - produced first De Dion Bouton petrol engine four wheel car - type D; 1900 - world's largest carmaker with annual production of 400 cars, 3,200 engines; 1901 - 1,300 employees; December 1901 - front engine car exhibited for first time; 1906 - 2,3500 employees; 1907 - "Société Anonyme des Taxis-Autos De Dion-Bouton" formed; 1908 - first V8 engine; 1914 - more than 6,000 employees; 1932 - de Dion withdrew from company (had stopped making cars).

Marquis Albert de Dion - De Dion-Bouton (http://www.automag.be/IMG/jpg/Marquis_de_Dion.jpg)

April 18, 1882 - Gottlieb Daimler and his protégé, Wilhelm Maybach, agreed to create high-speed internal combustion engine for purpose of propelling vehicles; 1883 - finished their first gas-powered engine; 1887 - constructed first water-cooled, gas-powered internal combustion engine.

October 1883 - Karl Benz founded Benz & Cie. in Mannheim, Germany.

1884 - Rinaldo Piaggio (24) founded Piaggio (manufacturer of Vespa motor scooters) in Genoa, Italy for luxury ship fitting; 1946 - Corradino D'Ascanio, Piaggio's chief aeronautical engineer, designed aircraft-inspired two-wheel vehicle built on unibody steel chassis; "Sembra una Vespa" ("it looks like a wasp'); 1949 - 35,000 Vespas manufactured, 1959 - one million.

April 3, 1885 - Gottlieb Daimler received German patent for 1-cylinder water-cooled engine design (solved problem posed by  tremendous heat produced by internal combustion engines).

August 29, 1885 - Gottlieb Daimler received patent for "vehicle with gas or petroleum drive machine"; first motorcycle; very popular after 1910 (used heavily by all branches of armed forces during World War I), lagged during the Great Depression, regained popularity after World War II.

November 10, 1885 - Paul Daimler, son of German engineer Gottlieb Daimler, became first motorcyclist when he rode his father's new invention for six miles; frame and wheels made of wood; leather belt transferred power from engine to large brass gears mounted to rear wheel; no suspension (front or rear); single cylinder engine had bore of 58mm, stroke of 100mm giving a displacement of 264cc's, gave 0.5hp at 700 rpm, top speed was 12 km/h.

1886 - Robert Bosch (25) founded Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering in Stuttgart, Germany; November 20, 1900 - Frederick Richard Simms, of London, England, and Robert Bosch, of Stuttgart, Germany, received a patent for a "Magneto-Electric Machine" ("...machines as are employed in connection with electric-ignition devices for internal combustion-engines...shall be continuously rotated instead of intermittently oscillated..."); December 11, 1900 - received a patent for a "Sparking Igniter for Explosion-Engines" ("...to provide means whereby the time at which ignition of he explosive charge takes place, and thereby the speed of the engines can be regulated as desired, while the engines are running"); January 7, 1902 - received second patent for an "Magneto-Electric Machine"); 1902 - introduced high-tension magneto ignition system (produced reliable spark to ignite internal combustion engines); 1906 - produced 100,000th magneto ignition device; September 6, 1906 - established Robert Bosch New York Inc. (changed name to Bosch Magneto Company in 1908); 1910 - opened U.S. production facility (factory) in Springfield, MA; 1917 - seized by American government (including factories in Springfield, Plainfield, NJ), sold to American investment group, renamed American Bosch Magneto Corporation (ABMC); 1921 - Robert Bosch Magneto Company Inc. founded in New York; two companies merged, formed United American Bosch Corporation; January 1, 1933 - Friedrich Schildberger became first official Bosch archivist; 1938 - renamed American Bosch Corporation; 1942 - seized by U.S. government; June 10, 1952 - American Bosch Corporation registered "AMERICAN BOSCH AB" trademark first used April 14, 1944 (service, maintenance, and repair of motor vehicles and internal combustion engines, parts thereof and accessories); 1953 - Robert Bosch Corporation, sales office, established in New York; 1983 - Bosch Group won back trademark rights expropriated during war, regained unrestricted right to use Bosch name worldwide; 2009 - employs over 23,000 people at around 80 locations across North America.

Robert Bosch - Robert Bosch GmbH (http://www.bosch.com.tw/content/language2/img_productworlds/Robert_Bosch(174_198).JPG)

September 1886 - William Crapo "Billy" Durant (24) bought Coldwater Road Cart Company (Coldwater, MI) and its September 22, 1885 patent for a "Two-Wheeled Vehicle" (received by William H. Schmedlen, of Coldwater, MI, assigned to company) for $1500; with Josiah Dallas Dort formed Flint Road Cart Co.; 1895 - incorporated as Durant-Dort Carriage Company; 1900 - largest producer of road carts in country, produced almost 150,000 carriages a year. 

 

 

 

 

 Josiah Dallas Dort - partner of GM founder (http://www.flint.lib.mi.us/timeline/autohistory_0798/images/dortJ1914.jpg)

January 29, 1886 - Karl Benz received a German patent for a "Vehicle Propelled by a Gas Engine" (first functional unit of an engine with a chassis) called "Patent-Motorwagen", three-wheeled automobile powered by an internal-combustion engine, first practical internal-combustion vehicle ever constructed; one cylinder, output at 400 rpm produced a top speed of 10 mph; July 3, 1886 - first public test-drive in and around Mannheim, maximum speed 10 mph; 1893 - Benz completed first four-wheeled motorcar, Benz Velo, became the world's first inexpensive, mass-produced car;.

March 4, 1887 - Gottlieb Daimler (Carl Benz's major competitor) made test run of his first four-wheel motor vehicle, "benzin motor carriage", in Esslingen and Cannstatt, Germany (one-cylinder engine, top speed of 10 miles per hour); 1885 - patented first gasoline-powered, water-cooled, internal combustion engine (water circulated around the engine block, prevented engine from overheating); 1899 - Emile Jellinek offered to buy 36 vehicles from Daimler if he built a more powerful model, requested that car be named after his daughter, Mercedes; first Mercedes had four-cylinder engine, generally considered the first modern car; 1905 - Mercedes cars reached speeds of 109mph; 1926 - Daimler and Benz corporations merged, two founders never met.

 

Karl Benz's first auto (http://www.todayinsci.com/ B/Benz_Karl/Benz1886CarThm.jpg)

July 27, 1888 - Philip W. Pratt demonstrated first electric automobile in Boston; tricycle powered by six Electrical Accumulator Company cells, weighed 90 pounds.

October 6, 1888 - William Steinway, car enthusiast, son of Heinrich Engelhard Steinweg (Henry Steinway, piano manufacturer), acquired licensing rights from Gottlieb Daimler to manufacture Daimler cars in U.S.; founded the "Daimler Motor Company", began producing Daimler engines, importing Daimler boats, trucks, other equipment to North American market; 1901 - introduced new line, christened it Mercedes (feared the German-sounding Daimler would not sell well in France).

  William Steinway - Daimler rights in U.S. (http://www.astorialic.org/images/neighborhoods/ steinway/WilliamSteinway_90.jpg)

1889 - Armand Peugeot introduced steam-driven three-wheel vehicle at 1889 World Fair; 1890 - produced first Peugeot gas-powered four-wheel car, Type 2, fitted with Daimler engine, at Valentigney factory; 1892 - produced 29 cars, first company to fit rubber tires to gas-engine four-wheel car; 1896 - split with cousin, created Société des Automobiles Peugeot, produced the first Peugeot engine; 1928 - Jean-Pierre Peugeot (Eugene's grandson) took over; 1976 - merged with Citroën SA, formed PSA Peugeot Citroën as single holding company.

September 30, 1890 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Propelling Device for Electric Cars" ("an efficient means for transferring the reciprocating motion of the propelling mechanism to the axle of the car or to other axles or shafts").

November 28, 1890 - Max Duttenhofer, managing director of Köln-Rottweiler Pulverfabrik, Wilhelm Lorenz and Gottlieb Daimler formed Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft, joint-stock company, Wilhelm Maybach chief engineer (left on February 11, 1891 over terms of contract); 1893 - Daimler forced to sell his stake in company, rights to his inventions for 66,666 marks to avoid bankruptcy; 1895 - group of British industrialists, fronted by Frederick R. Simms, looked to acquire license rights to Maybach-designed Phoenix engine for Britain for 350,000 marks only if Daimler and Maybach returned to company; Daimler returned as expert advisor, general inspector; stake in company returned (worth 200,000 marks) additional 100,000 mark bonus paid; November 8, 1895 - returned as chief engineer; received shares worth 30,000 marks that he was entitled to through 1882 contract with Daimler.

November 1891 - Albert Eadie, Robert Walker Smith brought in by financiers to assume control of George Townsend and Company Ltd., bicycles and needles manufacturer in Worcestershire, UK town of Redditch in 1880s; 1892 - renamed Eadie Manufacturing Company Limited; took contract to supply arms factory in Enfield with precision parts; October 1892 - Enfield name first used for series of bicycles built in Birmingham Small Arms Factory (BSA), in Enfield, Middlesex; 1893 - "Royal" added to capitalize on firearms association; Royal Enfield trademark ‘Made Like a Gun’ appeared; July 1896 - New Enfield Cycle Company Ltd. name registered; took over production of Enfield Manufacturing Company Ltd., cycle section of Eadie manufacturing Company Ltd.; November 1897 - name changed to Enfield Cycle Company Ltd.; 1899 - advertised first mechanical vehicle (available in both tricycle, quadricycle form, powered by De Dion 1.5 hp engine); 1901 - first Royal Enfield 8hp cars built using a DE Dion engine (on road in 1902); 1914 - Royal Enfield supplied motorcycles to British War Department; awarded contract to build bikes for Imperial Russian Government; 1928 - one of first companies to adopt saddle tanks, center-spring girder front forks; 1931 - introduced four-valve, single-cylinder motorcycle; 1932 - christened 'Bullet' (inclined engine, exposed valve gear); 1949 - Madras Motor Company (India) won order from Indian Army for supply of motorcycles, 350cc Bullet launched in India; arrived in kits, then assembled; 1962 - English company acquired; 1967 - Redditch factory closed; small production unit continued name; 1970 - English company defunct; name and rights acquired by Indian company, ensured Royal Enfield remained in continuous production; 1980s - Enfield Bullets found strong niche market in UK, Europe; March 1994 - Enfield India Company acquired by Eicher Group (established in April 1959, by Joseph and Albert Eicher of Gebr Eicher Tractorenfabrik W. Germany, as Eicher Tractor Corporation of India Private Ltd.; produced India's first tractor); name changed to Royal Enfield Motors Limited; Royal Enfield Bullet motorcycle - longest production run of any motorcycle in history, continuously produced since 1948, roots to 1932.

Robert W. Smith (left) - Royal Enfield Bullet (http://www.royalenfield.com/images/History/1897.jpg)

July 30, 1898 - Scientific American magazine carried first automobile advertisement for Winton Motor Car Company of Cleveland, OH; invited readers to "dispense with a horse".

September 29, 1888 - William Steinway, car enthusiast, negotiated North American licensing agreement with Gottlieb Daimler to manufacture Daimler cars in the U.S.; founded  "Daimler Motor Company", began producing Daimler engines (also imported Daimler boats, trucks, other equipment).

1890 - Packard brothers established Packard Electric Company in Warren, OH.

November 1890 - Gottlieb Daimler formed Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG); December 22, 1900 - 'Mercedes', developed by Wilhelm Maybach, chief engineer at DMG, delivered.

April 19, 1892 - Charles E. Duryea and his brother, Frank, in Springfield, MA, completed prototype of first commercially successful American automobile.

July 5, 1892 - Andrew Beard, of Woodlawn, AL, received a patent for a "Rotary Engine".

February 23, 1893 - Rudolf Diesel received a patent in Germany for diesel engine; burns fuel oil rather than gasoline, uses high compression of the gases in the cylinder  to ignite the fuel; greater fuel efficiency is counter-balanced by its higher emissions of soot, odor, and air pollutants; July 16, 1895 - Rudolf Diesel received a U. S. patent for the Diesel engine.

August 14, 1893 - World's first automobile license plates issued in Paris, France; not issued in the United States for a few more years, finally instituted as a safety measure; city of Boston first to require its motorists to hold a license, register their vehicle; owner made his own plate with corresponding registration numbers; Massachusetts soon began issuing registration plates made of iron, covered with a porcelain enamel.

September 20, 1893 - Charles and Frank Duryea, bicycle makers, drove (believed to be) first gasoline-powered automobile, "horseless carriage", in United States; built in rented loft space in Springfield, MA. Charles never received credit for having been  first American to design, run gas-powered vehicle until after his death because date was disputed (initial credit given to Elwood Haynes for having made America's first car).

 

 

 

J. Frank Duryea (http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/ honors/show_image.php?img=1&id=151)

  Charles Duryea (http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honors/show_image.php?img=2&id=151)

December 24, 1893 - Henry Ford completed his first useful gas motor; at the time Ford was chief steam engineer at the main Detroit Edison Company plant with responsibility for maintaining electric service in the city 24 hours a day; June 4, 1896 - Ford's first automobile took its inaugural drive powered by a later version of the engine with two cylinders.

1894 - Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand (steam-engine engineers), partner Alois Wolfmüller, designed all metal hollow tube-frame, two-cylinder four-stroke, water-cooled 1488cc engine Hildebrand & Wolfmüller; world's first mass-production two-wheeled motor vehicle  dubbed "motorcycle," or "motorrad" in German; January, 20 1894 - received patent; 1919 - company closed. 

Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand - Hildebrand & Wolfmüller (http://www.harleysons.de/nsu%203a.jpg)

July 4, 1894 - Elwood Haynes successfully tested one-horsepower, one-cylinder vehicle at 6 or 7 mph at Kokomo, IN; one of the first automobiles built; oldest American-made automobile in existence (on exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC); May 25, 1898 - Haynes and Elmer Apperson organized  Haynes-Apperson Company in Kokomo, IN; first man (Haynes) to outfit cars with all-aluminum engines, to build car bodies of nickel-plated steel; fulfilled terms of a buyer's agreement by delivering car from Kokomo to New York City in first 1,000-mile car trip undertaken in the United States.

Elwood Haynes - oldest American car in existence (http://www.americaslibrary.gov/assets/es/in/es_in_elwood_1_m.jpg)

December 11, 1894 - World's first auto show, the Exposition Internationale de Velocipidie et de Locomotion Automobile, opened in Paris, France; four makes of automobiles were on display.

June 11, 1895 - Charles E. Duryea received a patent for a "Road Vehicle", first US patent granted to an American inventor for a gasoline-driven automobile; September 21, 1895 - The Duryea Motor Wagon Company became the first auto manufacturer; unofficially gave birth to the auto production line and the American automobile industry.

July 12, 1895 - First recorded motor journey of any length (56 miles) in Britain.

November 1, 1895 - American Motor League, first automobile club in United States, held preliminary meeting in Chicago, IL with 60 members; Dr. J. Allen Hornsby named president; Vice Presidents - Charles Edgar Duryea, car manufacturer, and Hiram P. Maxim, car designer and inventor; Treasurer - Charles King (constructed one of first four-cylinder automobiles in 1896).

November 5, 1895 -  George B. Selden, a patent lawyer from Rochester, NY, received a patent for a "Road Engine", first U.S. patent  for a gasoline-powered automobile; patent described engine as well as complete automobile with features such as a clutch, compressed air self-starter, steering system; = monopoly on concept of combining an internal combustion engine with a carriage; every automaker had to pay Selden and his licensing company a significant percentage of profits for right to construct a motor car; 1899 - sold patent rights to William C. Whitney (proposed manufacturing electric powered taxicabs as Electric Vehicle Company (EVC) for royalty of $15 per car with minimum annual payment of $5,000); negotiated 3/4 of 1 % royalty on all internal combustion engine cars sold by Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM); 1903 - newly formed Ford Motor Company refused to pay royalties, sued for infringement on patent; 1909 - New York court upheld validity of Selden's patent; January 9, 1911 - New York Court of Appeals again ruled in favor of Selden's patent, but with twist: patent was restricted to particular outdated construction it described; since every important automaker used a motor significantly different from that described in Selden's patent, major manufacturers never paid Selden again.

George B. Selden - first patent for gasoline-powered automobile (http://www.todayinsci.com/S/Selden_George/SeldenGeorge1905Thm.jpg)

November 28, 1895 - The "Great Chicago Race", first automobile race first race featuring gasoline-powered automobiles, organized by Chicago Times-Herald Publisher Herman H. Kohlstaat, took place between Chicago and Waukegan, IL; six vehicles competed: two electric cars, three German Benz automobiles, one American-made two-cylinder Duryea automobile; $5,000 in prizes, first-place prize of $2,000; Frank Duryea = winner in 10 1/2 hours with no other car in sight, average speed of 7.5mph; 2nd place - German Oscar Mueller, completed the race an hour and a half later.

1896 - Armand Peugeot founded automobile manufacturing company.

1896 -James Sumner and Henry Spurrier founded Lancashire Steam Motor Company in Leyland, England; first vehicle was1.5-ton-capacity steam powered van; 1907 - took over rival Coulthard's of Preston, renamed Leyland Motors; three generations of Spurriers controlled company; 1951 - took over Albion Motors (Glasgow); 1955 - acquired Scammell Lorries, Standard Triumph International; Leyland Trucks claimed to be world's biggest truck producer; 1962 - renamed Leyland Motor Corporation; 1968 -  merged (effectively took over) with British Motor Corporation (former Austin and Nuffield companies), created British Leyland, third-biggest vehicle manufacturer in world; 1981 - created Austin Rover Group as mass-market car manufacturing subsidiary; 1982 - renamed Austin Rover Group; 1986 - British Leyland renamed Rover Group PLC.

January 28, 1896 - The first speeding fine handed to British motorist for exceeding 2mph in a built-up area.

March 6, 1896 - Auto first appeared on streets in Detroit when Charles Brady King drove "Horseless Carriage" up and down Woodward Avenue; when auto broke down, speculators responded by telling him to "get a horse".

May 30, 1896 - First recorded auto accident occurred: Duryea Motor Wagon, driven by Henry Wells from Springfield, MA, collided with bicycle ridden by Evylyn Thomas of New York City.

June 4, 1896 - Henry Ford, employee of Edison Illuminating Company in Detroit, made successful pre-dawn test run of horseless carriage, called a Quadricycle (500-pound, two-cylinder vehicle), through streets of Detroit (down Bagley Avenue to Grand River Avenue, to Washington Boulevard); first automobile he ever designed or drove.

March 1, 1897 - Alexander Winton organized Winton Motor Carriage Company in Cleveland, Ohio (after 12 years in bicycle manufacturing business); 1901 - Henry Ford passed over for a mechanic's job with Winton's company; 1903 - Winton drove his car from San Francisco to New York to prove the reliability of his vehicles.

August 10, 1897 - C. Harrington Moore, Frederick R. Simms founded Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, later known as the Royal Automobile Club; oldest auto club.

August 21, 1897 - Ransom Eli Olds formed Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, MI with capital of $50,000; November 23, 1897 - received his first patent, for a "Motor-Carriage" ("the motive power is produced by a gasolene-motor...road-vehicle that will meet most of the requirements for the ordinary uses on the road without complicated gear or requiring engine of great power and to avoid all unnecessary weight"); gasoline-powered vehicle constructed year before; May 8, 1899 - incorporated Olds Motor Works; formed by merger of Olds Motor Vehicle and Olds Gasoline Engine Works; 1901 - produced Olds Runabout, small, motorized buggy with curved dashboard, lightweight wheels, powered by one-cylinder engine capable of reaching 20mph; sold 425 Runabouts in first year, 2,500 in next; February 15, 1902 - ran its first national automobile advertisement in Saturday Evening Post; 1904 - sales peaked above 5,000 vehicles.

September 10, 1897 - George Smith became first person arrested for drunken driving (in Britain).

November 3, 1897 - Ransom E. Olds received his first patent for a "Motor Carriage" ("in which the motive power is produced by a gasolene-motor...to produce a road vehicle which will meet most of the requirements for the ordinary uses on the road, without complicated gear or requiring engine of great power and to avoid all unnecessary weight").

1898 - Five Opel brothers began converting sewing machine,  appliance factory of Adam Opel into automobile works in Russelheim, Germany; January 21, 1899 - acquired rights to  Lutzmann automobile, began production; 1902 - introduced first original car, 2-cylinder runabout;  1928 - Germany’s largest automobile manufacturer (37.5% market share);  March 17, 1929 - 80% interest  acquired by General Motors for just under $26 million; 2007 - produces about quarter of all German cars, exports heavily to South America, Africa.

1898 - Francis E. (F. E.) and Freelan O. (F. O.) Stanley (twins from Kingfield, ME) founded Stanley Motor Carriage Company to manufacture steam engineered carriages which they had invented in 1897 (small engine, boiler slung beneath a carriage, immediate success); April 1899 - sold company to John Walker (editor, Cosmopolitan magazine) and Amzi Lorenzo Barber (America's sheet-asphalt tycoon) for $240,000; created Locomobile name brand (sold for $600, noiseless, odorless; water tanks had to be refilled every 20 miles); August 31, 1899 - F.O. Stanley and his wife, Flora, climbed Mt. Washington (NH) Carriage Road in 4.5-horsepower Locomobile in 2 hours, 10 minutes; 1900 - sales of Locomobile peaked at 1,600 (replaced by gasoline-powered automobiles); 1904 - last Locomobile steamers produced.

February 12, 1898 - First car crash resulting in fatality happened in Great Britain to Henry Lindfield, Brighton business agent for International Cars; electric car's steering gear failed, ran through a wire fence, hit an iron post, cut main artery in his leg, died of shock from the operation the following day; August 17, 1896 - first pedestrian fatally struck by a car; February 25, 1899 - first petrol-fuelled fatal car crash.

March 24, 1898 - Winton Motor Carriage Company made first commercial sale of an American-built automobile in the U.S.

May 31, 1898 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Governor for Motors", a "means for adjusting the governor for any desired speed, and with the means, such as centrifugal governor-balls, for regulating the friction members to maintain a constant speed."

August 9, 1898 - Rudolf Diesel, of Berlin, Germany, received a U.S. patent for an "Internal Combustion Engine" ("improvements in apparatus for regulating the fuel supply in slow-combustion motors and, in particular to internal combustion engines").

August 30, 1898 - Henry Ford, of Detroit, MI, received a patent  for a "Carbureter" ("especially designed for use in connection with gas or vapor engines").

December 24, 1898 - Louis Renault (21) drove his A-type Voiturette, with first direct-drive variable-ratio transmission (3-speed gearbox allowed more power in lower gears, more speed in higher gears vs. chain - drive system), up steep (13% slope) Rue Lepic in Montmartre, Paris; resulted in first 12 orders; 1899 - Marcel, Fernand Renault founded Société Renault Frères n Avenue du Cours in Boulogne-Billancourt (outside Paris); 1900 - victory in Paris-Bordeaux race generated 350 new orders (price of 3,000 francs); 1902 - introduced standard drum brake (more reliable braking in forward, reverse); 1905 - switched from craft production to mass production to fill order for 250 taxis; 1909 - Louis Renault (32) sole owner (brothers died); renamed Louis Renault Automobile Company; 1918 - factory employed 5,000, produced 4,200 vehicles a year.

Renault brothers - Renault (http://www.mreznica.hr/oldtimer/fotke/renault_brothers.jpg)

1899 - James and William Packard, along with George Weiss, formed the "Automobile Division" of New York and Ohio Company; November 6, 1899 - James Ward Packard road tested first automobile in Warren, OH; one-cylinder engine capable of producing 12hp, single-seat buggy with wire wheels, steering tiller, automatic spark advance, chain drive built around engine; sold five in first two months; 1902 - renamed Packard Motor Company.

January 3, 1899 - Editorial in The New York Times made  reference to an "automobile" on this day; first known use of word.

March 8, 1899 - Olds Motor Works formed; June 1896 - Ransom Olds completed a prototype of gas-burning horseless carriages; incorporated Olds Motor Vehicle Works separately from  P.F. Olds & Son; largely speculative investment made by the rich Lansing businessmen; Olds merged his family business with the Olds Motor Works, sold new shares of combined stock to raise the money.

May 20, 1899 - Jacob German, operator of taxicab for Electric Vehicle Company, became first driver arrested for speeding when he was stopped by Bicycle Roundsman Schueller for driving at  "breakneck" speed of 12mph on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan; booked, jailed at East Twenty-second Street station house; not made to hand over his license and registration, neither required in State of New York until two years later.

May 24, 1899 - W. T. McCullough, of Boston, MA, opened first public garage, Back Bay Cycle and Motor Company, as a "stable for renting, sale, storage, and repair of motor vehicles."

July 11, 1899 - Company charter of Societa Anonima "Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino” (FIAT) signed at Palazzo Bricherasio; 1900 - first factory was opened in Corso Dante, employed 150 workers, produced 24 cars (3 1/2 HP, not yet fitted with reverse gear).; 1902 - Giovanni Agnelli stood out in the group of investors, became Managing Director; 1904 - Fiat logo, oval on a blue background,  designed by Biscaretti,  adopted. 

July 24, 1899 - Detroit Automobile Company organized; January 12, 1900 - finished first commercial vehicle, delivery wagon, designed by young engineer named Henry Ford; February 7, 1901 - company dissolved. 1899 - Ford had already produced an operable car that was written up in the Detroit Journals; described as a "mechanical engineer"; cars would be built in a converted wagon factory at 688-692 Mack Avenue in Detroit;

August 15, 1899 - Henry Ford resigned as chief engineer at main Detroit Edison Company plant in order to concentrate on automobile production.

September 13, 1899 - First recorded fatality in U. S. from  automobile accident; vehicle driven by Arthur Smith struck, killed Henry Bliss, 68-year-old real estate broker, at corner of Central Park West and 74th Street in New York City. Smith arrested, held on $1,000 bail while Henry Bliss taken to Roosevelt hospital, where he died.

October 14, 1899 - Literary Digest declared that "the ordinary horseless carriage is at present a luxury for the wealthy; and although its price will probably fall in the future, it will never, of course, come into common use as a bicycle."

1900 - John M. ("Jack") and Augustus F. ("Gus") Mack incorporated Mack Brothers Company in Brooklyn, NY; introduced first vehicle -- a 40-horsepower, 20-passenger bus; 1905 - first to  mount cab directly over engine (increased driver visibility, maneuverability); July 24, 1906 - Gus Mack received a patent for a "Transmission-Gear" ("variable speed transmission in which the use of sliding gears is avoided and the burning, stripping and undue noise attending such use eliminated and, further, to produce a transmission mechanism which can be readily connected and disconnected from motor and that at the same time is certain in action, convenient in operation, and compact and strong in construction"); received a second patent for a "Friction-Clutch" ("motion of the driving-shaft may be imparted at will to either of two driven shafts, both of said driven shafts being rotated in the same direction"); August of 1911 - sold company, operation continued as International Motor Company (holding company for Mack Brothers Motor Car Company, Saurer Motor Company); 1916 - International Motor Truck Corporation formed; 1917 - bulldog trademark earned during World War I (British soldiers called Company's Mack AC model the Bulldog Mack because of its pugnacious, blunt-nosed hood, coupled with its durability, January 4, 1921 - International Motor Company registered MACK trademark first used October 13, 911 (motortrucks);  June 3, 1921 - Bulldog as symbol first drawn; sheet metal plate with symbol riveted to each side of the cab; 1922 - name changed to Mack Trucks, Inc.

John M. Mack -  MACK Truck (http://www.macktrucks.com/assets/mack/history/1890c.jpg)

1900 - First Gordon Bennett Cup Race, from Paris to Lyon, France, won by Fernand Charron driving a Panhard; sponsored by James Gordon Bennett Jr., publisher of the New York Herald; premier auto race in the world between 1900-1905; Bennett established car racing's first set of rules; created color scheme for national racing teams (has remained more or less intact to this day): Italian racing Red, British racing Green, French Blue, German Silver, and American White and Blue; inability to control race crowds, spectator casualties led European countries to ban public road races; cancellation of Bennett Cup led to creation of Vanderbilt Cup sponsored by William K. Vanderbilt.

March 31, 1900 - W.E. Roach Company, of Philadelphia, PA, ran first car advertisement in a national magazine, Saturday Evening Post; featured its jingle, "Automobiles That Give Satisfaction."

July 3, 1900 - Clyde J. Coleman, of New York City, received 5  patents for a "Motor-Vehicle" ("controlling means for electrically-propelled vehicles"); controlling, reversing, and braking mechanisms and connections for electric vehicles.

June 24, 1900 - Oliver Lippincott became first motorist in Yosemite National Park; drove there in his Locomobile steamer.

September 3, 1900 - Charles Wisner introduced first car built in Flint, MI; beginning of town's central role in automotive history; town's thriving carriage industry at turn of century evolved into body, spring, wheel suppliers for the Buick Motor Company; 1908 - W.C. Durant consolidated Flint's manufacturers into the General Motors Company (GM); 1950s - second only to Detroit in automobile manufacturing.

September 11, 1900 - Francis E. (F. E.) and Freeland O. (F. O.) Stanley, of Newton, MA, received a patent for a "Motor-Vehicle" ("to simplify and improve the construction of the operating apparatus of automobiles or motor-vehicles"); placing of parts; assigned to the Stanley Automobile Company; July 23, 1901 - received a patent for a "Steam-Generating Apparatus" ("whereby the steam after passing the throttle-valve will be additionally heated or superheated before it reaches the steam-chest of the engine...to such an extent that it will possess the requisite energy"); end of 1901 - reacquired factory sold in 1899; May 1, 1902 - began manufacture of Locomobile-type Stanley Steamer, first production steam-powered car (10,000 between 1897-1914); founded Stanley Motor Company; June 9, 1903 - received a patent for a "Steam Motor-Vehicle"; arrangement of engine on axle and housing; July 28, 1903 - received a patent for a "Steam Generator"; burner for vaporizing fuel from steam; manufactured Stanley Steamers until the brothers retired during World War I; 1908 - 800 Steamers produced; 1906 - set world record for fastest mile in 28.2 seconds (127 mph); 1917 - sold their interests to Prescott Warren; 1924 - last full year of production, 101 cars (high price, no advertising...let the Steamer "advertise itself", no mass production...individually-created, no internal-combustion engine ).

 

 

 

 Francis E. Stanley - Stanley Steamer  (http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honors/show_image.php?img=1&id=170)

 

 

 

 Freelan O. Stanley - Stanley Steamer (http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/ honors/show_image.php?img=1&id=171)

November 3, 1900 - Automobile Club of America organized first U.S. "Horseless Carriage Show" (automobile) at Madison Square Garden; fifty-one exhibitors displayed 31 automobiles and various accessories.

November 24, 1900 - First gasoline-powered Pierce automobile (modified one-cylinder deDion engine capable of producing nearly three horsepower, christened Pierce Motorette) taken on test drive through streets of Buffalo, NY; 1878  - George N. Pierce founded Pierce Company as manufacturer of household items, shifted to bicycle production, then to automobiles; 1900 - designers shifted to gasoline engines from steam power; 1901-1903 - roughly 170 Pierce Motorettes made; 1903 - Pierce Arrow introduced; 1908 - Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company officially launched; 1909 - U.S. president William Howard Taft ordered two automobiles, a Brougham and a Landaulette, for use by the White House.

December 22, 1900 - Daimler built new 35hp car from design by Emil Jellinke was completed; named for Jellinek's daugher, Mercedes.

June 1901 - Henry Martyn Leland (formerly of Leland and Faulconer Manufacturing Co., maker of precision gears) developed 10.25 horsepower engine for Ransom Olds (supplied transmissions for Olds Runabouts); rejected by Olds (didn't want to retool  manufacturing equipment); August 22, 1902 - advised William Murphy, Lemuel W. Bowen, financial backers of Henry Ford, to keep existing manufacturing facilities, use his engine in new automobile (three times  horsepower of Olds's engines) = birth of Cadillac Automobile Company (named after Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, founder of Detroit); Leland and Faulconer supplied engines, transmissions, steering gears; October 17, 1902 - first prototype Cadillac completed; March 1903 - production began; first car produced with fully-interchangeable parts (precision manufacturing); first car company to introduce self-starting mechanism, electric lights, dimmable headlights; produced 2,500 by end of 1903; 1904 - Leland became president, general manager; October 1905 - Cadillac, Leland and Faulconer merged, formed Cadillac Motor Car Company; 1908 - acquired for $4.4 million by Will Durant's General Motors Company; 1914 - introduced Cadillac with V-8 engine (two four-cylinder engines in V-shaped formation), great success, standard in Cadillac until 1927; August 4, 1925 - registered "Cadillac" trademark first used in 1903 (automobiles).

1901 - Frank Meguiar, Jr. opened simple furniture polish laboratory and plant in garage; made one bottle of polish at a time using an eggbeater; made easy transition from furniture to automobiles (made of wood, initially coated with same finishes that were applied to furniture); Meguiar’s Cleaner Wax - No.1 selling liquid car wax in America; 1950 - Maurice, Malcolm, Kenneth (sons) took over; July 8, 1952 - Mirror Bright Polish Co. registered "Mirror Bright" trademark first used in June 1923 (cleaners, polishes, and finish preservers for use on finished surfaces for cleaning, polishing, and preserving the finish; June 8, 1971 - Mirror Bright Polish Co. registered "Meguiar’s" trademark first used February 17, 1960 (mold release waxes); October 3, 2008 - acquired by 3M (Automotive Aftermarket Division); one of world's leading surface care products companies, providing highly specialized cleaners, polishes, waxes, conditioners and protectants for almost every conceivable type of surface.

1901 - George Hendee, Oscar Hedstrom (maker of motorized pacing bicycle), formed partnership, Hendee Manufacturing Company in Springfield, MA, to manufacture "motor bicycles" (motorcycle with 1.75 bhp, single cylinder engine); 1902 - introduced first Indian motorcycles, featured innovative belt-drives, streamlined styling; 1903 - Hedström set world motorcycle speed record (56 mph); 1912 - Indian Motocycle Company world's largest motorcycle manufacturer; 1913 - production peaked at 32,000 units; Hedstrom left after disagreements with Board of Directors regarding dubious practices to inflate company's stock price; 1916 - Hendee retired; 1930 - merged with duPont Motors; November 1, 1945 - controlling interest acquired by group headed by Ralph B. Rogers; 1953 - manufacture of all products halted; 1962 - went into liquidation; entrepreneur Floyd Clymer began using Indian name, apparently without purchasing it from last known legitimate trademark holder; 1970 - alleged Indian trademark acquired by Los Angeles attorney Alan Newman; October 5, 1971 - Indian Motorcycles, Inc. registered "Indian" trademark first used October 28,. 1968 (motorcycles); January 1977 - declared bankruptcy; December 1998 - Federal bankruptcy court in Denver, CO awarded trademark to IMCOA Licensing America Inc.; 1999 - merged with eight companies, formed Indian Motorcycle Company of America in Gilroy, CA; July 2004 - trademarks, related intellectual property acquired by Stellican Limited, London-based private equity firm; July 20, 2006 - newly formed Indian Motorcycle Company relocated to Kings Mountain, NC; America's oldest motorcycle brand.

George Hendee - Indian Motorcycles (http://www.wgby.org/localprograms/indian/pages/images/hendee.jpg)

Oscar Hedstrom - Indian Motorcycles (http://www.wgby.org/localprograms/indian/pages/images/hedstrom.jpg)

February 12, 1901 - James Ward Packard received three patents: for an "Igniting Device for Hydrocarbon-Engines"; William A. Hatcher and James W. Packard for a "Motor-Vehicle Frame" ("of simple and cheap construction having its parts so constructed and related to each other that the frame will readily accommodate itself to irregular and rough surfaces and at the same time maintain the wheels and axels in proper running relation"); William A. Hatcher and James W. Packard for a "Mixer and Vaporizer for Explosive Engines" ("for effectively regulating the admission of gas and air to the mixing-chamber"); other automotive innovations included "H" gear-slot pattern, gas pedal.

March 25, 1901- Gottlieb Daimler introduced Mercedes at the five-day "Week of Nice" in Nice, France; 1904 - a Mercedes clocked 97mph over a one-kilometer stretch.

April 25, 1901- New York became first state to require automobile license plates; owners obliged to register their names,  addresses, description of their vehicle with the office of the secretary of state; state sent each owner a small license plate, at least three inches high, bore the owner's initials; registration fee   was $1; generated state revenues of $954 to the state.

May 21, 1901 - Connecticut State General Assembly passed bill submitted by Representative Robert Woodruff that stipulated  speed of all motor vehicles should not exceed 12mph on country highways, eight mph within city limits; first state to enact speeding-driver law.

September 30, 1901 - Compulsory car registration for all vehicles driving over 18mph took effect throughout France; 1910 - dividing lines appeared, followed by traffic signs, traffic lights, one-way streets.

1902 - Henry Bourne Joy (President of Packard Motor Car Company), Frederic Smith (Olds) formed Manufacturer's Mutual Association (MMA), to threaten monopoly of Electric Vehicle Company (holder of 1895 Selden patent) on manufacture of internal combustion engine vehicles; called for much lower royalty payments, legal and license rights to be controlled by the MMA; 1903 - name changed to Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM) as exclusive licensee of the Selden patent; secured favorable royalty rights from the Electric Vehicle Company (1.25% royalty on all cars produced, 1/2 of 1% of which went directly into ALAM legal, operating funds).

February 15, 1902 - Oldsmobile ran its first national automobile advertisement in Saturday Evening Post; sales rose 100 percent to 5,000 cars by 1904; December 2, 1902 - Olds Motor Works Corporation registered "Oldsmobile" trademark first used in December 1900 (automobiles).

March 4, 1902 - Nine auto clubs formed American Automobile Association in Chicago to deal with concerns of motorists (vs. those of car manufacturing, engineering); 1907 - established  bureau of touring information to supply members with all available data on roads, hotels, service facilities, motor vehicle laws; 1927 -foreign travel department established in 1927 to handle steamship tickets, shipment of members' cars;  1940 - membership passed one million.

August 1902 - William Murphy, Henry Leland formed Cadillac - produced 2,500 by the end of 1903; established a reputation for exacting quality under Leland's detail-oriented supervision; November 1908 - Benjamin Briscoe made bid for Cadillac, but unable to get enough backing to complete deal; William Durant purchased Cadillac for cash, kept Leland on as management;  said, "I want you to continue to run Cadillac exactly as though it were still your own. You will receive no directions from anyone."

November 4, 1902 - James W. Packard, William Hatcher, of Warren, OH, received a patent for a Controlling Mechanism for Motor-Vehicles" ("means whereby the vehicle may be stopped, started, and reversed and its speed controlled by the simple forward-and-back movement of a controlling-lever"); "H" gear shift pattern (reverse, neutral, drive, second gear, low operating mode of transmission).

December 2, 1902 - French engine designer Leon-Marie-Joseph-Clement Levavasseur received French patent for first working V-8 engine; engine block was first to arrange eight pistons in the V-formation that allowed a crankshaft with only four throws to be turned by eight pistons.

1903 - William S. Harley, Arthur Davidson produced first Harley-Davidson® motorcycle (3-1/8 inch bore and 3-1/2 inch stroke) in 10 x 15-foot wooden shed with words "Harley-Davidson Motor Company" crudely scrawled on door; October 19, 1920 - Harley-Davidson Motor Co. registered "Harley-Davidson" trademark first used June 1906 (motorcycles, bicycles, side cars and parcel cars).

1903 - Jonathan Dixon Maxwell and Benjamin Briscoe (sheet metal contractor) founded Maxwell Briscoe Motor Co. (Tarryown, NY); 1908 - Hugh Chalmers recruited to E.R.Thomas-Detroit Co. (founded 1905) from National Cash Register; renamed Chalmers-Detroit (changed to Chalmers in 1910); 1910 - Briscoe formed United Motors out of Columbia Motor Car Co. (founded 1897 by Albert Augustus Pope to manufacture gas, electric vehicles), Brush Motor Car Co. (founded 1907 by Frank Briscoe, brother, and Alanson P. Brush to build one cylinder engine, chain drive, wooden frame, wooden axles Brush Runabout), and Maxwell Briscoe; 1912 - United Motors collapsed; 1914 - Maxwell reorganized Maxwell Briscoe into Maxwell Motors (only firm to emerge from United Motors); August 1920 - Walter Chrysler joined company; 1922 - Chalmers merged with Maxwell; development of a new car to bear Chrysler name began; Chalmers discontinued.

Jonathan Dixon Maxwell - Maxwell Motors (http://www.maxwellsociety.com/Biography/JDMaxwell.jpg)

Hugh Chalmers (http://www.chalmersregistry.com/smaller.jpg)

February 28, 1903 - Henry Ford hired John F. and Horace E. Dodge to supply the chassis and running gear for his 650 Ford automobiles; 1910 - Dodge Brothers had become the largest parts-manufacturing firm in the U.S., manufactured car bodies for Henry Ford and Ransom Olds; 1914 - brothers founded the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company, began work on their first automobiles.

May 16, 1903 - George Wymann began first transcontinental motorcycle trip from San Francisco.

May 19, 1903 - Clarence Spicer received a patent for a "Casing for Universal Joints"; first practical universal joint to power automobile (vs. chain-and-sprocket drives); 1904 - started manufacturing u niversal joints; May 20, 1905 - incorporated Spicer Universal Joint Manufacturing Company in New Jersey; 1906 - customers included Buick, Wayne, Mack, Olds, Stevens-Duryea, American Motor Car, Diamond T, E.R. Thomas; November 30, 1909 - name changed to Spicer Manufacturing Company; 1914 - Charles Dana (33, lawyer) joined company; 1916 - became president, treasurer; April 27, 1922 - listed on New York Stock Exchange; 1944 - employed about 10,000 people; July 12, 1946 - renamed Dana Holding Corporation; 1954 - record sales of $203 million; October 14, 1974 - broke the $1 billion in sales; 1987 - exceeded $4 billion in annual sales; May 7, 1998 - acquired Echlin Inc. (founded 1924), largest-ever merger of automotive suppliers.

Clarence W. Spicer  - founder Dana Corporation (http://www.dana.com/centennial/images/timeline/Clarence%20Spicer(1).jpg)

May 19, 1903 - David Dunbar Buick, former plumbing inventor and manufacturer, incorporated Buick Motor Co. in Detroit, MI (formed in 1902 when  Buick agreed to partnership with Briscoe Manufacturing Company in exchange for writing off Buick's debts, establishing $100,000 capitalization for Buick's car company); summer 1903 - began production with Model B (37 by end of 1904);  September 11, 1903 - acquired by Flint Wagon Works for $10,000; hired William Durant to turn business around; kept Buick on as manager until 1908; January 22, 1904 - Buick Motor Co. Of Detroit dissolved; January 30, 1904 - Buick Motor Co. Of Flint incorporated; July 27, 1904 - Dr. Herbert Hills of Flint, MI purchased first Buick automobile ever sold; November 1, 1904 - financial problems, acquired by William C. "Billy" Durant, Flint's carriage "king"; 1905 - took orders for 1,000 Buicks at New York Auto Show (before company had built 40); 1906 - Buick (52) severed his link with company; 1908 - No. 1 producer of automobiles (8,000) --surpassed combined production of Ford and Cadillac, closest competitors (basis for founding of General Motors); June 2, 1925 - General Motors Corporation registered "Buick" trademark first used in January 1904 (motor-driven vehicles).

June 16, 1903 - Articles of Association filed for organization of Ford Motor Company (capital of $28,000, Ford's patents, knowledge and engine);; John S. Gray  President, Henry Ford Vice President; 12 stockholders: Henry Ford, Alexander Malcomson, John W. Anderson, C.H. Bennett, James Couzens, Horace E. Dodge, John F. Dodge, Vernon C. Fry, John S. Gray, Horace H. Rackham, Albert Strelow and Charles J. Woodall; 1899 - Ford had already produced an operable car that was written up in the Detroit Journals; described as a "mechanical engineer"; cars would be built in a converted wagon factory on Mack Avenue in Detroit; July 23, 1903 - Ford Motor Co. sold its first car, a Model A (twin-cylinder internal combustion engine), to a Detroit physician; July 20, 1909 - registered "Ford" trademark first used February 15, 1895 (automobiles and their parts); January17, 1956 - went public (10.2 million shares, raised more than $600 million dollars, Goldman Sachs lead underwriter).

James Couzens (http://www.historicbostonedison.org/history/couzens_j.jpg)

Alexander Malcomson (http://www.thehenryford.org/exhibits/pic/2003/fordcheckbook/O_3181AlexMalcolmson.jpg)

July 23, 1903 - First twin-cylinder internal combustion engine Ford Model A delivered to its owner, Dr. Ernst Pfenning of Chicago. Model A was result of a partnership between Henry Ford and Detroit coal merchant Alexander Malcomson; designed primarily by Ford's assistant C. Harold Wills, was the affordable runabout that Ford needed to begin marketing his company's stock; second Model A, released in November of 1927, was a great success. Between 1927 and 1931, 4.3 million Model A Fords were made.

August 31, 1903 - Packard automobile completed a 52-day journey from San Francisco to New York, became first car to cross U.S. under its own power.

October 22, 1903 - Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM) filed suit against Ford Motor Company as an unlicensed (by ALAM) manufacturer of internal combustion vehicles (controlled 1895 Selden patent); claimed patent applied to all gasoline-powered automobiles; ALAM launched PR campaign, threatened to sue those who bought Ford automobiles; September 15, 1909 - presiding Judge Merrill Hough of US District Court for southern district of New York found Selden patent legitimate; January 9, 1911 - court of appeals overturned ruling, found in favor of Ford; ALAM did not contest ruling.

November 24, 1903 - Clyde J. Coleman, of New York City, received patent for a "Means for Operating Motor Vehicles" ("for starting the engine by the application of power thereto and for utilizing the power of the engine when the engine is self-actuated for the purpose of storing energy"); automobile electric self-starter (invented by him in 1899 but impractical); assigned to Rockaway Automobile Company; Delco Company bought the license, subsequently taken over by the General Motors Corporation; 1911 - Charles Kettering installed modified self-starter in Cadillac cars; eliminated dangerous job of cranking the engine, put women behind the wheel in greater numbers.

December 24, 1903 - England issued its first automobile license plate, number A1. The plate was issued to Earl Russel, the brother of the philosopher Bertrand Russell.

1904 - Canada's car manufacturing industry started with Henry Ford’s plant in Windsor, Ontario.

1904 - Carl Fisher, Fred Avery (held patent for pressing carbide gas into tanks) formed Presto-O-Lite Corporation to manufacture car headlamps; 1910 - Fisher was a multimillionaire.

1904 - Rand McNally's first automobile road map, New Automobile Road Map of New York City & Vicinity, published.

January 1, 1904 - The Motor Car Act 1903 came into force in Britain; required registration of motor vehicles with local council (1 pound for a motor car licence, 5 shillings for a motor cycle licence, vehicles were to display registration marks in a prominent position); speed limit raised to 20mph (or 10mph by the Local Government Boards), heavy fines for speeding and reckless driving introduced.

January 19, 1904 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for an "Electrical Automobile" ("electrical automobile in which the driving-motor may be conveniently and effectively utilized for the purpose of charging the batteries"); small steam engine connected to the armature of electric motor; converted to generator for charging the batteries when rotation of the motor-armature reversed.

May 4, 1904 - Charles Stewart Rolls, son of Lord Llangattock. Rolls, sold cars in Mayfair, met Frederick Royce in Manchester; March 1906 - founded, registered manufacturer Rolls-Royce Ltd.

May 31, 1904 - Byron J. Carter, of Jackson, MI, received a U.S. patent for "Transmission-Gearing"; "friction-drive" mechanism replaced conventional transmission to provide more precise control of a car's speed; never really caught on, proved susceptible to poor road conditions; technology involved in the friction-drive is, however, related to today's disc brakes.

August 27, 1904 - Newport, Rhode Island, imposed first jail sentence for a speeding violation.

November 22, 1904 - Mathias Pfatischer of Phildadelphia, PA, received a patent for a "Variable Speed Motor" ("applicable to direct-current shunt-wound motors...which will effect commutation without sparking with a variable load as well as at a variable speed and which is capable of rotation in either direction").

1905 - Albert Joseph Champion started Albert Champion Company at Cyclorama building in Boston, MA with Frank D. and Spencer Stranahan; sold imported ignition items, manufactured magnetoes, spark plugs; October 26, 1908 - Champion incorporated Champion Ignition Company, in Flint, MI, with backing of Buick Motor Co., for manufacturing of spark plugs; Stranahans refused to sell rights to "Champion" name;  1922 - name changed to AC Spark Plug Company; April 28, 1931 - registered "A C" trademark first used in 1912 (spark plugs and spark-plug porcelains); 1933 - became division of GM.

Albert J. Champion - A C Spark Plugs (http://automotivehalloffame.org/honors/show_image.php?img=1&id=20)

1905 - Herbert Austin, former manager of the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company, founded The Austin Motor Company at Longbridge, South Birmingham, England; first car - chain-driven 25/30HP; 1922 - Austin Seven introduced; 1952 - merged with Nuffield Organisation (parent company of Morris), formed British Motor Corporation (later British Leyland) with Leonard Lord in charge.

March 1905 - John Marston (63) formed Sunbeam Motor Car Company Limited with starting capital of £40,000; cars made at Moorfield Works, off Villiers Street in Wolverhampton, UK; introduced 12hp. Sunbeam, powered by 2.66litre, 4 cylinder engine (about 172 built, old for £451.10s.); 1918 - Thomas Cureton succeeded as Chairman; 1920 - merged with Darracq (built first car in 1900) and Talbot (established in 1902 as Clement-Talbot Company, acquired by Darracq in 1919), formed S.T.D. group (Sunbeam, Talbot, Darracq); July 1935 - acquired by Rootes Securities.

John Marston - Sunbeam Motor Car Company Limited (http://www.localhistory.scit.wlv.ac.uk/Museum/Transport/Cars/ Sunbeam/JM.jpg)

January 13, 1906 - First automobile show of the American Motor Car Manufacturers Association (AMCMA) opened in New York City at the 69th Regiment Armory.

March 15, 1906 - Charles Stewart Rolls and Frederick Henry Royce registered Rolls-Royce Ltd.; launched six-cylinder Silver Ghost; hailed as 'the best car in the world' within a year.

October 22, 1906 - Henry Ford became President of Ford Motor Company.

1907 - Louis Chevrolet became a team driver for Buick; 1910 -  Chevrolet and William Durant formed the Chevrolet Motor Company; 1914 - formed the Frontenac Motor Corp., ostensibly to produce high-class touring cars; March 31, 1914 - Chevrolet Motor Company registered "Chevrolet" trademark first used July 22, 1913 (automobiles, motor-vehicles, and parts thereof).

1907 - Cavaliere Ugo Stella, aristocrat from Milan, and French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq, founded Darracq Italiana; partnership collapsed, company renamed ALFA (Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili); 1916 - Nicola Romeo, Procurator General of the Banca di Sconto, took over; 1919 - took complete control of ALFA, car production resumed; 1920 - name of company changed to Alfa Romeo; 1928 - Nicola Romeo left, company went broke after defense contracts ended; 1933 - rescued by the government.

Nicola Romeo - ALFA Romeo (http://www.comune.santantimo.na.it/ images/img_nicola_romeo.jpg)

1907 - Traffic island introduced; 1911 - dividing lines appeared; 1916 - "No Left Turn" sign debuted.

August 1907 - Edward M. Murphy, founder of Pontiac Buggy Company (established in 1893), group of businessmen, formed Oakland Motor Car Company on Oakland Avenue in Pontiac MI; April 16, 1908 - first car, Model A, rolled off assembly line (first year production of approximately 200 cars); January 1909 - 50% acquired by General Motors; April 1909 - acquired by William C. Durant, absorbed into holding company, General Motors (GM); became division; 1926 - first Pontiac, Series 6-27, debuted at New York Auto Show (almost 50,000 sold in first year); 1932 - Oakland ceased operations; 1933 - renamed Pontiac Motor Car Company; only company to introduce offspring car so popular it lead to its own demise.

August 8, 1907 - Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost passed its 15,000-mile official trial (seven-liter engine, four-speed overdrive gearbox); made "the Ghost's" reputation, gave Rolls-Royce the name "The Best Car in the World"; total of 6,173 Silver Ghosts produced.

November 20, 1907 - McLaughlin Motor Car Company Limited  formed in Ontario with capital of 5,000 shares valued at C$100 each; R.S. "Sam" McLaughlin as President; signed manufacturing agreement with Billy Durant, partner in Buick Motor Company; 1908 - turned out 154 cars, called McLaughlins, with Buick engines; Durant personally acquired 1,000 shares in trust for Buick Company; September 19, 1909 - Durant exchanged $500,000-worth of Buick stock for $500,000 of McLaughlin stock, exchanged Buick stock for GM stock, GM controlled almost half of company; 1918 - acquired by GM.

1908 - John North Willys, successful car dealer of Overland vehicles in Elmira, NY, bought Overland Automotive Company (founded 1903 in Terre Haute, IN as automotive division of Standard Wheel Company; developed supply problems in 1907); 1912 - renamed Willys-Overland Company; 1915 - second largest carmaker in U.S.; 1916 - produced over 140,000 cars; 1920 - company $46 million in debt;  hired Walter Chrysler for $1 million per year salary to turn company around; 1921 - Chrysler left company to go into business for himself after failed takeover attempt; March 1930 - May 1932 - Willys appointed U.S. Ambassador to Poland; 1933 - bankruptcy reorganization; 1936 - emerged from bankruptcy, renamed Willys-Overland Motors, Inc.

July 22, 1908 - Frederic and Charles Fisher established Fisher Body Company to manufacture carriage and automobile bodies; quickly abandoned carriage building to concentrate on car frames; 1910 - supplied some car bodies to General Motors (GM); 1919 - controlling interest acquired by GM to shore up supplier for its car bodies; July 10, 1923 - registered "Body by Fisher" trademark first used in August 1922 (automobile bodies); June 30, 1926 - remaining 40 percent of Fisher Body acquired by GM for $136 million; became Fisher Body Division of GM; 1944 - Fisher family relinquished control of Division; brothers Lawrence, Edward on board of directors until 1969; 1919 - 1944 - every GM body passed approval of Fisher man; family's impact on automotive industry second only to that of Ford family.

August 12, 1908 - Henry Ford's first Model T ("Tin Lizzie") rolled off assembly line in Detroit; result of five years of research and development, and 20 attempts, to produce inexpensive car for mass market; christened Model T after 20th letter in alphabet (representing 20 attempts); affordable, reliable car for average American; cost only $850, seated two people ( (low cost due to Ford's control of all raw materials, mass production); October 1, 1908 - went on sale; 1915 - electric lights introduced; 1919 - electric starter introduced as an option; 1927 - production discontinued after manufacture of nearly 15 million cars with Model "T" engine; longest run of any single model apart from the Volkswagen Beetle = car for the masses.

September 16, 1908 - Former carriage-maker William Crapo "Billy" Durant (Durant-Dort Carriage Company) founded General Motors (GM), as a holding company, incorporated with  capital of $2,000  September 29, 1908 - GM merged Buick, Oldsmobile (Lansing, MI) into GM; added Cadillac (Detroit) for $4.4 million cash, Oakland (Pontiac predecessor), dozens of parts suppliers (AC Spark Plug); 1908-1910 - added more than 30 companies to GM; 1910 - Chevrolet and William Durant formed the Chevrolet Motor Company; September 26, 1910 - overextended, Durant lost control of the company; July 22, 1911 - General Motors Truck Company (later GMC) organized; November 1911 - Chevrolet incorporated; 1912- Cadillac introduced electric self-starter, quickly made hand crank obsolete, propelled sales; 1915-1916 - Durant regained control of GM, used Chevrolet profits to repurchase stock; May 2, 1918 - General Motors (GM) acquired Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware for about $32 million in  GM stock; Durant regained control of GM;  November 8, 1918 - McLaughlin Carriage and Motor Company Limited and Chevrolet Motor Company of Canada Limited merged, formed General Motors of Canada Limited  (President: R.S. "Sam" McLaughlin); GM already owned 49% of company; 1920 - Durant resigned as GM president, overextended in stock market; May 10, 1923 - Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. elected GM president, Chairman of Executive Committee; 1929 - GM surpassed Ford to become  leading American passenger-car manufacturer; 1941 - largest automotive manufacturer in world; May 29, 2009 - relinquished control of Opel, its German-based European arm since 1929, to Magna International, large but little-known Canadian auto-parts maker with global ambitions (acquisition financed with German government loans, Russian bridge financing); June 1, 2009 - declared bankruptcy.

December 29, 1908 - Otto Zachow and William Besserdich, of Clintonville, WI received a patent for a "Power-Applying Mechanism" ("whereby the power may be applied to front and rear axles"); four-wheel braking system, prototype of all modern braking systems.

1909 - Charles Kettering organized Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco), with backing from Col. Edward A. Deeds, to work on developments in automotive field; improved lighting and ignition systems, lacquer finishes, antilock fuels, leaded gasoline; May 1916 - General Motors created United Motors Corp., combination of five parts, accessories manufacturers (Hyatt Roller Bearing, led by Alfred P. Sloan, and Dayton Engineering Laboratories, led by Charles F. Kettering. in exchange for $9 million); February 26, 1924 - Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company registered "DELCO" trademark first used in 1911 (Electrical Starting, Lighting, and Ignition Apparatus and Parts Thereof Employed with Internal-Combustion Engines for Use on Automobiles, Motor Boats, Aircraft, and the Like); 1971 - United Motors Service renamed United Delco Division; 1974 - United Delco , AC Spark Plug sales organizations combined, formed AC-Delco Division.

July 16, 1909 - August Horch established Horch Automobil-Werke GmbH in Zwickau, Germany (had founded A. Horch & Cie in Ehrenfeld, Cologne, Germany on November 14, 1899, built first car in 1901); changed company name due to legal dispute over Horch trademark; August 25, 1910 - renamed company Audi Automobilwerke GmbH (Audi - Latin translation of Horch); August 1928 - Danish engineer Jørgen Skafte Rasmussen of DKW acquired majority holding in Audiwerke; June 29, 1932 - Audiwerke, Horchwerke,  Zschopauer Motorenwerke - DKW, Automobile Division of Wanderer merged, formed Auto Union AG (second-largest motor vehicle manufacturer in Germany); new company's logo, four interlinked rings, one for each of founder companies; Horch was on  supervisory board of Auto Union; December 13, 1960 - Auto Union G.M.B.H. registered "Audi" trademark in U. S. (Automobiles, Including Motor Cars for Personal Use and Trucks, and Structural Parts Thereof, Including Automobile Heaters and Ventilators, Locks and Closures for Automobile Coolers, and Automobile Safety Locks).

August Horch - founder Audi (http://www.autonews.com/files/euroauto/art/audi250.jpg)

1909 - Ettore Bugatti opened manufacturing plant in Molsheim, France (had presented first self-made automobile at  international exhibition in Milan in 1901); 1910 - built, sold 10 automobiles, 5 aircraft engines; March 20, 1920 - delivered  first 16-valve car to  customer in Basel, Switzerland; built total of 7900 cars between 1910-1939.

January 15, 1909 - Chicago funeral director H.D. Ludlow used motorized hearse for first time in funeral procession; stately horse-drawn hearses had been in use for centuries.

February 9, 1909 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Corporation (private closed course in American tradition of oval-track racing) incorporated with Carl G. Fisher as president; August 19, 1909 - first race; built new track of brick, cheapest and most durable appropriate surface available to him (Speedway later called "the Brickyard"); 1912 - total prize money available at grueling Indy 500 was $50,000, highest paying sporting event in world; 1945 - track acquired by Tony Hulman for $750,000; May 1946 - American Automobile Association ran its first postwar Indy 500, preserved American tradition; largest single-day sporting event in world.

February 24, 1909 - Joseph L. Hudson, Detroit department store entrepreneur, Howard E. Coffin incorporated Hudson Motor Car Company in Detroit, MI; July 3, 1909 - began production with  Model 20; company had several 'firsts' for auto industry: self starter, dual brakes, first balanced crankshaft (allowed the Hudson straight-6 engine to work at higher rotational speed while remaining smooth, developed more power than lower-revving engines); 1929 - peak production year (300,000 cars produced), third in the industry behind Ford and Chevrolet; 1951 - introduced Hornet, became dominant force on NASCAR circuit (1952 - won 29 of 34 events);  January 14, 1954 - merged with Nash Motors,  became American Motors; 1957 - name discontinued.

Joseph L. Hudson - Hudson Motor Car Co. (http://info.detnews.com/dn/ history/hudson/images/joesr.gif)

June 27, 1909 - Mercedes Benz introduced three-pointed star symbol.

July 29, 1909 - Buick Motor Company acquired Cadillac Motor Company (formed by William Murphy, Henry Leland in 1902) on behalf of General Motors for $4.5 million;

September 15, 1909 - New York judge ruled that Henry Ford had infringed on George Selden's 1895 patent for a "Road Engine"; decision later overturned when it became plain that Selden had never intended to actually manufacture his "road engine." Selden's own "road engine" prototype, built in the hope of strengthening his case, only managed to stagger along for a few hours before breaking down.

1910 - William Morris, bicycle manufacturer, founded Morris Motor Company (MMC); 1913 - opened factory Cowley, Oxford, UK; produced first cars, two-seater Oxford model; 1920s - Oxford, Cowley models became best selling cars in UK; 1924 - overtook Ford, became UK's biggest car manufacturer, held a 51% share of home market; 1927 - acquired Wolseley Motor Company, 1929 - Morris Minor introduced to compete with Austin Seven; powered by an 847cc OHC engine; 1935 - launched popular 918cc Morris Eight (more than 250,000 sold); 1938 - William Morris became Viscount Nuffield; merged MCC and MG with newly acquired Riley, formed Nuffield Organisation; 1948 - Morris Minor re-engineered; first BMC car to sell more than a million; 1952 - Nuffield Organisation (Morris, MG, Riley, Wolseley) merged with rival Austin Motor Company, formed British Motor Corporation (BMC);  Austin's Leonard Lord in charge, dominated organization; 1960s -  employed 250,000 people, Longbridge factory one of biggest in world; April 8, 2005 - collapsed under  debts of $1.7 billion, loss of more than 5,000 jobs; July 22, 2005 - MG Rover Group acquired by Nanjing Automobile for $97 million; March 27, 2007 - revived MG brand, began production of MG sports cars.

1910 - "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili", A.L.F.A., was founded, under the direction of Cavalier Ugo Stella.

July 2, 1910 - Frank D. and Spencer Stranahan incorporated Champion Spark Plug Company in Toledo, OH (in accordance with manufacturing contract with Willys-Overland Company); July 18, 1911 - James D. Robertson, of Toledo, OH, received a patent  for a "terminal Clamp"; assigned to Champion Spark Plug Company; company's first patent; August 12, 1913 - registered "Champion" trademark first used in April 1907 (spark plugs); 1989 -  acquired for $600 million by Dana Corporation.

August 25, 1910 - Walden W. Shaw, John D. Hertz formed  Walden W. Shaw Livery Company; later became Yellow Cab Company; 1907 - Shaw Livery Company purchased a number of small taxicabs equipped with meters; 1915 - first yellow cab (Model J) put in operation; first company to use automatic windshield wipers, ultrahigh frequency two-way radios, and passenger seat belts.

September 26, 1910 - William C. Durant, founder of General Motors (GM), lost control of company due to financial difficulties; joined forces with Louis Chevrolet to establish Chevrolet Motor Company; five years later reacquired control of GM,  served as president; 1920 - lost permanent control of GM. 

November 1910 - Henry Frederick Stanley (H.F.S) Morgan began manufacture of automobiles with capital for some machine tools, extension to Malvern Garage (Warwickshire, UK) provided by his father (had opened garage and motor works in Malvern Link in 1906 at age 25; ran successful bus service, built single-seat, 7 hp twin-cylinder Peugeot engine 3-wheeler, Morgan Runabout, with rigid frame, independent front-wheel suspension and light weight, in 1909); August 17, 1911 - received design patent for "Improvements in the Design and Construction of Tri-cars or other Light Automobile Vehicles"; 1911 - Morgan made first public appearance at Olympia Motor Show; 1912 - Morgan Motor Company formed as private Limited Company with Reverend H.G. Morgan as Chairman, H. F. S. Morgan (son) as Managing Director; showed several two-seaters at Olympia; 1915 - built four- seater model (later marketed as Family Runabout); 1931 - introduced model with three speeds and reverse, one chain, detachable wheels; 1936 - introduced 4/4, four wheeled car, four cylinders, four wheels; July 29, 1952 - produced last 3-wheeler, Ford-engined "F"-Super; 1968 - introduced Morgan Plus 8, with 3.5 liter V8 Rover engine (original design of engine made by Buick) with gearbox mounted into same basic chassis as Plus 4 and 4/4 models; 2000 - launched Aero 8 (BMW 4.4 litre quad cam V8, aluminium honeycomb construction techniques); 2004 - Plus 8 model ceased production (non-availability of suitable engines).

H.F.S. Morgan - Morgan Motor Company (http://www.morgan-motor.co.uk/about_morgan/images/h2.jpg)

November 29, 1910 - Ernest E. Sirrine, of Chicago, IL, received a patent for a "Street Traffic System"; first patent issued for traffic signal design.

January 9, 1911 - United States Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Ford Motor Company was not infringing on George Selden's internal-combustion automobile patent; beginning of end for Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (A.L.A.M.), organized to gather royalties on Selden patent from all auto makers, and Selden's royalties.

February 6, 1911 - Rolls-Royce adopted "Spirit of Ecstasy" mascot, silver-winged hood ornament that has become the company's symbol.

February 17, 1911 - Charles F. Kettering delivered first operating self-starting mechanism to Cadillac; installed in t1912 Cadillac; relied on storage battery that supplied  24-volt charge to starter to ignite engine, battery then switched to six volts to feed back into battery, recharge it (received patent in 1915); gave women access to cars for first time, broadened market for  automobile 

March 15, 1911 - Gustave Otto, son of internal combustion engine pioneer Nikolaus Otto, organized Gustav Otto Flugmaschinenfabrik Muchen, Munich-based aero-engineering firm; March 7, 1916 -  merged with Karl Rapp, licensed manufacturer of Austro-Daimler airplane engines; formed Bayerische Flugzeugwerke AG (Bavarian Aircraft Works) or BFW; 1922 - acquired by Franz-Josef Popp and Max Friz; merged with BFW to form Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or BMW; 1923 - builds first motorcycle.

Gustav Otto - BMW (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/7b/ Gustav_Otto_with_an_Argus_aircraft_engine.jpg)

May 9, 1911 - Thomas H. Flaherty, of Pittsburgh, PA, received a patent for a "Signal for Crossing" ("particularly at the crossings of street car tracks, at the intersection of two or more streets"); first U. S. patent application for a traffic signal design.

May 30, 1911 - First Indianapolis 500 auto race run; Ray Harroun won 200 lap race in Marmon Wasp after 6 hours, 42 minutes, 8 seconds, average speed of 74.59 miles per hour.

July 22, 1911 - General Motors organized General Motors Truck Company later GMC) to handle sales of GM's Rapid and Reliance products.

November 1911 - Louis Chevrolet, William Little, Edwin Cambell (William Durant's son-in-law) incorporated Chevrolet Motor Company of Michigan to compete with Ford Model T; 1913 - Chevrolet first used "bowtie" logo.

1912 - Masujiro Hashimoto founded Kwaishinsha Motor Car Company, produced experimental automobile called DAT in honor of three financial backers ("D" was for Kenjoro Den who helped organize the original company; "A" was for Rokuro Aoyama, childhood friend, "T" was for Meitaro Takeuchi, cousin of a former prime minister who helped arrange financing; roughly translated  means "hare", "fast rabbit", or "very fast"); 1917 - company restructured due to financial difficulties; taken over by its sales agency, renamed Dat Motor Vehicle Co. 1926 - merged with Jitsuyo Jidosha Seizo ('Practical Automobile Company'), formed Dat Automobile Manufacturing Co. of Osaka; concentrated on building trucks; 1930 - company reorganized, renamed DATSON ("the son of DAT"); spelling later changed to DATSUN; 1931 - assets and shares of the DAT Jidosha Seizo company acquired by THE TOBATA IMONO COMPANY (foundry company owned by Yoshisuke Ayukawa, founder of NISSAN conglomerate in 1928); operated as division; 1933 - separated from parent company, established as independent company named Jidosha Seizo Kabushiki Kaisha; May 1934 - name of independent auto company changed to NISSAN MOTOR COMPANY LIMITED; 1935 - NISSAN exported first automobiles to Australia; 1944 - renamed Nissan Heavy Industries (held until 1949); 1958 - entered U.S. market (sold 83 cars); September 28, 1960 - Nissan Motor Corp U.S.A. formed in Gardena, CA; 1968 - introduced 510 (made Nissan, or Datsun, name in US, many other nations; balance of engineering, styling, cost); October 1969 - production started on Datsun 240 Z; September 8, 1986 - Nissan opened plant in Sunderland, England, first Japanese automobile factory in Europe.

Masujiro Hashimoto - DATSUN (http://www.car-nissan.net/images/masuhiro-hashimoto.jpg)

Yoshisuke Ayukawa - NISSAN (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/94/Aikawa_Yosuke.jpg/225px-Aikawa_Yosuke.jpg)

January 23, 1912 - William E. Stephens, of Chicago. IL, received a patent  for an "Automobile Horn"; multiple-pipe horn powered by engine exhaust that played chord like a church organ; assigned to Aeromore Manufacturing Company.

July 22, 1912 - Edward G. Budd formed Edward G. Budd Mfg. Co.in Philadelphia, with $75,000 of his own savings, $15,000 from family friend named A. Robinson McIlvaine, $10,000 from another friend, J.S. Williams; Budd as president, McIlvaine, secretary; first product - all-metal truck body for Philadelphia coal distributor; 1913 - built truck bodies for Packard, Peerless, fenders for Cadillac, Franklin, Jeffery, Willys-Overland, stamped panels and interior trim for Cincinnati Car Co., Pullman Mfg. Co.; revenue totaled $574,000 (vs. $6,000 in 1912); June 22, 1915 - Joseph Lewinka, of Philadelphia, PA, received a patent for an "Automobile-Body"; design, construction of welded all-steel touring-car body; assigned to Edward G. Budd Mfg. Co. (Budd's most valuable patent); 1916 - formed Budd Wheel Corp. to produce wire wheels for auto industry (John North Willys principal investor); 1923 - planned Citroën’s new all-metal body manufacturing facility, signed royalty agreement; 1924 - signed royalty agreement with MG; built most of Ford's new line of factory commercial Model T and TT bodies; 1932 - helped develop third revolutionary unit-bodied vehicle (Chrysler Imperial Airflow CW, Chrysler's first unit-bodied car); largest customer; 1934 - introduced stainless-steel clad train, three-car "Zephyr", first stainless steel train in America, weighed same as single Pullman Car; 1941 - 20,000 employees; 1946 - Edward G. Budd Jr., became president; Budd Wheel Co., Edward G. Budd Mfg Co., merged into Budd Co.; 1967 - introduced automotive disc brakes on Chrysler and Imperial; 1978 - acquired by Thyssen AG of Germany, withdrew from non-automotive businesses; 1999 - Thyssen AG merged with Krupp AG, formed Thyssen Krupp Automotive AG, one of largest automotive suppliers in world with revenues approaching $6 billion.

Edward G. Budd - Budd Company (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/ streamliners/peopleevents/ images/p_ebudd.jpg)

September 12, 1912 - Carl G. Fisher, President of Prest-o-lite, James A. Allison. co-founder of Indianapolis Speedway, announced plan for America's first transcontinental highway, Coast-to-Coast Rock Highway, 3,000 of graveled road from New York to San Francisco, to be finished in time for the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, at a cost of  $10,000,000, collected from private sources; failure to win Henry Ford's support for project jeopardized fund-raising efforts; Henry Joy, president of Packard, supported highway project, proposed naming road after Abraham Lincoln (would garner $1.7 million in federal funds for the project).

November 1912 - Giovanni Bertone (28) opened workshop in Turin, Italy; specialised in construction, repair of horse-drawn carriages (three workers); 1920 - opened new offices (20 employees); 1920s - formed partnerships with Fiat and Lancia; 1933 - Nuccio (son, 19) joined company; 1952 - orders from MG and Bristol; 1957 - produced NSU Sport Prinz; 1959 - 550 employees; 1960s - began work on Simca 1000 Coupé, BMW 3200 CS limited series; 1965 - Fiat 850 Spider launched (140,000 produced between 1965-1972); end of 1960s - began partnership with Ferruccio Lamborghini; 1970 - 1500 employees; 1976 - began working for Volvo; 1987 - commercial agreement with General Motors Europe for production of Opel Kadett Cabrio; 1994 - first manufacturer in Italy awarded ISO 9001 quality certification; 2007 - filed for bankruptcy protection; August 6, 2009 - Fiat won bid to take over bankrupt Italian car company Bertone (to design cars for Chrysler).

1913 - Robert Bamford, Lionel Martin founded Bamford and Martin Limited in London; 1914 - Aston Martin name created after racing success at Aston Hill Climb; 1915 - first Aston Martin registered; 1926 - Aston Martin Motors Limited formed in Feltham, UK; 1937 - 140 cars built, highest pr-war production; 1947 - David Brown acquired Aston Martin Motors Limited and Lagonda; 1964 - Aston Martin DB5 appeared in "Goldfinger"; 1981 - acquired by Victor Gauntlett and Pace Petroleum; 1983 - Gauntlett backed by Livanos (shipping) family; 1987 - Ford acquired 75% control; 1994 - Ford acquired 100% control; 2003 - 7,000th DB7 built; 2006 - sold 7,000 cars; 2007 - Ford sold controlling interest to group of investors (David Richards, John Sinders, Investment Dar, Adeem Investment Co.) for $848 million.

 

 

Robert Bamford - co-founder Aston Martin (http://www.speedace.info/ speedace_images/robert_bamford.jpg)

Lionel Martin - co-founder Aston Martin (http://www.speedace.info/speedace_images/lionel_martin.jpg)

Sir David Brown - Aston Martin (http://www.wrt-aston-workshop.de/Sir_David_Brown.jpg)

January 11, 1913 - World's first 'hardtop' (closed production) car introduced: Hudson Motor Car Company's Model 54 sedan; (earlier automobiles had open cabs or convertible roofs).

January 16, 1913 - Frank Duryea introduced first closed car for four passengers at Stanley Motor Show.

July 1, 1913 -Carl Fisher, President of Prest-o-lite, formed Lincoln Highway Association with headquarters in Detroit, MI (Henry Joy, President of Packard Motor Cars, came up with the idea of naming the highway after Abraham Lincoln) to build coast-to-coast paved road; envisioned improved, hard-surfaced road that would stretch almost 3400 miles from coast to coast, New York to San Francisco, over shortest practical route; promoted road using private, corporate donations; Henry Joy elected as president. Carl Fisher elected vice-president; September 10, 1913 - Lincoln Highway opened; first paved coast-to-coast road in U.S.; October 31, 1913 - Lincoln Highway dedicated; March 1925 - American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) started planning a federal highway system; 1927 - association ceased activity.

August 23, 1913 - Automobiles legally allowed to enter Yosemite National Park, California, for first time; marked huge change in national park system.

October 7, 1913 - Ford introduced continuously moving assembly line to assemble chassis (automobile's frame) in Highland Park automobile factory; assembly divided into 29 operations performed by 29 men spaced along moving belt, cut man-hours to complete one "Model T" from 12 1/2 hours to six (reduced to 93 man-minutes in a year; eventually, one Model T produced every 24 seconds); drastically reduce the cost of the Model T, made car affordable to ordinary consumers; December 1, 1913 - assembly line delivered car every 2-minutes, 38-seconds; three subassemblies (magnetos, motors, transmissions) on moving lines using conveyor belts produced subassemblies faster than main production line could take them; moving chassis line replaced "push" assembly line; Ford Motor Co. became world's largest car manufacturer; 1916 - price of Model T fell to $360, sales more than triple 1912 level.

1914 - John and Horace Dodge founded Dodge Brothers Motor Car Company; November 14, 1914 - completed first Dodge vehicle, known as "Old Betsy"; test drove it, shipped to buyer in Tennessee (began their business career in 1897 as bicycle manufacturers; entered automotive industry in 1901 as auto parts manufacturers (largest parts-manufacturing firm in United States by 1910); awarded 25 dealerships to sell $785 Dodge cars; 1917 - fourth-largest automobile manufacturer in U. S.; 1919 - Dodge brothers among richest men in America; 1920 - John died from respiratory problems, Horace died from pneumonia; 1925 - acquired from Dodge widows by Dillon Read & Company for $146 million; May 28, 1928 - acquired by Chrysler Corporation for $170 million.

January 5, 1914 - Henry Ford introduced 'social justice' plan of profit sharing, minimum wage, 8-hour work day: 1) $10,000,000 of company's 1914 profits given to company's employees, payments made semi-monthly, added to pay checks; 2) factory (able to produce 2,000 autos a day) ran continuously instead of only eighteen hours a day, gave employment to several thousand more men by employing three shifts of eight hours each, instead of two nine-hour shifts; minimum wage scale of $5 per day established (even for boy who swept floors); no employee discharged except for proved unfaithfulness, inefficiency; about 26,000 employees affected.

January 14, 1914 - Henry Ford announced newest advance in assembly line production of 'modern' cars, continuous motion method; reduced assembly time per car from over 12 hours to 93 minutes.

August 5, 1914 - Lighting ceremony held for first electric traffic lights, used to control flow of different streams of traffic, at  intersection of Euclid Ave. and E. 105th St. in Cleveland, OH; signals were red and green lights on street-corner poles, wired to manually operated switch housed inside control booth beside  road; switch design prevented conflicting signals; bell warned drivers of color change; American Traffic Signal Co. installation modeled after traffic control system developed by James B. Hoge of Cleveland (September 22, 1913 - applied for patent, received on January 1, 1918).

December 14, 1914 - Alfieri Maserati rented garage on Via de Pepoli in Bologna; started Società Anonima Officine Alfieri Maserati; brothers Carlo, Bindo, Alfieri, Mario, Ettore, Ernesto became involved in engineering; 1933 - first European manufactory to introduce hydraulic brakes on race cars; 1937 - taken over by Orsi family; 1968 - acquired by Citroën; August 8, 1975 - acquired by Alejandro De Tomaso and GEPI; 1998 - Ferrari acquired control.

 

 

 

 

Alfieri Maserati (http://www.maseraticlub.co.uk/ images3/maserati-storia-01.jpg)

August 17, 1915 - Charles F. Kettering, of Dayton, OH, received a patent for an "Engine-Starting Device"; electric automobile self-starter (assigned to Dayton Engineering Laboratories, Inc. - Delco); Cadillac first car to use it; February 8, 1916 - received a patent for an "Engine Starting, Lighting, and Ignition System"; assigned to Delco.

December 1, 1915 - John D. Hertz founded original Yellow Cab taxicab service in Chicago; color (and name) yellow selected as result of survey by University of Chicago which indicated it was  easiest color to spot; 1929 - acquired by Checker Cab Co.; Hertz left to found rental car company, Hertz Rent-a-Car (still uses yellow logo).

December 10, 1915 - Ford produced 1,000,000th Model T.

March 7, 1916 - Manufacturing firms of Karl Rapp (Rapp-Motorenwerke) and Gustav Otto (Otto-Werke) merged, formed Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke AG (BFW, Bavarian Aircraft Works); July 21, 1917 - Rapp-Motorenwerke renamed Bayerische Motoren Werke GmbH (Bavarian Motor Works or BMW); August 13, 1918 - converted to stock corporation (one-third financing from Camillo Castiglioni (Austrian financier,  banker); Franz Josef Popp named General Manager); 1922 - sold engine production operations, BMW name to Bayerische Flugzeug-Werke, moved to BFW site; 1923 - built first motorcycle (BMW R12, first to have telescopic hydraulic front fork); 1929 - built ifirst car, Dixi; 1936 - Flugmotorenfabrik Eisenach GmbH established; 1939 - BMW incorporated into name; 1945 - lost control of assets (until 1949); 1948 - BMW R24 motorcycle first post-war product (18% exported by 1950); 1951 - completed first postwar car, 501; December 9, 1959 - Herbert Quandt, head of battery manufacturer Accumulatorenfabrik AG (AFA), later named Varta AG, 30% owner (acquired by his father, Gunther Quandt),  rejected acquisition overture of Daimler-Benz, increased share ownership to 50%; 1960 - restructured company; 1961 - introduced 1500 model, first sporty family sedan, in Frankfurt (4-door sedan, 4-cylinder engine, independent suspension,  MacPherson struts at front, semi-trailing arms at rear,  traditional BMW "kidney" grilles); 1969 -Eberhard von Künheim (40) named managing director; transformed BMW into premium brand.

Gustav Otto, Franz-Josef Popp, Karl Rapp - BMW (http://www.usautoparts.net/ bmw/bmw/history/1916.gif)

Eberhard von Künheim (center) - BMW (http://www.usautoparts.net/bmw/bmw/history/1973.gif)

May 11, 1916 - Charles Kettering and Edward Deeds (formerly of National Cash Register Company where Kettering invented motor that made the electric cash register possible) agreed to sell  Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco) for $9 million to the United Motors Corporation, a holding company of what would become some of GM's most vital parts suppliers, founded by William C. Durant in his attempt to regain control of General Motors (GM). Delco began manufacturing in order to meet the demand for the self-starter that Kettering invented for Durant's Cadillac Corporation (sold self-starters to anyone who ordered them).

July 11, 1916 - President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Aid Road Act, the first grant-in-aid enacted by Congress to help states build roads; included the stipulation that all states have a highway agency staffed by professional engineers who would administer the federal funds as they saw fit. The bill on offer leaned in the favor of the rural populations by focusing on rural postal roads rather than interstate highways; cornerstone for U.S. highway system, precedent for all highway legislation to come; source of rural road improvement, helped rural Americans participate more efficiently in the national economy; 1907 - legal issue of the federal government's role in road-building was settled in the Supreme Court case Wilson vs. Shaw. Justice David Brewer wrote that the federal government could "construct interstate highways" because of their constitutional right to regulate interstate commerce.

August 1916 - Charles W. Nash, former General Manager of Buick and President of General Motors, bought Jeffery-Rambler Motor Company; 1917 - re-incorporated company as Nash Motors; one of few, profitable independent automobile manufacturers to compete successfully; became foundation for American Motors Corporation; January 4, 1937 - Nash Motors merged with Kelvinator Corporation (manufacturer of high-end refrigerators and kitchen appliances); new company named Nash-Kelvinator Corporation (George W. Mason, President).

 

 

Charles W. Nash - Nash Motors (http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honors/show_image.php?img=1&id=102)

George W. Mason - Nash-Kelvinator (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/85/George_W_Mason-PR_image.jpg/200px-George_W_Mason-PR_image.jpg)

June 1, 1917 - Henry Leland, founder of Cadillac Motor Car Company, resigned as Cadillac president, started Lincoln Motor Car Company with his son; won first contract to manufacture Liberty engines for war effort; worked closely with British, French, American engineers to design high-production, high-powered twelve-cylinder airplane engine;  by war's end, had manufactured more Liberty engines than any other single company; February 4, 1922 - acquired from Henry Martyn Leland by Ford Motor Company for $8,000,000; Henry Ford's son, Edsel, named president; July 17, 1923 - Lincoln Motor Company registered "Lincoln" trademark first used August 3, 1920 (motorcars).

1918 - Les Kelley (21) leased part of lot from another car dealer in Los Angeles, started Kelley Kar Company with three Model T Fords for sale; became largest dealership in world; early 1920s - distributed to other dealers, banks a list of automobiles he wished to buy, prices he was willing to pay; spawned need to place value on used, new cars; 1926 - expanded list of automobile values, published first Blue Book of Motor Car Values (named after Social Register, meant valuable information inside); showed factory list price, cash value on thousands of vehicles (Cadillacs, Duesenbergs, Pierce-Arrows, Hupmobiles); became authoritative source for car values; 1962 - exited car business, published Blue Book as "trade" publication (sold only to businesses involved in automotive industry - car dealers, financial institutions, insurance companies); first publication to show effect of high or low mileage on car's value; December 9, 1980 - Kelley Blue Book Partnership registered "Kelley Blue Book" trademark first used November 1, 1954 (Booklets in the Nature of Price Lists for Used Cars, New Cars, Mobile Homes, and Motorcycles); 1966 - began publishing other value guides; industry's leading provider of pricing services; 1993 - published Consumer Edition of Blue Book (15 years of used car values on more than 10,000 models of cars, trucks, vans); 1995 - launched web site.

Les Kelley - Kelley Blue Book (http://file.kbb.com/kbb/images/history/les_ds.jpg)

January 1918 - Sakichi Toyoda founded Toyota Spring and Weaving Co., Ltd.; November 1926 - established Toyota Automatic Loom works LTD; August 1937 - Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. founded as division; August 1957 - Toyota Crown first car exported to U.S.A.; October 1957 - established Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A Inc.

Sakichi Toyoda - Toyota (http://www.toyotageorgetown.com/ images/Sakichi.gif)

January 1, 1918 - James B. Hoge, of Cleveland, OH, received a patent for a "Municipal Traffic-Control System" ("relates to municipal signalling, and has for its object the provision of a complete system of communicating with and controlling fire and police agencies and also the traffic through public streets and roads").

February 5, 1918 - Thomas A. Edison received a patent for a "Starting and Current-Supplying System for Automobiles".

May 2, 1918 - General Motors (GM) acquired Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware for about $32 million in GM stock.

May 15, 1918 - Nantucket Island voted to lift its controversial 12-year ban on automobiles.

August 9, 1918 - U. S. government ordered automobile production to halt by January 1, 1919, and convert to military production. Factories instead manufactured shells, and the engineering lessons of motor racing produced light, powerful engines for planes. Manufacturers turned out staff cars and ambulances by the hundreds. In fact, World War I has often been described as the war of the machines.

1919 - William Rootes founded car sales company with sons, William and Reginald; 1928 - largest distributor in England; began manufacturing; acquired Humber, Hillman, Commer companies; 1936 - first company to enter Government's Shadow Factory Scheme for volume manufacture of aeroplanes, sero engines; 1964 - 30% interest in company acquired by Chrysler; 1967 - balance acquired.

January 1, 1919 - Edsel Ford succeeded his father, Henry Ford, as president of Ford Motor Company; announced company would increase minimum wage to $6.00 per day.

February 3, 1919 - Clessie Lyle Cummins incorporated Cummins Engine.

February 25, 1919 - Oregon became first state to impose 1% tax on gasoline; funds used for road construction, maintenance.

March 29, 1919 - Hans Ledwinka completed first Tatra vehicle, a TL4 truck (division of the newly named Koprivnicka Wagenbau of Czechoslovakia); named for Tatra High Mountains in the Carpathian Mountain Range; 1923 - offered first official Tatra automobile, the Tatra T11, an affordable "people's car"; 1934 - Tatra 77 introduced, world's first aerodynamically styled automobile powered by a rear-mounted air-cooled engine.

July 9, 1919 - Ford Motor Company reorganized as a Delaware corporation with Edsel Ford as company president; step in Henry Ford's drive to gain 100% of the company's stock for his family; borrowed heavily to buy out minority shareholders; 1923 - Ford 60% of the domestic car market.

October 1919 - Walter Owen Bentley created  3-litre engine at his service shop in New Street Mews; 1920 - introduced first complete Bentley, hand-built EXP1 prototype (powered by new 3-litre engine); September 21, 1921 - first Bentley was sold to Noel van Raalte, wealthy and influential playboy; November 1931 - acquired by Rolls-Royce.

Walter Owen Bentley - Bentley Motors (http://www.darkforce.com/royce/wob2.gif)

October 5, 1919 - Enzo Ferrari (21) made his racing debut; finished 11th in the Parmo-Poggia di Berceto hill climb in a Costruzioni Meccaniche Nazionali (CMN) vehicle; 1920 - Ferrari moved to Alfa Romeo; 1929 - founded the Scuderia Ferrari (took over the engineering-racing division of Alfa Romeo by 1933); 1940 - transformed the Scuderia into an independent manufacturing company, the Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari; 1947 - the Ferrari 125S was introduced to the racing world, won the prestigious Coppa Enrico Faini; over 40 years Ferrari vehicles earned 25 world titles, won over 5,000 events at race tracks around the world.

October 18, 1919 - Rolls-Royce America, Inc. established.

1920 - Frederick S. Duesenberg and his brother Augie created the Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company in order to release the Duesenberg Model A, the first car equipped with both a straight-eight and hydraulic front-wheel brakes; car did not sell; 1924 - company failed; rescued by  financier E.L. Cord, acquired and financed Duesenberg Motors while allowing brothers to continue their work; 1937 - Cord's business collapsed, Duesenberg Company disappeared.

January 26, 1920 - Lincoln Motor Car Company was founded; acquired by the Ford Motor Company just two years later.

January 30, 1920 - Jujiro Matsuda, group of investors took over  failing Abemaki tree cork company; renamed Toyo Cork Kogyo Co., Ltd., founded in Hiroshima, Japan; 1921 - Jujiro Matsuda named president; 1927 - renamed Toyo Kogyo Co., Ltd.; 1931 - began production of three-wheel trucks, Mazdago; 1934 - registered "Mazda" trademark; 1951 - Tsuneji Matsuda took over as president; 1960 - introduced Mazda R360 Coupe, first Mazda 2-door passenger car; 1970 - Kouhei Matsuda became president; 1979 - 25% equity interest acquired by Ford; 1984 - renamed as Mazda Motor Corporation; 1986 - cumulative total exports reached 10 million units; 1988 - established Mazda Motor of America Inc. to consolidate importation, distribution functions in U.S.; 1990 - cumulative production reached 25 million units.

Jujiro Matsuda - Mazda (http://www.mazda.com/mazdaspirit/greatcar/img/greatcar_page01_p1.jpg)

March 25, 1920 - Walter P. Chrysler resigned as executive vice president in charge of automotive operations for General Motors (GM) due to William Durant's micromanagement style; 1912 - while employed by the American Locomotive Company, Buick President Charles Nash offered Chrysler position in Flint, MI - revolutionized company's mass production capabilities); 1916 - William Durant forced Nash out, offered Buick presidency to Chrysler at $500,000 a year (previously made $25,000 a year) -  initiated GM's purchase of Fisher Body Plant.

May 4, 1920 - Harry A. Miller, of Los Angeles, CA, received a design patent for a "Design for an Automobile"; race car design (many features incorporated into race cars in following decades: aluminum pistons and engine blocks, off-beat carburetors, inter-cooled superchargers, front-wheel drive; first man to concentrate exclusively on building race cars for sale;  Miller 91 - ultimate achievement; built for the 1926 Indy 500 (produced a minimum of 230hp at 7,000rpm, could be boosted to 300hp at 8,500rpm, 3.3hp per cubic inch vs. today's super-charged Indy cars, which produce 4.5hp per cubic inch).

1921 - William Morris opened Morris Garages (MG) in Oxford, UK; 1922 - Cecil Kimber (33) made sales manager; March 1924 - first MG car proper built (based on a Morris Oxford chassis, sports tourer with four seats; four door saloon model also offered); 1930 - MG Car Company Ltd. officially incorporated; 1935 - Morris sold M.G. Car Company Ltd. to Morris Motors Ltd.

1921 - Morris Markin absorbed Commonwealth Motor Company into Markin Autobody Company (Joliet, IL), discontinued all passenger-car manufacturing; February 2, 1922 - established Checker Cab Manufacturing Company; moved to Kalamazoo, MI; took over factories previously used by the Handley-Knight and Dort automobile companies; June 18, 1923 - produced first Checker cab; 1925 - production of over 1,000 cabs per year, largest exclusive cab maker in the country; 1929 - bought 60 percent ownership in Yellow Cab, including all of John Hertz's holdings; 1959 - introduced the Marathon (production never exceeded few thousand units per year, sales limited to few large cities); early 1980s - production fell to 3,000 units per year, company was losing money; 1982 - production ceased; one of the few automotive manufacturing companies to boast a continuous run of production from 1920s to 1980s.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Checker Taxi (http://www.checkertaxistand.com/assets/images/markin.gif)

January 3, 1921 - Studebaker Corporation announced that it would no longer build farm wagons (previously the world's single biggest manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages and carts).

January 4, 1921 - International Motor Company registered MACK truck trademark.

August 9, 1921 - George J. Murdock, of Newark, NJ, received a patent for a "Self-Puncture-Sealing Covering For Fuel-Containers" ("tank that punctures made thererin by projectiles will automatically close so as to prevent the escape of gasolene, kerosene or othert liquid hydrocarbons"); self-sealing gas tank.

September 10, 1921 - Ayus Autobahn, world's first controlled-access highway and part of Germany's Bundesautobahn system, opened near Berlin.

December 1, 1921 - Detroit Steam Motors Corporation announced the Trask steam car, a favorite project of automobile distributor O.C. Trask; 1926 - last steam-powered cars in the U.S. were made

1922 - George Bacon, Chief Engineer for Detroit Electric Vehicle Company, designed new milk delivery truck; could be driven from four positions, front, rear, either running board; 1925 - Detroit Industrial Vehicle Co. established to market gasoline-engined version; 1926 - introduced the "Divco", powered by 4-cylinder Continental engine with Warner 4-speed transmission. (DIVCO).

George Bacon - DIVCO (http://www.divco.org/_borders/ Bacon.gif)

January 1922 - Rickenbacker Car Company debuted Rickenbacker car at New York Auto Show (named for World War I flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker); priced at $1,500, equipped with powerful V-6, flywheel at both ends of crankshaft to reduce the teeth-chattering vibration to which consumers had become accustomed; sold 1,500 units on its first day; 1924 - 19th in industry from 83rd; first model to introduce four-wheel braking in economy car class; 1925 - came with V-8; September 1926 - Rickenbacker resigned; ,January 1927 - company dead.

February 4, 1922 - Ford Motor Company acquired Lincoln Motor Company for $8 million; Henry Ford's son, Edsel, named president of Lincoln; diversification as a desirable marketing strategy.

September 4, 1922 - William Lyons (21) and William Walmsley (9) launched Swallow Sidecar Company in Blackpool, UK, to produce sidecars for motorcycles; financed with bank overdraft of £1000 guaranteed by their respective fathers; 1926 - name changed to Swallow Sidecar and Coachbuilding Company; 1931 - launched legendary S.S.1, precursor to first true Jaguar; 1935 - Jaguar name was born to reflect speed, power and sleekness; World War II - Swallow Sidecar name dropped, politically incorrect SS initials dropped, Jaguar Cars Ltd. formally established; 1948 - first significant postwar Jaguar, XK 120, introduced at the London Motor Show to great acclaim; fastest production car in world, considered by many to be one of finest sports cars ever made; 1961 - announced E-type; November 11, 1989 - became a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company.

December 12, 1922 - William L. Kissel and John F. Werner, of Hartford, WI, received a patent for a "Convertible Automobile Body", removable hard top that could turn a closed car into an open touring car (precursor to convertibles); assigned to Kissel Motor Car Company.

1923 - Vincent Bendix founded Bendix Brake Company (had developed, manufactured electric starter drives since 1914); 1924 - introduced the first reliable four-wheel brake system; eventually created first four-wheel brake system for automobiles; 1928 - produced 3,600,000 brakes per year, chiefly for General Motors Corporation; 1929 - company renamed the Bendix Aviation Corporation to signify a new direction for company; 1942 - started Bendix Helicopters, Inc.; 1960 - company renamed Bendix Corporation; 1982 - acquired by Allied Corporation.

 

 

 

Vincent Bendix - Bendix Corporation  (http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/ honors/show_image.php?img=1&id=5)

February 22, 1923 - 1,000,000th Chevy was produced; William Durant eventually made over a million dollars on Chevrolet brand, allowed him to reacquire a majority interest in General Motors (GM) stock; eventually merged Chevrolet and Buick, created GM's current configuration; Louis Chevrolet left the company before the merger, left only his name to benefit from the company's success.

May 26, 1923 - First Le Mans Grand Prix d'Endurance run.

November 20, 1923 - African-American Garrett A. Morgan, of Cleveland, OH, received patent for a "Traffic Signal"; automatic traffic signal to make streets safer for motorists and pedestrians (had seen an automobile crash into a horse-drawn carriage); sold technology to General Electric Corporation for $40,000.

January 5, 1924 - Walter Chrysler, former General Motors executive (left in 1920), who had pioneered introduction of all-steel bodies in automobiles (vs. wood), introduced his first motorcar,  Chrysler-built Maxwell (Maxwell Motor Company); August 12, 1924 - Chrysler Motor Corporation registered "Chrysler" trademark first used January 1, 1924 (automobiles and their structural parts); June 6, 1925 - Maxwell Motor Company renamed Chrysler Corporation; June 26, 1925 - incorporated in Delaware, took over Maxwell Motor Corporation; Walter P. Chrysler president, chairman of the board.

April 15, 1924 - Rand McNally released first comprehensive road atlas, "Auto Chum"; first edition of what will become best-selling Rand McNally Road Atlas.

June 15, 1924 - Ford Motor Company manufactured its 10 millionth Model T automobile.

December 19, 1924 - Last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost (introduced in 1906) manufactured in England was sold in London; followed by the Twenty, the Phantom, the Silver Cloud, the Silver Shadow, and the Silver Wraith.

March 2, 1925 - Joint board of state and federal highway officials appointed by the secretary of agriculture instituted first nationwide highway numbering system; created shield-shaped highway number markers, later improved by colored signs and the odd-even demarcation that distinguished between north-south and east-west travel respectively.

March 27, 1925 - Cecil Kimber registered his first modified Morris, the prototype of the MG; known for their style, performance, zippy overhead cam engines.

April 7, 1925 - Rolls Royce of America, Inc. registered "Rolls Royce" trademark first used on January 1, 1905 (automobiles and chassis).

April 30, 1925 - Dodge heirs sold Dodge Brothers Inc. to Dillon, Read & Company (New York investment banking firm) for $146 million plus $50 million for charity; result of the unwillingness of the Dodge Brothers' offspring to manage the company (brothers' deaths in 1920, brief depression in the stock market in 1921 scared family members into "cashing out"); reported to be largest single cash sale in U. S. history at the time.

May 1, 1925 - Ettore Bugatti registered both the slogan Le Pur Sangre Des Automobiles, and the thoroughbred racing horse profile, as French trademarks.

1926 - Sir William Lyons co-founded Swallow Sidecar and Coachbuilding Company (motorcycle sidecars) with William Walmsley; built wooden frames for Austin Seven car, called it the Austin Swallow; began building his own cars, called Standard Swallows; 1934 - his company, SS Cars Ltd., released line of cars called Jaguars ( "SS" initials dropped after WW II, reminded people of the SS title of Nazi officers); 1961 - E Type, fastest sports car in world, released (top speed of 150mph, zero-to-60 of 6.5 seconds, 17 miles to the gallon).

January 3, 1926 - General Motors introduced Pontiac brand name; descendant of Oakland Motor Car Company (acquired by General Motors in 1909).

June 28, 1926 -Benz & Cie., Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft (DMG) merged, form Daimler-Benz AG.

August 3, 1926 - First traffic lights in Britain installed at Piccadilly Circus.

September 25, 1926 - Henry Ford announced 8-hour, 5-day work week.

October 6, 1926 - Duesenberg Company incorporated into Auburn-Cord company; Frederick (design) and August Duesenberg began working toward E L. Cord's dream of the ultimate luxury automobile; 1928 - Cord introduced the Duesenberg Model J to the American public: engine displaced 420 cubic inches, twin overhead camshafts that operated four valves per cylinders, a maximum speed of 165hp, price tag beginning around $17,000; 1937 - Duesenberg and Auburn-Cord closed.

August and Frederick Duesenberg (http://cmsimg.desmoinesregister.com/ apps/ pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site= D2&Date=99999999&Category= FAMOUSIOWANS&ArtNo= 40920015&Ref= AR&maxw=175&border=1)

November 11, 1926 - Official numerical designation 66 (Will Rogers Highway) assigned to Chicago-to-Los Angeles route (2,448 miles); one of nation's principal east-west arteries; diagonal course linked hundreds of predominately rural communities in Illinois, Missouri, Kansas to Chicago; enabled farmers to transport grain, produce for redistribution; diagonal configuration of Route 66 particularly significant to trucking industry (rivaled railroad for preeminence in American shipping) - traversed essentially flat prairie lands, enjoyed more temperate climate than northern highways; October 1984 - Interstate 40 bypassed final section of original road at Williams, AZ; June 24, 1985 - route officially decommissioned.

December 21, 1926 - General Motors Corporation registered "Pontiac" trademark first used December 17, 1925 (automobiles).

April 14, 1927 - Assar Gabrielsson (economist, businessman, head of SKF's subsidiary in France) and Gustaf Larsson (engineer, designer) founded AB Volvo (Latin for "I roll"); had obtained guarantees, credit form SKF (Goteborg, Sweden) to build 1,000 vehicles, 500 open and 500 covered (SKF provided name); first car, "Jakob", left factory in Gothenburg, Sweden; 1936 - released its first "streamlined car" the PV36, or Carioca, heavily influenced by American designs; 199 - acquired by Ford Motor Company for about $6.5 billion.

May 25, 1927 - Ford Motor Company announced end of Model T, its replacement by Model A; May 26, 1927 - manufactured 15 millionth Model T automobile; May 27, 1927 - production of Ford Model T officially ended after 15,007,033 units built; sold more units than any other car model in history, until Volkswagen Beetle eclipsed record in 1970s; 1908 - Model T had price tag of $850,  sold 6,389 units; 1910 - price had dropped to $690, Tin Lizzie sold 34,528 units; 1915 - price tag of Ford's "people's car" dropped to  $350, sold 472,350 units.

August 19, 1927- Henry and Edsel Ford drove fifteen millionth Model T off assembly line at Highland Park plant in Michigan, officially ended Model T production (15,458,781).

November 1, 1927 - Ford Model A production began; succeeded Model T after 19 years of production, unchanged features; "A" had elegant Lincoln-like styling on smaller scale, used 200.5 cubic-inch four-cylinder engine that produced 40hp; prices started at $460, nearly 5,000,000 Model As, in several body styles, variety of colors, sold before production ended in early 1932; November 26, 1927 - Ford Motor Company introduced Model A, first new Ford to enter market since Model T first introduced in 1908

May 6, 1928 - Chrysler introduced the DeSoto as corporation's new brand (answer to market demand for car that fit between its large cars and its popular four-cylinder models); offered improved insulation, reinforced frame, chrome alloy steel transmission gears; sold 80,000 cars its first year, forced Chrysler to increase its production facilities; 1934 - DeSoto Airflow released: new standard for weight distribution, reduced vibration to a frequency so that passengers were comfortable for the first time; engine moved forward over the front axle, back seat in front of the rear axle (the shock inflicted on passengers sitting there), increased gauge of the front springs, smaller wheels that used larger tires, unibody design that made the car safer and stronger.

July 7, 1928 - Chrysler Plymouth debuted at Chicago Coliseum (with renowned aviator Amelia Earhart behind wheel) - delivery price of $670; sold over 80,000 units in first year, forced Chrysler to expand production facilities drastically; Plymouth project had taken three years to complete.

July 31, 1928 - The Chrysler Corporation acquired Dodge Brothers, Inc. from Dillon Read for $170 million; 1929 - Chrysler Corporation was one of the "Big Three" of auto industry; May 27, 1930 - Chrysler Building in NYC. opened as world's tallest building.

March 17, 1929 - General Motors acquired 80% of German auto manufacturer Adam Opel AG for just under $26 million.

May 31, 1929 - The Ford Motor Company signed a "Technical Assistance" contract to produce cars in the Soviet Union; supplied many of the production parts for car manufacturers during the 1930s.

February 26, 1930 - First red and green traffic lights installed (Manhattan, New York City).

1931 - General Motors became world's largest automaker; April 24, 2007 - replaced by Toyota (2.35 million cars sold in 1st quarter vs. about 2.34 million for GM).

1931 - William Lyons presented two coupe models of Standard Swallows Cars Ltd. (SS Cars Ltd.) at London Motor Show; priced at 310 pounds; 1935 - Jaguar name first used (suggested by Company's advertising agency); name changed after WW II to Jaguar Cars Ltd.; 1961 - E Type released, fastest sports car in the world (top speed of 150mph and a zero-to-60 of 6.5 seconds).

April 20, 1931 - Matilda Dodge Wilson, widow of John Dodge, was named to the board of the Graham-Paige Motors Corporation; became the first woman to sit on the board of a major American auto-manufacturer; Graham-Paige founded by the Graham brothers; 1926 - Dodge acquired Graham Brothers Truck Company.

December 7, 1931 - Last Ford Model A produced; Ford motor works shut down for six months for retooling; April 1, 1932 - Ford introduced high-performance Ford V-8, first Ford with 8-cylinder engine.

December 14, 1931 - Bentley Motors (founded 1920) acquired by Rolls-Royce.

February 28, 1932 - Last Ford Model A produced; boasted elegant Lincoln-like styling, a peppy 40 horsepower four-cylinder engine, self-starting mechanism; base price at $460, five million sold between 1927 and 1932.

March 31, 1932 - Ford Motor Company publicly unveiled its "V-8" (eight-cylinder) engine.

June 6, 1932 - First gasoline tax levied by Congress enacted as  part of Revenue Act of 1932; mandated series of excise taxes on  wide variety of consumer goods; Congress placed 1¢ tax per gallon on gasoline, other motor fuel sold.

December 5, 1932  - Ford introduced Model C automobile, first four-cylinder engine made by Ford with counter-balanced crankshaft; largely eclipsed by Ford V-8, first eight-cylinder Ford automobile, first V-8 engine block ever cast in single piece.

1933 - Chrysler became only car company to sell more cars than number sold during its 1929 boom year; only car company to pay dividends to its shareholders throughout Depression.

July 5, 1933 - Hitler appointed Fritz Todt, civil engineer who was  proponent of national highway system as means of economic development, general inspector for German highways. Primary assignment: to build a comprehensive autobahn system. 1936 - 100,000 kilometers of divided highways completed, leaving Germany with the most advanced transportation system in the world.

December 26, 1933 - Nissan Motor Company was organized in Tokyo under the name Dat Jidosha Seizo Co.; began manufacturing cars and trucks under the name Datsun; converted to military production during World War II; and after Japan's defeat operated in a limited capacity under the occupation government until 1955.

1934 - Henri Pigozzi founded Simca (Societe Industrielle de Mecanique et Carrosserie Automobile), "industrial company that makes car mechanics and bodywork", at Nanterre, France; 1950s - acquired Unic, Talbot, Ford of France; 1963 - Chrysler became majority stock holder; 1969 - merged SIMCA with Matra’s automotive division; 1970 - Chrysler took over about all outstanding stock (99.3%), dropped SIMCA name.

Henri Pigozzi - Simca (http://www.garagedepoche.com/ photos/Henri-PIGOZZI.jpg)

February 17, 1934 - Penn State industrial engineer Amos Neyhart fitted his own car with dual brake, clutch linkages and began teaching driving to State College High School students in State College, PA, started American tradition of driver's education, provided both classroom and behind-the-wheel instruction; 1936 - produced manuals and exams for the American Automobile Association.

March 26, 1934 - Driving tests introduced in Britain.

October 3, 1935 - Percy Shaw received a British patent for "Improvements relating to Blocks for Road Surface"; reflectors which mark the lines that are light up at night by the lights of passing vehicles; Reflecting Roadstuds Ltd. manufactured  markers.

April 6, 1934 - Ford Motor Company announced white sidewall tires as option on new vehicles at cost of $11.25 per set; associated with style and money; 1950s - standard for many cars.

June 1, 1934 - Jidosha-Seizo Kabushiki-Kaisha (Automobile Manufacturing Co.) founded Nissan Motor Co.; took over automobile manufacturing division of Tobata Casting Co.

June 22, 1934 - Reichsverband der Automobilindustrie (RDA, Association of the German Reich of the Automotive Industry) gave Ferdinand Porsche, of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH, Konstruktionen und Beratung für Motoren- und Fahrzeugbau, order to build only one prototype of Volkswagen (car had been presented to Reich Ministry of Transport on January 17, 1934 in "Study for the Production of a Germany People’s Car"); December 7, 1934 - order increased to to three cars (assembled in garage of Ferdinand Porsche’s private residence); July 3, 1935 - presented first Volkswagen prototype, V1 (V = Versuchswagen or Test Car); December 22, 1935 - presented second test car, convertible code-named the V2; July 4, 1936 - German government decided to build separate plant for new car, Volkswagenwerk; May 28, 1937 - established Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH ("Company for Preparation of Deutsche Volkswagen Ltd"); Ferdinand Porsche one of three managing directors; May 1938 - construction on plant began in Fallersleben, now Wolfsburg; priced at 990.- reichsmarks, easily affordable for the average purchaser; due to War not one single Volkswagen delivered to private customer; summer 1945 - regular production of civilian Volkswagen started in Wolfsburg; bore nickname "VW Käfer" ("VW Beetle"); July 2003 - production of last VW Beetle came off line in Mexico - record for production life, volume; 21.5 million units built, one of highest-production vehicles of all time.

August 19, 1934 - First All-American Soap Box Derby, organized by newsman Myron Scott, was held in Dayton, OH; event was moved to Akron because of its appropriately hilly terrain; boys and girls, ages nine through 16, are allowed to compete.

1935 - Chrysler surpassed Ford to become nation's second largest car company.

February 26, 1935 -  Designers Clarence Karstadt and Chris Klein, of Detroit, MI, received a design patent for an "Automobile Radiator Ornament or Similar Article"; Pontiac's "Indian Maiden" mascot hood ornament.

July 5, 1935 - President Franklin Roosevelt signed National Labor Relations Act (Wagner Act) into law: established National Labor Relations Board, addressed relations between unions, employers in private sector; authorized labor to organize for purpose of collective bargaining; permitted formation of United Automobile Workers; industry's business executives challenged  constitutionality of Wagner Act; December 30, 1936 - workers at General Motors plant stopped work en masse, followed by series of successful sit-down strikes; Supreme Court upheld Wagner Act; February 11, 1937- GM acknowledged UAW as its employees official "bargaining agent."

July 5, 1935 - Fritz Todt, civil engineer, proponent of national highway system as means of economic development, appointed general inspector for German highways; primary assignment: to build comprehensive autobahn system; 1936 - 100,000 kilometers of divided highways completed (Germany with most advanced transportation system in the world); inspired U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to foster similar American interstate highway system (convinced that good highways directly linked to economic prosperity).

July 19, 1935 - Carl C. Magee, of Oklahoma City, OK Chamber of Commerce traffic committee, installed first parking meters, in Oklahoma City business district (workers parked on streets, stayed all day, left few spaces for shoppers, visitors ); May 24, 1938 - received patent for a "Coin Controlled Parking Meter", "meters for measuring the time of occupancy or use of parking or other space, for the use of which it is desirous an incidental charge be made upon a time basis"; assigned patent to Dual Parking Meter Company of Oklahoma City, OK (a Delaware Corporation).

August 14, 1935 - Last U.S.-built (Springfield, MA) Rolls Royce Phantom I delivered to M.S. Morrow of Whitestone, NY; featured elegant proportions, well-engineered coachwork, suitable for successor of Silver Ghost--the model that earned Rolls-Royce a reputation as "the best car in the world"; total of 1,241 Phantoms produced.

October 23, 1935 - Percy Shaw, of Halifax, Yorkshire, received a British patent for "Improvements Relating to Blocks for Road Surface Marking"; catseye road marker (road reflectors lighted at night by lights of vehicles); November 30, 1936 - received a second British patent.

February 8, 1936 - William Durant, founder of General Motors (GM), filed for personal bankruptcy; over span of three years Durant purchased Oldsmobile, Oakland (later Cadillac and Pontiac), attempted to purchase Ford; 1910 - GM out of cash, Durant forced out of company; later started Chevrolet, eventually regained control of GM, lost control second time.

February 26, 1936 - Hitler introduced Ferdinand Porsche's "Volkswagen".

March 8, 1936 - Daytona Beach, Florida, staged its first race strictly for stock cars on combination beach, public roadway course; 1946 - National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) incorporated; Bill France, former mechanic, as president.

April 27, 1936 - UAW, or United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, gained autonomy from AFL (guaranteed the rights of skilled workers); became first democratic, independent labor union concerned with rights of unskilled and semi-skilled laborers.

October 22, 1936 - First test-drives of Volkswagen vehicle began; 1938 - first Volkswagen in its final form (38-series model) unveiled, referred to, mockingly, as "Beetle" by New York Times; outbreak of World War II prevented mass-production of automobile; after war, Allies approved continuation of original Volkswagen program under leadership of Heinrich Nordhoff; late 1940s and 1950s - sales of Volkswagen Beetle took off.

December 30, 1936 - Strikes closed seven GM factories in Flint, MI as United Automobile Workers of America quarreled with GM over right to bargain collectively;  idled almost 35,000 workers,  threatened to force layoffs in steel, glass, battery-manufacturing industries; December 31, 1936 - sit-down strike at GM's Fisher Body Plant became center stage for all unskilled labor struggles as GM moved to legally block strike, evict workers from its facilities; state government, under direction of Governor Frank Murphy, protected  rights of workers to bargain collectively; workers invoked Wagner Act, GM forced to settle, recognized union, signed contract; first victory by unskilled laborers in America's largest industry.

1937 - 16 aircraft engineers founded Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget" (SAAB), "Swedish Aircraft Company", in Trollhattan, Sweden to produce high-performance aircraft; 1946 - aircraft design experience applied to engineering automobiles; 1947 - first prototype, Saab 92001, features transverse two-stroke engine, front-wheel drive, aerodynamic wing shape profile; 1949 - Saab 92 is first series to go into production (more than 20,000 built between 1949-1956).

January 1, 1937 - Safety glass in windshields became mandatory in Great Britain (shatters into thousands of tiny pieces when it breaks, instead of large jagged sheets); 1909 - first produced in 1909 by French chemist, Edouard Benedictus (used a sheet of clear celluloid between glass layers); 1936 - a plastic called polyvinyl butyral (PVB) was introduced, so safe and effective that it soon became the only plastic used in safety windows.

February 11, 1937 - General Motors (GM) President Alfred P. Sloan signed first union contract in history of U.S. automobile industry; ended a 44-day sit-down strike against General Motors at Fisher Body plant in Flint, MI (Battle of the Running Bulls); company agreed to recognize United Automobile Workers Union.

March 1, 1937 - First permanent automobile license plates issued (Connecticut).

May 26, 1937 - Union leaders, Ford Service Department men clashed in violent confrontation on Miller Road Overpass outside Gate 4 of Ford River Rouge Plant in Dearborn, MI (three months after UAW achieved its first landmark victory at Ford, had forced company to negotiate policy toward organized labor by staging  lengthy sit-down strike at Rouge complex); UAW organizers Walter Reuther, Bob Kanter, J.J. Kennedy, Richard Frankensteen were distributing leaflets among workers at Rouge complex when   approached bygang of Bennett's men; Ford Servicemen brutally beat four unionists while many other union sympathizers, including 11 women, were injured in resulting melee - Battle of the Overpass.

June 5, 1937 - Henry Ford initiated 32 hour work week.

June 15, 1937 - Harold T. Ames, of Chicago, IL, chief executive of Duesenberg, received a patent for a "Headlight Structure"; retractable headlamps (defining detail on Cord 810); assigned to Cord Corporation.

September 30, 1937 - Frederick and August Duesenberg stopped production; considered the most luxurious cars in the world, hand-crafted, custom-made, epitome of flamboyance and elegance; acknowledged as the ultimate in quality and value for almost 10 years; inspired the expression "it's a duesy."

May 24, 1938 - Carl C. Magee of Oklahoma City, OK received patent for a "Coin Controlled Parking Meter" ("measuring the time of occupancy or use of parking or other space, for the use of which it is desirous an incidental charge be made upon a time basis"); first parking meter installed in Oklahoma City.

1939 - Ole Bardahl, Norwegian immigrant (arrived in Seattle in 1922 with $32.00 in his pocket, unable to speak English), former building contractor, bought small chemical company in Seattle, WA; had number of cleaners, one oil product, oil additive; first year sales of $188; developed “Polair Attraction” formula (protected against dry/cold starts; provided permanent protective film on all metal surfaces; improved any oil additives), changed how lubricants formulated; 1947 - oil product an established top seller; June 20, 1950 - Bardahl Manufacturing Corporation registered "Bardahl" trademark first used February 1, 1946 (lubricating oils in the nature of an additive to lubricating oils, top oil, and valve lubricants, and lubricating greases); 1952 - sales of $200,000, ranked third among competitors; effective television advertising campaign established Bardahl as top seller in United States, then international number one seller.

Ole Bardahl - Bardahl Corporation (http://www.bardahl.nl/typo3temp/pics/f8b1db5db0.jpg)

April 28, 1939 - Powell Crosley produced America's first miniature, or "bantam", car (stalled until after WWII); 1948 - produced 28,000 cars; Crosley was foot shorter, 100 pounds lighter than pre-war Volkswagen Bug, far smaller than anything offered by American manufacturers; $800 price tag wasn't low enough to convince consumers to purchase a miniature car when they could by a full-size car for a few hundred dollars more.

November 4, 1939 - Packard Motor Co. exhibited the first air-conditioned automobile at the 40th Automobile Show in Chicago; air in the car was cooled, dehumidified, filtered and circulated through refrigerating coils located behind the rear seat in an air duct (heating coils in another compartment of the same duct); capacity of the unit equivalent to 1.5 tons of ice in 24 hours when the car was driven at 60 mph; Cadillac followed in 1941.

December 13, 1939 - First production Lincoln Continental was finished.

1939 - Willys-Overland Motors, Inc. competed for U.S. Armed Forces contract to produce all-terrain, general purpose ("GP" or "Jeep") troop transport vehicle (four-wheel drive, masked fender-mount headlights, rifle rack under the dash); Karl K. Pabst, consulting engineer of Bantam Car. Co. (Butler, PA) submitted original design, awarded production contract for 70 vehicles; prototype failed; contract given to Willys-Overland on basis of  similar design, superior production capabilities; November 13, 1940 - first Willys-Overland Jeep prototype completed, submitted to the U.S. Army for approval (four-wheel drive, open-air cab, rifle rack mounted under the windshield); 1941 - mass production began; 1945 - some 350,000 Jeeps had rolled off assembly lines onto battlefields of Asia, Africa, Europe; first civilian Jeep ("CJ") vehicle, CJ-2A, introduced (forefather of today's sport utility vehicles); 1948 - CJ-3A introduced; June 13, 1950 - Willys-Overland Motors, Inc. registered "Jeep" trademark first used November 20, 1940, first used in commerce in commerce - February 5, 1943 (automobiles and structural parts thereof); 1953 - Willys-Overland acquired for $60 million by Henry J. Kaiser; 1955 - Kaiser introduced CJ-5 (longest production run of any Jeep vehicle, from 1954 - 1984); 1962 - introduced first automatic transmission in 4-wheel drive vehicle in Wagoneer line; 1963 - name changed to Kaiser Jeep® Corp.; 1970  - acquired by  American Motors Corporation; 1976 - introduced CJ-7; August 5, 1987 - AMC-Jeep Eagle acquired by Chrysler Corporation.

John North Willys - Jeep  (http://www.todayinsci.com/ W/Willys_John/WillysJohnThm.jpg)

1940 - Enzo Anselmo Ferrari started work in old Scuderia on an independent manufacturing company, the Auto Avio Costruzioni Ferrari (interrupted by WW II); November 16, 1929 - founded Scuderia Ferrari, an organization that began as a racing club but that by 1933 had absorbed the entire race-engineering division at Alpha Romeo; November 1939 - Alpha took back control of their racing division from Ferrar for financial reasons; March 2, 1947 - Ferrari drove first 125S vehicle out of the factory gates; 1949 - Ferrari's 166 won the 24 Hours at Le Mans, Europe's most famous car race.

August 26,1940 - Cadillac discontinued manufacture of the LaSalle, after 14 years of production; Intended to boost profits during a lag in luxury car sales as moderately priced alternative to the opulence of the Cadillac. 

October 1, 1940 - First 160-mile section of Pennsylvania Turnpike, America's first toll superhighway, opened ($70 million price tag); carried average of 2,000,000 vehicles every year, nearly twice original estimate of highway planners.

December 30, 1940 - California's first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway connecting Los Angeles and Pasadena, was officially opened.

February 4, 1941 - Ransom Eli Olds (76) received his last automobile patent for an "Internal Combustion Engine" ("related to multi-cylinder internal combustion engines of the two-cycle fuel injection type...provides first for thoroughly scavenging the cylinders from exhaust gases, and second for supercharging the same").

August 1, 1941 - Parade magazine called it "...the Army's most intriguing new gadget", "a tiny truck which can do practically everything" - The Jeep (built by Willys Overland).

December 11, 1941 - Spare tires on new cars prohibited (law designed to conserve America's resources); rubber, produced overseas, had become almost impossible to get.

December 31, 1941 - America's last automobiles with chrome-plated trim were manufactured; 1942 - chrome plating became illegal, part of an effort to conserve resources for the American war effort.

January 1, 1942 - U.S. Office of Production Management prohibited sales of new cars and trucks to civilians; all automakers dedicated their plants entirely to the war effort; plants were converted wholesale to the manufacture of bombers, jeeps, military trucks, and other gear.

January 13, 1942 - Henry Ford, of Dearborn, MI, received a patent for an "Automobile Body Construction" ("a body construction in which plastic body panels are employed, not only for the doors and the side panels, but also for the roof, hood and all other exposed panels on the body"); first U.S. patent for construction of an automobile using plastic; covered an automobile body construction, an auto body chassis frame made of steel tubes or pipes designed for use with automobiles made from plastics; August 1941 - Ford Motor Company produced first such car in the U.S.; fourteen plastic panels were mounted on a tubular welded frame; windows and windshield made of acrylic sheets; weight decrease of approximately 30 percent.

January 30, 1942 - Last pre-war automobiles produced by Chevrolet and DeSoto rolled off the assembly lines; January 31, 1942 - Last pre-war automobiles produced by Chrysler, Plymouth, and Studebaker rolled off the assembly lines; retooled their factories for military gear.

February 7, 1942 - Federal government ordered passenger car production stopped, converted to wartime purposes; government offered automakers guaranteed profits regardless of production costs throughout the war years; Office of Production Management allocated $11 billion to the construction of war manufacturing plants that would be sold to the automobile manufacturers at remarkable discounts after the war; revolutionized American car making, brought about the Golden Era of the 1950s.

May 15, 1942 - United States began gasoline rationing (17 Eastern States).

September 10, 1942 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt mandated gasoline rationing in U.S. as part of country's wartime efforts.

November 28, 1942 - For Ford Motor Company's war effort, the first production Ford bomber, the B-24 Liberator, rolled off the assembly line at Ford's massive Willow Run plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan; government made Ford and America's other automakers an economic offer: for their participation in the war effort, automakers would be guaranteed profits regardless of production costs, and $11 billion would be allocated to the building of war plants--factories that would be sold to private industry at a substantial discount after the war; February 1942 - the last Ford automobile rolled off the assembly line for the duration of the war; July 1944 - Willow Plant was producing one B-24 every hour, a total of over 8,500 bombers by 43,000 men and women by the end of the war.  

April 10, 1944 - Henry Ford II, grandson and namesake of Henry Ford, named executive vice president of the Ford Motor Company; confirmed his bid to become the heir to his grandfather's throne at Ford; strongman Harry Bennett (power at Ford for his suppression of organized labor) attempted to bring Henry II under his influence, to no avail; September 21, 1945 - succeeded his father as president of the Ford Motor Company.

May 29, 1945 - Frederick M. Jones, of Minneapolis, MN, received a patent for a "Two-Cycle Gas Engine" (...two or more cylinders have their piston rods and the crank shaft extending into a common crank shaft chamber and provide double pistons and double cylinders, one part of each said piston and cylinder operating as a charging chamber"); assigned to U. S. Thermo Control Company.

July 25, 1945 - Henry Kaiser, Joseph Frazer announced plans to form corporation to manufacture automobiles (Frazer's contacts in the auto industry, Kaiser's capital and experience with huge government contracts); August 9, 1945 - incorporated; 1946 - leased Ford Willow Run Plant, produced 11,000 cars; company lost $19 million, stock plummeted; 1947 - Willow Run produced 100,000 cars, Kaiser-Frazer recorded $19 million in profit; 1949 - company lost $30 million; 1953 - merged with Willys-Overland.

August 15, 1945 - World War II gasoline rationing in America ended on this day.

September 21, 1945 - Henry Ford II, grandson of Henry Ford, succeeded his father as president of the Ford Motor Company; inherited company losing several million dollars a month; reorganized, modernized company, fired powerful Personnel Chief Harry Bennett (strong-arm tactics, anti-union stance made Ford notorious for bad labor relations); recruited new talent, including a group of former U.S. Air Force intelligence officers ("Whiz Kids"); nursed company back to health, greatly expanded international operations, introduced two classic models, Mustang and Thunderbird.

November 14, 1945 - Tony Hulman purchased Indianapolis Motor Speedway from Edward Rickenbacher for $750,000 (in deplorable condition after four years of disuse during World War II); May 1946 -American Automobile Association ran its first postwar 500-mile race.

December 8, 1945 - The Toyota Motor Company received permission from the occupation government (after Japanese surrender in World War II on September 3, 1945) to start production of buses and trucks--vehicles necessary to keep Japan running. 

January 20, 1946 - Kaiser-Frazer Corporation introduced first automobiles at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel; Kaiser-Frazer formed after World War II by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and Joseph W. Frazer, president of the Graham-Paige Motor Company; produced several successful cars, most notably the 1951 Kaiser two-door; 1953 - renamed Kaiser Motors Corporation, soon abandoned passenger car business in favor of manufacturing commercial, military vehicles.

March 13, 1946 - UAW and General Motors agreed to a settle a strike which had lasted from November 1945 until March of 1946; 175,00 strikers agreed to head back to work; walkout engineered by UAW chief Walter Reuther; agitated for higher pay for GM's 320,000 employees, looked to consolidate his power in auto union; in coming months leaders in various industries proved successful in drive for price increases, led to inflation, wiped out workers' wage gains.

October 1946 - Soichiro Honda established the Honda Technical Research Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan, to develop and produce small 2-cycle motorbike engines; 1948 - Honda Motor Company, Ltd. was born; 1959 - Honda opened its first storefront in Los Angeles with six industrious employees.

March 2, 1947 - Enzo Ferrari drove first 125S vehicle out of the factory gates.

March 27, 1947 - Nanjing Automobile Group Corp. (NAC), state-owned, founded as military garage in Jiangsu; oldest, fourth largest Chinese automobile manufacturer; 16,000 employees, annual production capacity of about 200,000 vehicles; July 22, 2005 - acquired MG rover Group $97 million; March 27, 2007 - revived MG brand, began production of MG sports cars.

March 30, 1947 - Preston Tucker announced his concept for a new automobile to be named "the Tucker" (no new car model had been released since 1942); rear-mounted engine as powerful as an aircraft engine, hydraulic torque converter that would eliminate the necessity of a transmission, two revolving headlights at either side of the car's fender, one stationary "cyclops" headlight in the middle, steering wheel placed in the center of the car and flanked by two passenger seats. SEC indicted Tucker on 31 counts of fraud for selling unapproved securities (sold franchises to individual car dealers who put up $50 in cash for every car they expected to sell during their first two years as a Tucker agent) before he could begin mass production of his cars; January 21, 1950 - acquitted on all counts, but business ruined; only fifty-one Tuckers were produced and none of them were equipped with the technological breakthroughs he promised.

June 10, 1947 - Saab (Svenska Aeroplan AB) introduced first car, the model 92 prototype; Saab director Sven Otterbeck placed aircraft engineer Gunnar Ljungstrom in charge of creating  company's first car; equipped with a two-cylinder, two-stroke engine that provided 25hp and propelled the car at a top speed of 62mph.

October 2, 1947 - The Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) formally established Formula One racing in Grand Prix competition; initiated for cars of 1,500cc supercharged and 4,500cc unsupercharged, minimum race distance reduced from 500km to 300km (allowed Monaco Grand Prix to be reintroduced into official Grand Prix racing); 1950 - Giuseppe "Nino" Farina, driving an Alfa Romeo 158, won the first Formula One World Championship at the Silverstone British Grand Prix.

December 14, 1947 - National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was founded at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida; good results on the stock-car circuit were believed to mean better sales on the showroom floor.

February 3, 1948 - First Cadillac with tailfins was produced, signaled the dawn of the tailfin era; General Motors increased the size of the Cadillac's "tailfeathers" every year throughout the 1950s; 1959 - the model's sales slumped dramatically, death knell for the tailfin.

February 27, 1948 - Federal Trade Commission issued a restraining order, prevented the Willys-Overland Company from representing that it had developed the Jeep (produced the Army vehicle that would come to be known as the Jeep); Bantam Motor Company first presented the innovative design to the Army.

April 30, 1948 - Brothers Maurice and Spencer Wilks, then Rover Company's managing director, introduced Land Rover at Amsterdam Auto Show; developed the truck as a result of a conversation about Maurice's American 4x4; featured four-wheel drive and a 1.6 liter engine from the Rover P3 60 saloon; shown with canvas top, optional doors (eventually became standard, as did a system where two and four-wheel drive could be selected in the high range with permanent four-wheel drive in the low range); became standard operating vehicle for British Commonwealth wilderness territories. 

June 8, 1948 - Dr. Ferdinand Porsche test drove first Porsche two-seat roadster sports car, Project 356-1, built in a sawmill in Gmund, Austria (Tyrolean Alps).

September 24, 1948 - Honda Technical Research Institute officially became the Honda Motor Company; began as a research institute founded by engineer Honda Soichiro; focused on creating small, efficient internal-combustion engines.

September 24, 1948 - Soichiro Honda formed Honda Motor Company in Hamamatsu Japan (aboutt 150 miles southwest of Tokyo); capitalized at ¥1 million, 34 employees; 1955 - led motorcycle production in Japan. early 1960s - world's largest manufacturer of motorcycles; 1962 - automobile production begins; 1972 - Honda introduced Civic 1200, became a serious contender in the industry; 1989 - Accord is best-selling car in America.

October 2, 1948 - Cameron Argetsinger and the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) present first post-World War II Grand Prix road race in the United States at Watkins Glen, NY; Frank Griswold, driving a 2.9 liter prewar Alfa Romeo, won both events offered, a 26.4-mile Junior Prix, and the 52.8-mile Grand Prix.

November 29, 1948 - Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley and 1,200 hundred others attended unveiling of first car manufactured entirely in Australia, General Motors-Holden's Automotive ivory-colored motor car officially designated the 48-215 (six-cylinder, four-door sedan), known as Holden FX; 100,000 sold in first five years of production; by 1980s - 4 million exported around world; 1994 - name changed to Holden. 

January 17, 1949 - First Volkswagen Beetle in the U.S. arrived from Germany.

March 2, 1949 - Connecticut Light and Power Company installed the first automatic streetlight system  in New Milford, CT;  streetlights containing an electronic device with a photoelectric cell capable of measuring outside light turned themselves on at dark;  November of 1949 - a total of 190 photoelectric streetlights automatically lighted seven miles of New Milford's roads at dusk.

March 17, 1949 - First car to carry Porsche name introduced at 19th International Automobile Show in Geneva, Switzerland; named the 356, sports-car version of Volkswagen that Porsche had designed at Hitler's request.

December 16, 1949 - Svenska Aeroplan Aktiebolaget (Sweden)   produced its first motorcar; 1965 - name changed to Saab Aktiebolag (later to Saab); 1990 - car operations acquired by General Motors (excluding bus, truck, military jet businesses); 2000 - rest of Saab's automotive operations acquired by GM.

1950 - George W. Mason, President of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation, introduced Nash Rambler, small car that could be produced inexpensively for the post war economy (forerunner of the modern American compact car); 1954 - product line broadened to 10 model types; June 30, 1969 - last Rambler produced.

August 2, 1950 - Ford Motor Company created Defense Products Division to handle large number of government contracts related to the Korean War.

August 22, 1950 - Ralph R. Teetor, of Hagerstown, IN, received a patent for a "Speed Control Device for Resisting Operation of the Accelerator" ("device for assisting an automobile driver in maintaining the speed of the vehicle not in excess of a pre-determined speed"); cruise control.

September 1, 1950 - Porsche returned to Zuffenhausen, Germany; completed first Porsche to boast a Porsche-made engine.

June 5, 1951 - Gordon M. Buehrig, of South Bend, IN, received a patent for "Vehicle Top Construction" ("to provide a vehicle top construction which is essentially the type providing an enclosed passenger compartment with the attendant advantages but which may be opened to a substantial degree to simulate an open passenger compartment"); vehicle top with removable panels; appeared as "T-top" on 1968 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray; 1928 - fourth man hired by Harley Earl for General Motors's new Art and Color Section, the first GM department dedicated solely to design concerns.

October 31, 1951 - Zebra crossing (broad white and black stripes across the road for visual impact vs. metal studs in the road)  introduced in Slough, Berkshire, England to reduce casualties at pedestrian road crossings.

December 5, 1951 - Parking Services Inc. openedfirst push button-controlled Park-O-Mat garage opened in Washington, DC (open building with 16 floors and 2 basement levels); no ramps, no aisles and no lanes; used a "vehicle parking apparatus" such that single attendant, without entering a car, could automatically park or return an auto in less than a minute; two elevators parked 72 cars on a lot 25 by 40 feet.

December 27, 1951 - U.S. Postal Service in Cincinnati, OH put Crosley car into use; first right-hand-drive car (on the mailbox-side of the car) designed specifically for mail delivery; produced by Powel Crosley, radio and appliance manufacturer, owner of WLW radio station, Cincinnati Reds baseball team.

1952 - Michio Suzuki created motorized bicycle, Power Free, featured 36cc, two-stroke engine (had founded Suzuki Loom Works in Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture Japan in 1909; reorganized in 1920 as Suzuki Loom Manufacturing Co. to produce textile looms); 1954 - name changed to Suzuki Motor Corporation; 1955 - introduced first mass-produced car, the Suzulight; 1981 - General Motors acquired 5% of Suzuki shares; 1985 - American Suzuki Corp. introduced Samurai in U.S.; 1998 - GM increased ownership to 10%; 2001- GM's ownership rose to 20.4%; 2004 - General Motors and Suzuki Motor Corp. acquired bankrupt Daewoo; March 2006 - GM divested, sold 92.36 million shares, reduced stake to 3%, raised $2 billion. Suzuki still owns 11% of GM Daewoo Auto and Technology. 

Michio Suzuki -  Suzuki Motor Corporation (http://www.autonet.ru/pics/moto history/Suzuki 1.jpg)

1952 - Nuffield Group merged with Austin; became British Motor Corporation; fourth largest car manufacturer in world; 1968 - BMC merged with Leyland Group; combined nearly 100 companies: remaining independent British car manufacturing companies (car, bus and truck manufacturers), diverse enterprises (construction equipment, refrigerators, metal casting companies, road surface manufacturers); arranged in seven divisions under new chairman, Sir Donald Stokes (formerly chairman of LMC); 1975 - declared bankruptcy; April 1975 - Ryder Report recommended restructuring, enlarging under government ownership; government took control, created new holding company British Leyland Limited (government major shareholder); 1978 - name changed to BL Limited; 1986 - name changed to Rover Group; 1987 - Trucks Division merged with Dutch DAF company to form DAF NV; bus business spun-off into new company called Leyland Bus; 1988 - Bus & Truck division sold to Volvo; remaining Rover Group PLC business sold by the British Government to British Aerospace (BAe); 1994 - BAe sold The Rover Group to BMW; 2000 -remainder of company sold to Phoenix Consortium for nominal £10, renamed MG Rover Ltd.

1952 - Leonard Lord (Austin division of British Motor Corporation), Donald Healey (renowned automotive engineer, designer, founder in 1945 of Donald Healey Motor Company Ltd.) established joint venture to manufacture Austin-Healey sports cars; 1972 - 20-year agreement ended.

1952 - Julius Sämann, chemist in Watertown, NY, responded to milk-truck driver's complaint about smell of spilled, sour milk in his truck; discovered that putting high-quality fragrance on porous card stock highly effective way to make quality air freshener (had spent several years extracting essential oils from pine needles in Canada); sketched Little Tree shape, coined name "Car-Freshner"; founded Car-Freshner Corp.; March 24, 1959 - Car-Freshner Corporation registered "Car-Freshner" trademark first used on August 6, 1952 (absorbent bodies impregnated with a perfumed air deodorant); added over forty fragrances to the original Royal Pine; family-owned, 600 employees in 3 plants.

January 1, 1952 - Colin Chapman founded Lotus Engineering Company in Norfolk, England; first production car - Lotus, the Mark VI.

February 5, 1952 - New York adopted three-color traffic lights; first "Don't Walk" sign was installed in New York City; erected in response to the growing awareness of pedestrian fatalities in the increasingly crowded Manhattan streets; occur most often between six p.m. and nine p.m.; 1997 - 5,307 pedestrians died as a result of automobile accidents.

March 12, 1952 - Mercedes introduced the 300SL to the press, sleek rounded body, gull-wing doors, a detachable steering wheel; 1954 - introduced the 300SL coupe to the public; six-cylinder engine, top speed of 155mph, two-door coupe created a sensation among wealthy car buyers; company only manufactured 1,400 300SL coupes due to impracticality of the gull-wing doors.

March 19, 1952 - 1,000,000th Jeep produced; 1945 - 660,000 Jeeps had rolled off the assembly lines and onto battlefields in Asia, Africa, and Europe; Willys-Overland released its first civilian Jeep model, called the CJ (Civilian Jeep).

May 7, 1952 - James J. Nance resigned from Hotpoint to become president, general manager of Packard Motor Company (two years); October of 1954 - Packard merged with larger Studebaker Corporation, Nance named President; 1956 - acquired by Curtiss-Wright Aircraft Company.

June 12, 1952 - Maurice Olley, Chevrolet's chief engineer, completed chassis, code-named Opel, for eventual use in 1953 Corvette; July 1952 - Corvette got its name from extensive search through an English dictionary, found that corvette was small-sized, speedy warship used by most Allied navies during World War II; December 22, 1952 - first Corvette, production-ready prototype, with sporty fiberglass body, completed; design said to have cost between $50,000- $60,000 to build;  January 17, 1953 - exhibited as  dream car at Motorama Car Show Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City; June 30, 1953 - first regular-production model rolled out; first production year - just over 300 Corvettes assembled (by hand) in Flint, Michigan; about half sold, rest given away to company executives and VIPs.

February 6, 1953 - Mercedes introduced 300SL, stylish sports car characterized by gull-wing doors, six-cylinder engine, top speed of 155mph, two-door coupe created sensation among wealthy car buyers (seen waiting in line to buy it); gull-wing doors proved impractical, company only manufactured 1,400 300SL coupes.

June 30, 1953 - First Chevrolet Corvette, white convertible with red interior, drove off General Motors assembly line - first all-fiberglass-bodied American sports car (built with existing General Motors's parts); included "Blue Flame" inline six-cylinder engine, two-speed automatic transmission, drum brakes from Chevrolet's regular car line; September 1, 1953 - General Motors Corporation registered "Corvette" trademark first used January 9, 1953 (automobiles); 1954 - Went into full production, with limited success (some 3,500 cars sold, another 1,200 unsold by year's end); Chevy engineer Zora Arkus-Duntov overhauled engine, drive-shaft; 1955 - Corvette, equipped with new suspension, 195hp engine; tested in disguise at Pike's Peak Hill Climb (shattered stock-car record); February 1956 - Arkus-Duntov drove modified Corvette V-8 to two-way stock-car record of 150mph at Daytona Raceway; 1950s - did not surpass T-Bird in sales, fulfilled initial expectations to become first American sports car. 

September 22, 1953 - World's first four-level interchange structure opened in Los Angeles; massive concrete structure connected the freeways of Hollywood, Harbor, Santa Ana, and Arroyo Seco.

1954 - Felix Wankel invented modern design for rotary engine (1893 - Elwood Haynes pioneered rotary engine); dispensed with separate pistons, cylinders, valves, and crankshafts; its construction allowed it to apply power directly to the transmission; can produce the same power as a conventional engine of twice its size with four times as many parts; burns up to twice as much gasoline as a conventional engine, a heavy polluter; February 1957 - first truly functional Wankel rotary engine (DKM type) ready; uses an orbiting rotor shaped as a curved equilateral triangle (instead of moving pistons), needed few moving parts, lightweight and compact; August 1971 - Wankel GmbH sold to LonRho for 100 million DM ($26.3 million).

January 14, 1954 - Hudson Motor Car Company agreed to merge with Nash-Kelvinator, largest corporate merger in U.S. history (at the time), valued at $198,000,000; new company called American Motors Corporation; recognized as most successful postwar independent manufacturer of cars; March 24, 1954 - proposed merger approved; October 12 - George Romney named AMC chairman, president, and general manager; led successful personal ad campaign promoting AMC Rambler as efficient, reliable car; Rambler sales kept AMC alive; December 28, 1954 - first Hudson Hornet with a Nash engine was offered.

February 19, 1954 - Ford Thunderbird prototype completed;  scaled-down Ford built for two with removable fiberglass hard top, convertible canvas roof, V-8 engine for $2,944; fall 1954 - released to  market on wide scale, beginning of 1955 model year; January 10, 1956 - Ford Motor Company registered "Thunderbird" trademark first used in February 20, 1954 (automobiles).

First T-Bird ever produced (restored to completely original condition in 1965)   (http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2009/01/firsttbirdbj09_lead.jpg)

June 7, 1954 - Ford Motor Company formed styling team to  design entirely new car, later named Edsel.

June 10, 1954 - General Motors announced its research staff had built GM Turbocruiser, modified GMC coach powered by gas turbine; engine consisted of single burner with two turbine wheels (one used to drive centrifugal compressor, second delivered power for transmission to rear wheels of vehicle).

October of 1954 - Studebaker merged with Packard, became country's fourth largest car company; 1956 - acquired by Curtiss-Wright.

October 26, 1954 - Chevrolet introduced V-8 engine.

November 19, 1954 - First automatic toll collection machine ($.25) placed in service at the Union Toll Plaza on New Jersey's Garden State Parkway (revenues covered roadway's construction and maintenance costs); 1795 -non-automotive toll road first appeared in the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Little River Turnpike at Snicker's Gap. 

April 18, 1955 - First "Walk"/"Don't Walk" lighted street signals installed.

April 19, 1955 - Volkswagen of America, Inc. was established in Engelwood, NJ, as a sales division for the German car company; produced its 1,000,000th car and exceeded, for the first time, the production benchmark of 1,000 cars per day on average.

June 27, 1955 - Illinois enacted first automobile seat belt legislation.

July 6, 1955 - Federal Air Pollution Control Act implemented; allocated federal funds for research into causal analysis and control of car-emission pollution. 1953 - Dr. Arie Haagen-Smit discovered the nature of photochemical smog, determining that nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbons combined with ultraviolet radiation from the sun created smog. He also discovered that ozone played a key role in the bonding process that created smog; 1960 -  Federal Motor Vehicle Act of 1960 called for further research and development into the control of car emissions. 1961 - California Motor Vehicle Board mandated first automotive emissions control technology--positive crankcase ventilation (PCV). PCV technology limited hydrocarbon emission by returning blow-by gases from the crankcase back to a car's cylinders, where they were burned with fuel and air; 1963 - the first Federal Clean-Air Act passed, allocated research money for local and federal institutions to combat air pollution.

July 14, 1955 - Volkswagen introduced the Karmann-Ghia coupe at the Kasino Hotel in Westfalia, Germany - an "image car" to accompany its plain but reliable "Bugs and Buses." Volkswagen had contracted with German coach-builder Karmann for their own image car, and Karmann, in turn, had sub-contracted to Ghia (Italian design firm ) for design offerings. Karmann-Ghia was released as a 1956 model by Volkswagen - 36hp flat four engine, sold 10,000 units in its first full production year ,and with the release of the convertible in 1958, production reached 18,000 units for one year, sales peaked at 33,000 in the 1960's, last produced in 1974.

September 18, 1955 - Ford Motor Company produced its 2,000,000th V-8 engine, 23 years after the first Ford V-8 was manufactured.

December 6, 1955 - Volkswagenwerk G.M.B.H. Corporation, Wolfsburg, Germany, registered "Volkswagen" trademark.

December 6, 1955 - The Federal government standardized the size of license plates throughout the U.S. (individual states had designed their own license plates, resulted in wide variations).

December 31, 1955 - General Motors announced net income of $1,189,477,082 for the year; first U.S. corporation to earn more than a billion dollars in a fiscal year.

April 2, 1956 - Alfred P. Sloan stepped down after 19 years as chairman of General Motors (GM), with Albert Bradley elected as his successor; hired by William Durant after purchase of the Hyatt Roller Bearing Corporation, worked his way up to VP; 1920 - DuPont family bought out Durant, named Sloan to head GM; recognized as the creator of the GM Corporation: centralizing GM operations, imposed financial discipline, built new corporate headquarters on the outskirts of Detroit, did not allow his ego, or his genius, to interfere with his shareholders' interests, focused on consolidation and profit margin.

May 16, 1956 - General Motors (GM) dedicated its new, $125 million GM Technical Center in Warren, MI; product of Alfred Sloan and GM stylist (car architect) Harley Earl (achieved fame for his design of GM's 1927 LaSalle, first production car to offer a sleek, long and rounded look; hired by Alfred Sloan to oversee styling for all GM cars); 2003 - $1 billion dollar renovation completed.

June 25, 1956 - Last Packard produced at Connor Avenue plant in Detroit, MI; considered last true Packard car; manufactured cars in South Bend, IN until 1958.

June 29, 1956 - President Dwight Eisenhower signed into law the Highway Revenue Act of 1956 (June 26, 1956 - Senate approved the bill by a vote of 89 to 1; House approved the bill by a voice vote); outlined a policy of taxation with the aim of creating a fund for the construction of over 42,500 miles of interstate highways; plan called for $50 billion over 13 years (total federal budget approached $71 billion). To pay for the project a system of taxes, relying heavily on the taxation of gasoline, was implemented (consumers pay 18.3¢ per gallon today).  Eisenhower thought of the Federal Interstate System as his greatest achievement. 1919 - push for a national highway system began when privately funded construction of the Lincoln Highway began.

November 8, 1956 - Ford Motor Company decided on the name "Edsel" for a new model in development for the 1958 market year (tribute to Edsel Bryant Ford, oldest son of founder Henry Ford and father to Henry Ford II, who served as company president from 1919 until his death in 1943).

1957 - Frank Stronach opened one-man tool and die shop in Canada, called Multimatic; first year's sales $13,000 (Canadian); 1960 - received first order from General Motors to produce metal-stamped sun visor brackets; 1968 - sales $2.6 million (US); 1969 - merged with Magna Electronics Corporation Limited (aerospace, defense, industrial components manufacturer); 1973 - name changed to Magna International Inc.; 1979 - entered automotive plastics business; 1987 - full-service supplier for many key systems for automotive market; 1989 - co-designed, co-developed integrated child-safety seat; 1990 - sold non-auto lines to reduce debt; formed joint venture with Ford Motor Company to supply basic and molded exterior components; 1999 - named by Forbes magazine as world's top auto parts company; 2005 - took three public operating subsidiaries private; annual sales $22.8 billion; 2007 - made unsuccessful bid for Chrysler (company's biggest customer).

Frank Stronach - Magna International (http://www.cbc.ca/lifeandtimes/images/stronach.jpg)

July 4, 1957 - Fiat launched "Nuova 500" ("Cinquecinto" - produced in Turin, 479cc engine, 3 doors); 1975 -  when it went out of production; 2007 - revived as new Fiat 500 (58cm longer than the original; driver can plug iPod straight into dashboard).

August 26, 1957 - Ford Motor Company rolled out first Edsel automobile five years after its conception (named after Henry Ford's son, Edsel Bryant Ford); based on careful market research that indicated consumers wanted more horsepower, tailfins, three-tone paint jobs, wrap-around windshields.

September 4, 1957 - Ford Motor Co. began selling Edsels; proclaimed this day "E-day" in celebration of the Edsel's introduction (five years after conception, in response to careful market research that indicated consumers wanted more horsepower, tailfins, three-tone paint jobs, wrap-around windshields).; low price, V-8 engine failed to overcome "ugly horse-collar grille" = negative press, lack of sales; 1958 - earned just 1.5 percent share of auto market; 1960 - line discontinued,  110,847 manufactured.

October 31, 1957 - Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. founded in California (Shotaro Kamiya as the first president); by the end of 1958 - 287 Toyopet Crowns and one Land Cruiser had been sold; 1997 - Toyota Camry became the best-selling car in America, surpassed Honda's popular Accord model.

November 7, 1957 - VEB Kraftfahrzeugwerk Zwickau produced first pre-series Trabant ('Trabi', car type P 50) in Zwickau, Germany automobile factory (40th anniversary of the Bolshevik Revolution); May 1, 1958 - renamed VEB Sachsenring Automobilwerke Zwickau (VEB Sachsenring); July 10 1958 - final production line started; East Germany's answer to Volkswagen; made of plasticized cotton waste, called Duroplast with 72-horsepower, two-stroke engine (56 mph top speed); November 9, 1989 - East German citizens allowed to buy western cars; 1990 - company renamed Sachsenring Automobilwerke GmbH (Sachsenring AG); April 30, 1991 - last Trabant produced; about 3 million made, more than 53,000 remain in Germany; May 30, 2002 - filed for insolvency protection; February, 2006 - Sachsenring AG acquired by Härterei und Qualitätsmanagement GmbH (HQM) of Leipzig.

December 13, 1957 - Last two-seater T-bird produced (removable hard tops, powerful V-8 engines); 1958 Thunderbird (nicknamed the "square bird") was four-passenger car, 18 inches longer , half ton heavier than previous year's model; sold more cars in 1958 than 1957.

December 28, 1957 - 2,000,000th Volkswagen produced.

January 9, 1958 - Toyota, Datsun (later Nissan) brand names made first appearances in United States at Imported Motor Car Show in Los Angeles, CA.

February 13, 1958 - First Ford Thunderbird with four seats introduced (352-cubic-inch 300 horsepower V-8); thirty-eight thousand cars initially sold, one of only two American cars to increase sales between 1957 and 1958.

April 17, 1964 - Ford Motor Co. unveiled new Mustang model on first day of New York World's Fair in Flushing, Queens (New York); brainchild of Lee Iacocca, his production team; essentially Ford Falcon with new frame, body; April 17, 1965 - Ford introduced GT Equipment Group as option on Mustang, created first Mustang GT (Mustang-related innovation was new strategy of marketing upgrade packages); base price for Mustang was $2,368, but buyers purchased average of $1,000 worth of options

August 11, 1966 - First Chevy Camaro (French for "comrade, pal, or chum") drove out of manufacturing plant in Norwood, OH; hit with public, base price of $2,466 for a six-cylinder engine, three-speed manual transmission.

March 13, 1980 - Henry Ford II resigned as Chairman of Ford Motor Company, named Philip Caldwell his successor; era of  Ford family as automotive dynasty temporarily ended; reorganized company, instituted modern bookkeeping system.

May 22, 2001 - Ford Motor Co. announced plans to spend more than $2 billion to replace up to 13 million Firestone tires on its vehicles because of safety concerns.

August 31, 2003 - Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Party held in Milwaukee's Veterans Park.

January 23, 2006 - William Clay Ford, CEO of Ford Motor Company, announced company's turnaround plan, called "Way Forward" (second time in four years Ford has restructured its North American auto division): 1) closing 14 plants (reduces North American production capacity by 1.2 million, or 26 percent, by 2008), 2) eliminating 30,000 jobs in the next six years,  a quarter of Ford's North American workforce, 3) cutting at least $6 billion in annual costs by 2010 (Ford reported losses in North America for five of the past six quarters; hurt by: decreased sales of sport utility vehicles, increased health care and materials costs, increased competition and labor contracts that limit plant closures and job cuts, 10 straight years of U.S. market-share losses - 18.6% of the U.S. market in 2005, down from 25.7% a decade earlier, U.S. sales have dropped by more than 1 million units annually since 1999); 2003 - Toyota passed Ford as the world's No. 2 automaker.

January 26, 2006 - General Motors reported its worst year in the last 45 years (shareholders have lost 60% of their money in last two years): an $8.6 billion loss for 2005 (subseqyently revised upward to $10.6 billion), $15.13 a share (vs. profit of $2.8 billion in 2004; fifth consecutive quarterly loss; biggest loss since 1992); GM's market share fell to the lowest level since 1925. Foreign auto companies held just over 43 percent of the American market in 2005, their highest share ever. Toyota earned $11 billion in the year that ended in March 2005.

February 7, 2006 - GM announced: 1) cut its dividend in half  for the first time in 13 years ($2 to $1 per share = save $565 million a year), 2) 50 per cent reduction in CEO's annual salary of $2.2-million,  30 per cent cut in pay for GM’s vice chairman, compensation cut for  other board members, 3) restructure its pension plan for salaried workers, 4) revise health care benefits to reduce its liability by $4.8 billion before taxes; November 2005 - announced plans to shed 30,000 jobs, close nine assembly plants (lead to savings of $7 billion by the end of 2006); 1 GM share bought at the end of 1960 = 11.6 shares today, worth more than $500 (pre-transactions costs) = < 6% compounded return over 45 years.

June 18, 2008 - More than 10,000 dealerships, nearly all of which sold American brands, have closed since 1970 (source: National Automotive Dealers Association); 2007 - 430 dealerships closed;  2008 - 400+ expected to close; about 20,000 dealerships nationwide remain.

GM's share price: 1948-2008 (source: Bloomberg; http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/07/09/business/0709-biz-GM2.jpg)

July 25, 2008 - Ford reported 2Q loss of $8.7 billion = worst quarterly loss in its 105-year history ($5.3-billion charge to write down value of plants that build pickups, S.U.V.s; $2.1 billion write-down by Ford Credit, auto loan division, to cover shrinking value of lease portfolio; $1 billion loss from auto operations); 2008 sales of large pickups down 25%, sales of S.U.V.s own 32% (source: according Ward’s Automotive Reports); Ford's product mix (1990-2008): 1) 1995-2007: SUVs, pick-up trucks, vans dominated sales (about 15% above industry average); 2008 - 1) shift production to cars, crossover vehicles (8/14 plants in North America build trucks, S.U.V.s, full-sized vans; expected to convert three assembly plants from truck-based products to cars); 2) realign factories to manufacture more fuel-efficient 4-cylinder, V-6 engines; 3) produce six of next European car models for United States market. (source: New York Times).

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/07/22/business/2008fordgraphic.jpg)

August 2, 2008 - Cash squeeze: GM ended second quarter with $21 billion in cash reserves; burning more than $1 billion in cash/month (cost cuts, asset sales, debt offerings planned to increase liquidity by $15 billion).

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/08/02/business/0802-biz-subGMweb.gif)

August 22, 2008 - Americans drive less, buy less gas.

(American Motors), Tom Mahoney (1960). The Story of George Romney: Builder, Salesman, Crusader. (New York, NY: Harper, 275 p.). Romney, George W., 1907-; American Motors Corporation.

George Romney - AMC (http://amcrc.com/romney.gif)

(American Motors), Patrick R. Foster (1993). American Motors, the Last Independent (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 304 p.). American Motors Corporation--History; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(American Motors), Jim Mann (1997). Beijing Jeep: A Case Study of Western Business in China. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 350 p.). American Motors Corporation; Jeep automobile; Automobile industry and trade--United States; Automobile industry and trade--China; Joint ventures--United States; Joint ventures--China; United States--Foreign economic relations--China; China--Foreign economic relations--United States.

(Armstrong Siddeley Motors), Ray Cook (1988). Armstrong Siddeley: The Parkside Story, 1896-1939. (Derby, UK: Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust, 139 p.). Armstrong Siddeley Motors--History; Automobile industry and trade--Great Britain--History; Aircraft industry--Great Britain--History.

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(ASIMCO Technologies), Jack Perkowski (2008). Managing the Dragon: How I’m Building a Billion Dollar Business in China. (New York, NY: Crown Business, 336 p.). Chairman, CEO of ASIMCO Technologies, among China’s largest automobile components makers (12,000 employees in 17 plants in 8 provinces). Perkowski, Jack; ASIMCO Technologies; Automobile supplies industry--China; Businesspeople--China--Biography; Management--China; Capitalists and financiers--United States--Biography. Westerner who built company in China from scratch; dramatic transformation from place left behind by modern world to place where new world being born; insights: 1) everything is possible, nothing is easy; 2) develop local management team (avoid former bureaucrats of state-run enterprises, country’s new breed of wildcat entrepreneurs); 3) learn real reason why China is able to produce goods so cheaply; 4) Chinese economy highly decentralized, locally driven (not rigidly controlled by Beijing).

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(Austin Motor Company), Z. E. Lambert and R. J. Wyatt; with a foreword by Sir Miles Thomas (1968). Lord Austin the Man. (London, UK: Sidgwick & Jackson, 187 p.). Austin, Herbert, Baron Austin of Longbridge, 1866-1941; Austin Motor Company, Ltd.

Herbert Austin (http://www.autopasion18.com/ IMAGENES-LOS-PADRES-DEL-AUTOMOVIL/HERBERT AUSTIN-(1866-1941)-01.jpg)

(Austin Motor Company), Roy Church (1979). Herbert Austin: The British Motor Car Industry to 1941. (London, UK: Europa Publications, 233 p.). Austin, Herbert, Baron Austin of Longbridge, 1866-1941; Businesspeople--Great Britain--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--Great Britain--History.

(Austin Motor Company), R.J. Wyatt (1981). The Austin, 1905-1952. (North Pomfret, VT: David & Charles, 298 p.). Austin Motor Company, ltd.--History.

(Austin Rover Group), Karel Williams, John Williams, Colin Haslam (1987). The Breakdown of Austin Rover: A Case-Study in the Failure of Business Strategy and Industrial Policy. (New York, NY: Berg, 150 p.). Austin Rover Group; Automobile industry and trade--Great Britain.

(Automobili Lamborghini Spa), Stefano Pasini (1991). Lamborghini. (Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 124 p.). Automobili Lamborghini Spa--History; Lamborghini automobile--History.

Ferruccio Lamborghini - Automobili Lamborghini Spa (http://www.q8hp.com/Ferruccio%20Lamborghini.jpg)

(Automobili Lamborghini Spa), Tonino Lamborghini (1997). Onora il Padre e la Madre: Storia di Ferruccio Lamborghini. (Venezia, IT: Editoria universitaria, 140 p.). Lamborghini, Ferruccio, 1916-1993; Automobili Lamborghini Spa--History; Lamborghini automobile--History.

(BMW), Horst Mönnich; translated from the German by Anthony Bastow and William Henson (1991). The BMW Story: A Company in Its Time. (London, UK: Sidgwick & Jackson, 588 p.). Bayerische Motoren Werke History; Automobile industry and trade Germany (West) History.

Herbert Quandt - BMW (http://www.prignitz24.de/ _prignitz/img/quandt.jpg)

Johanna Quandt - BMW (http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:v4sJ_tH_3zsJ: www.forbes.com/images/2001/06/21/15richesquandt_400x260.gif)

(BMW), Rudiger Jungbluth (2002). Die Quandts: Ihr Leiser Aufstieg zur Machtigsten Wirtschaftsdynastie Deutschlands. (New York, NY: Campus, 391 p.). Berlin Economic journalist .Quandt family; Businesspeople--Germany--Biography. Unknown history of four generations of Quandt family - built huge corporate empire; 1880 - starts with Emil Quandt and Pritzwalk, textile factory, in Brandenburg (foundation for rise of family fortunes); question of Nazi collaboration - one of largest arms producers under Hitler, enriched by massive deployment of forced laborers, concentration camp inmates.

(BMW), Chris Brady & Andrew Lorenz (2002). End of the Road: BMW and Rover: A Brand Too Far. (London, UK: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 232 p. [rev. and updated]). BMW; Rover Group; Consolidation and merger of corporations -- Germany; Consolidation and merger of corporations -- Great Britain; Automobile industry and trade -- Mergers -- Great Britain; Automobile industry and trade -- Mergers -- Germany.

(BMW), David Kiley (2004). Driven: Inside BMW, The Most Admired Car Company in the World. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 310 p.). Detroit Bureau Chief (USA Today). Bayerische Motoren Werke History; Automobile industry and trade Germany -- History.

(BMW), Graham Robson (2008). Inside the BMW Factories: Building the Ultimate Driving Machine. (Minneapolis, MN: Motorbooks, 192 p.). Bayerische Motoren Werke --History; BMW automobiles --History; Automobiles --Design and construction --History; Automobile industry and trade --Germany --History. How company weathered two world wars, moved from aircraft to motorcycles to cars; how automaker works, how its methods have evolved over decades; tour of history, culture of one of world's great automakers.

(Borg-Warner), Robert J. Casey (1948). Mr. Clutch; The Story of George William Borg. (Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 258 p.). Borg, George William, 1887- .

(Borg-Warner), Will Oursler (1959). From Ox Carts to Jets: Roy Ingersoll and the Borg-Warner Story; A Biography. (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 346 p.). Ingersoll, Roy C., 1884- ; Borg-Warner Corporation.

(Bricklin), H. A. Fredericks with Allan Chambers (1977). Bricklin. (Fredericton, NB.: Brunswick Press, 139 p.). Bricklin, Malcolm; Bricklin Canada Ltd.; New Brunswick -- Politics and government -- 1960-.

(British Leyland), Graham Turner (1973). The Leyland Papers. (London, UK: Pan Books, 212 p. [rev. ed.]). British Leyland Motor Corporation.

James Sumner - Leyland Motors Limited (http://www.lancashirepioneers.com/images/sumner.jpg)

(British Leyland), R. J. Lucas. (1979). Pension Planning within a Major Company: A Case Study of the Negotiation of the British Leyland Pension Plan for Manual Workers. (New York, NY: Pergamon Press, 104 p.). British Leyland UK Limited; Automobile industry workers--Great Britain--Pensions--Case studies; Pension trusts--Great Britain--Case studies; Collective bargaining--Automobile industry--Case studies.

(British Leyland), Michael Edwardes (1983). Back from the Brink: An Apocalyptic Experience. (London, UK: Collins, 301 p.). Chairman of BL. Edwardes, Michael, 1930- ; BL Public Limited Company; Automobile industry and trade--Great Britain--Management; Automobile industry and trade--Government policy--Great Britain. Five years as chairman of BL, from 1977-1982.

(British Leyland), Richard Whipp and Peter Clark (1986). Innovation and the Auto Industry: Product, Process, and Work Organization. (New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 220 p.). British Leyland Limited; Automobile industry and trade--Technological innovations--Great Britain; Automobile industry workers--Effect of technological innovations on--Great Britain.

(Brunn Carriage Mfg Co.), Harry O. Brunn (2005). Brunn of Buffalo: A Coachbuilder at the Crossroads. (Buffalo, NY: The Buffalo Transportation/Pierce-Arrow Museum, 239 p.). Brunn, Henry O, 1839-1925.

(BSA), Bob Holliday (1978). The Story of BSA Motor Cycles. (Cambridge, UK: P. Stephens, 128 p.). BSA motorcycle.

(Bugatti), W. F. Bradley (1948). Ettore Bugatti: A Biography. (Abington, Berks.: Motor Racing Publications, 152 p.). Bugatti, Ettore, 1881-1947.

  Ettore Bugatti (http://www.skyblueteal.co.uk/USERIMAGES/Ettore.jpg)

(Bugatti), L’Ebe´ Bugatti; Translated from the French by Len Ortzen (1967). The Bugatti Story. (Philadelphia, PA: Chilton Book Co., 196 p.). Bugatti, Ettore, 1881-1947.

(Bugatti), Fondation prestige Bugatti (1981). Ettore Bugatti, 1881-1947. (Strasbourg: Fondation prestige Bugatti: ISTRA, 168 p.). Bugatti, Ettore, 1881-1947; Bugatti automobile; Automobile industry and trade--France--Biography.

(Bugatti), Barrie Price; (Foreword), Jonathan Wood (1992). Bugatti: The Man and the Marque. (Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, UK: The Crowood Press, 384 p.). Bugatti, Ettore, 1881-1947; Bugatti automobile; Automobile industry and trade. 

(Cadillac), Wilfred C. Leland with Minnie Dubbs Millbrook. With an introd. by Allan Nevins and Frank E. Hill (1966). Master of Precision: Henry M. Leland. (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 296 p.). Leland, Henry Martyn, 1843-1932.

 Henry M. Leland - Cadillac and Lincoln (http://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honors/show_image.php?img=1&id=87)

(Cadillac), Gloria May Stoddard (1986). Henry Leland: The Story of the Vermonter Who Created Cadillac and Lincoln. (Shelburne, VT: New England Press, 115 p.). Leland, Henry Martyn, 1843-1932; Automobile engineers--United States--Biography.

(Carrozzeria Pininfarina), Bruno Bottiglieri ... [et al.]; a cura di Valerio Castronovo; prefazione di Luca Cordero di Montezemolo (2005). Storia della Pininfarina, 1930-2005: Un’industria Italiana nel Mondo. (Roma : Laterza: Roma : Laterza, 624 p.). Pininfarina, 1893-1966; Carrozzeria Pininfarina--History; Automobiles--Italy--Design and construction--History; Automobiles--Bodies--Italy--Design and construction--History. 1930 - founded by Battitsta (Pinin) Farina; 1960s - transformed into modern industrial complex by Sergio (son); solid; enduring links with Ferrari, Peugeot.

(Checker Motors Corp.), James Hinckley (2003). Checker Cab Co. Photo History. (Hudson, WI: Iconografix, 118 p.). Checker Motors Corp. (Kalamazoo, Mich.)--History; Checker automobiles--History. First complete history of this fascinating company and its legendary cabs.

(Chrysler - founded 1925), Walter P. Chrysler in collaboration with Boyden Sparkes (1950). Life of an American Workman. (New York, NY: Dodd, Mead, 219 p.). Chrysler, Walter Percy, 1875-1940; Industrialists--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

Walter P. Chrysler (http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/09/23709-003-6ADBE94F.gif)

Lee Iacocca (http://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_new/PAW00-01/08-0124/GS100.Iacocca.jpg)

(Chrysler), David Abodaher (1982). Iacocca. (New York, NY: Macmillan, 319 p.). Iacocca, Lee A.; Automobile industry and trade--United States; Businessmen--United States--Biography.

(Chrysler), Lee A. Iacocca with William Novak (1984). Iacocca: An Autobiography. (New York, NY: Bantam Books, 352 p.). Former Chairman, Chrysler Corp. of America. Iacocca, Lee A.; Automobile industry and trade--United States--Biography; Businesspeople--United States--Biography.

(Chrysler), Michael Moritz and Barrett Seaman (1984). Going for Broke: Lee Iacocca's Battle to Save Chrysler. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 350 p. [orig. pub. 1981]). Iacocca, Lee A.; Chrysler Corporation--History.

(Chrysler), Richard M. Langworth, Jan P. Norbye (1985). The Complete History of Chrysler Corporation, 1924-1985. (New York, NY: Beekman, 384 p.). Chrysler Corporation--History; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(Chrysler), Robert B. Reich, John D. Donahue (1985). New Deals: The Chrysler Revival and the American System. (New York, NY: Times Books, 359 p.). Chrysler Corporation -- Finance; Loans -- United States -- Government guaranty; Automobile industry and trade -- Government policy -- United States; Industrial policy -- United States.

(Chrysler), Steve Jefferys (1986). Management and Managed: Fifty Years of Crisis at Chrysler. (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 290 p.). Chrysler Corporation; Strikes and lockouts -- Automobile industry -- United States.

(Chrysler), Peter Wyden (1987). The Unknown Iacocca. (New York, NY: Morrow, 416 p.). Iacocca, Lee A.; Businessmen--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History..

(Chrysler), Lee A. Iacocca with Sonny Kleinfield (1988). Talking Straight. (New York, NY: Bantam, 324 p.). Former Chairman, Chrysler Corp. of America. Iacocca, Lee A.--Philosophy; Businesspeople--United States--Biography.

(Chrysler), Doron P. Levin (1995). Behind the Wheel at Chrysler: The Iacocca Legacy. (New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, 354 p.). Iacocca, Lee A.; Chrysler Corporation--Management; Automobile industry and trade--United States--Management.

(Chrysler), Brock Yates (1996). The Critical Path: Inventing an Automobile and Reinventing a Corporation. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 306 p.). Chrysler Corporation; Caravan van--Design and construction--History; Voyager van--Design and construction--History.

(Chrysler), Robert A. Lutz (1998). Guts: The Seven Laws of Business That Made Chrysler the World's Hottest Car Company. (New York, NY: Wiley, 226 p.). Chrysler Corporation--Management; Automobile industry and trade--United States--Management; Corporate turnarounds--United States. 

(Chrysler), Vincent Curcio (2000). Chrysler: The Life and Times of an Automotive Genius. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 699 p.). Chrysler, Walter P. (Walter Percy), 1909- ; Chrysler Corporation--History; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(Chrysler), Michael W. R. Davis (2001). Chrysler Heritage: A Photographic History. (Charleston, SC: Arcadia Publishing, 128 p.). Former Public Relations Executive with Ford Motor Company. Chrysler Corporation. Muscle of Detroit, including company's involvement in Second World War, Cold War.

(Chrysler), Charles K. Hyde (2003). Riding the Roller Coaster: A History of the Chrysler Corporation. (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 385 p.). Professor of History (Wayne State University). Chrysler Corporation; DaimlerChrysler--History; Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft; Automobile industry and trade--Germany; Automobile industry and trade--United States; Automobile industry and trade--Mergers. 

(Citroen), Fabien Sabates, Sylvie Schweitzer (1980). Andre Citroën: Les Chevrons de la Gloire. (Paris, FR: E.P.A., 317 p.). Citroen, André, 1878-1935; Societe anonyme Andre Citroen; Automobile industry and trade--France--Biography.

Andre Citroen (http://www.autopasion18.com/IMAGENES-LOS-PADRES-DEL-AUTOMOVIL/ANDRE CITROEN-(1878-1935)-01.jpg)

(Citroen), Jacques Wolgensinger (1991). André Citroën. (Paris, FR: Flammarion, 310 p.). Citroën, André, 1878-1935; Société anonyme André Citroën--History; Automobile industry and trade--France--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--France--History.

(Citroen), Sylvie Schweitzer (1992). André Citroën, 1878-1935: Le Risque et Le Défi. (Paris, FR: Fayard, 239 p.). Citroën, André, 1878-1935; Automobile industry and trade--France--Biography.

(Citroen), Fabien Sabates (1994). Moi, Citroen. (Paris, FR: Retroviseur, 223 p.). Citroën, André, 1878-1935;Citroën automobile--History; Automobile industry and trade--France--Biography.

(Citroen), John Reynolds; foreword by Chris Goffey (1996). Andre Citroen: The Henry Ford of France. (New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, 238 p.). Citroën, André, 1878-1935; Citroen automobile -- History; Automobile industry and trade -- France -- Biography.

(Citroen), Jacques Wolgensinger (1996). Citroen: Une Vie à Quitte ou Double. (Paris, FR: Arthaud, 199 p.). Citroen, Andre, 1878-1935; Société anonyme Andre Citroen--History; Citroen automobile--History; Automobile industry and trade--France--Biography.

(Citroen), Alain Frerejean (1998). Andre Citroen, Louis Renault: Un Duel sans Merci. (Paris, FR: A. Michel, 287 p.). Citroen, Andre, 1878-1935; Renault, Louis, 1877-1944; Regie nationale des usines Renault--History; Societe anonyme Andre Citroen--History; Automobile industry and trade--France--History.

(Crossley Motors), Michael Eyre, Chris Heaps and Alan Townsin (2002). Crossley: The Story of a Famous Engineering Business and the Cars, Buses, Lorries, Aeroplanes and Railway Locomotives Which It Manufactured. (Shepperton, UK: Oxford Pub., 272 p.). Crossley Motors--History; Bus industry--England--Manchester--History.

(Cummins Engine), Jeffrey L. Cruikshank, David B. Sicilia (1997). The Engine That Could: Seventy-Five Years of Values-Driven Change at Cummins Engine Company. (Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 589 p.). Cummins Engine Company--History; Internal combustion engine industry--United States--History; Diesel motor industry--United States--History. 

Clessie Cummins - Cummins Engine (http://www.steamlaunch.com/ images/photos/dieselodyssey.jpg)

(Cummins Engine), Lyle Cummins (1998). The Diesel Odyssey of Clessie Cummins. (Wilsonville, OR: Carnot Press, 399 p.). Cummins, Clessie L.; Cummins Engine Company--History; Mechanical engineers--United States--Biography; Automobiles--Motors (Diesel)--History; Diesel motor--History.

(Cushman Motor Works), Bill Somerville (1986). The History of the Cushman Motor Works. (Ponca City, OK: Cushman Publications, 64 p). Cushman Motor Works--History; Motor industry--United States--History. September 18, 1902 - Incorporated in Nebraska; 1919 - Everett Cushman left company; He and Clifford Eugene Cushman (son) eventually started the Cushman Engineering Company in Riverside, CA; 1927 - creditors took control.

(Daimler-Benz), Robert W. Nitske (1955). The Complete Mercedes Story; The Thrilling Seventy-Year History of Daimler and Benz. (New York, NY: Macmillan, 167 p.). Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaftl; Mercedes automobile.

Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (http://www.gdrs-scho.wn.bw.schule.de/Daimler.jpg)

Karl Benz (http://www.hempcar.org/img/karlbenz.jpg)

 Mercedes Jellinek (after whom "Mercedes" is named) (http://www.indiacar.com/infobank/images/mercedes2.jpg)

(Daimler-Benz), Richard M. Langworth; by the auto editors of Consumer guide (1984). Mercedes-Benz: The First Hundred Years. (New York, NY: Beekman, 256 p.). Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft; Mercedes automobile--History.

(Daimler-Benz), Neil Gregor (1998). Daimler-Benz in the Third Reich. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 276 p.). Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft--History; Forced labor--Germany; World War, 1939-1945--Prisoners and prisons, German; Defense industries--Germany--History--20th century; Industrial mobilization--Germany--History--20th century.

(Daimler-Benz), Bill Vlasic and Bradley A. Stertz (2000). Taken for a Ride: How Daimler-Benz Drove Off with Chrysler. (New York, NY: Morrow, 372 p.). Veteran Detroit News Automotive Reporters. Chrysler Corporation; Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft; Automobile industry and trade--Mergers--United States; Automobile industry and trade--Mergers--Germany.

(Daimler-Benz), Jurgen Grasslin (2000). Jurgen Schrempp and the Making of an Auto Dynasty. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 210 p.). Schrempp, Jurgen E.; Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft; Chrysler Corporation; Chief executive officers--Germany--Biography.

(Daimler-Benz), David Waller (2001). Wheels on Fire: The Amazing Inside Story of the DaimlerChrysler Merger. (London, UK: Hodder & Stoughton, 312 p.). DaimlerChrysler--History; Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft; Chrysler Corporation; Automobile industry and trade--Germany; Automobile industry and trade--United States; Automobile industry and trade--Mergers.

(Daimler-Benz), Leslie Butterfield (2005). Enduring Passion: The Story of the Mercedes-Benz Brand. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 271 p.). Managing Partner, Ingram Partnership. Daimler-Benz Aktiengesellschaft--History; Mercedes automobile. How brand became synonym for power and elegance.

(Daimler-Benz), Dennis Adler; foreword by Sir Stirling Moss (2006). Daimler & Benz, The Complete History: The Birth and Evolution of the Mercedes-Benz. (New York, NY: Collins, 288 p.). Editor in Chief (Car Collector Magazine). DaimlerChrysler--History; Mercedes automobile--History. Rich history of Daimler-Benz.

(De Lorean), J. Patrick Wright (1979). On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors: John Z. de Lorean's Look Inside the Automotive Giant. (Grosse Pointe, MI: Wright Enterprises, 237 p.). De Lorean, John Z.; General Motors Corporation; Businesspeople--United States--Biography.

John DeLorean (http://www.ryanwright.com/delorean/jzd/jzd1.jpg)

(De Lorean), Ivan Fallon & James Srodes (1983). Dream Maker: The Rise and Fall of John Z. DeLorean. (New York, NY: Putnam, 455 p.). De Lorean, John Z.; De Lorean Motor Company--History; Automobile industry and trade--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--Northern Ireland--Biography.

(De Lorean), John Lamm; with commentary by Mike Knepper (1983). De Lorean: Stainless Steel Illusion. (Santa Ana, CA: Newport Press, 160 p.). De Lorean, John Z.; De Lorean Motor Company.

(De Lorean), Hillel Levin (1983). Grand Delusions: The Cosmic Career of John De Lorean. (New York, NY: Viking, 336 p.). De Lorean, John Z.; Automobile industry and trade; Businessmen--United States--Biography.

(De Lorean), John Z. Delorean with Ted Schwarz (1985). DeLorean. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Pub. House, 349 p.). De Lorean, John Z.; De Lorean Motor Company--History; Businessmen--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History; Automobile industry and trade--Northern Ireland--History.

(De Lorean), William Haddad (1985). Hard Driving: My Years with John De Lorean. (New York, NY: Random House, 193 p.). De Lorean, John Z.; De Lorean Motor Company--History; Businessmen--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History; Automobile industry and trade--Northern Ireland--History.

(Delphi), Steve Miller (2008). The Turnaround Kid: What I Learned Rescuing America’s Most Troubled Companies. (New York, NY: Collins, 272 p.). Chairman, Delphi Corporation. Miller, Robert S. (Robert Stevens); Automobile industry and trade--United States--Biography; Executives--Biography; Organizational effectiveness. Point man for Lee Iaccoca's rescue team at Chrysler, fixed major problems in varied industries (steel, construction, health care, auto parts); inside story of many turnaround jobs that have led to renown as Mr. Fix It; intimate picture of his relationship with Maggie Miller, his wife of forty years, trusted adviser until her death from brain cancer in 2006. 

(Diesel), W. Robert Nitske and Charles Morrow Wilson (1965). Rudolf Diesel, Pioneer of the Age of Power. (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 318 p.). Diesel, Rudolf, 1858-1913.

Rudolf Diesel (http://www.augsburg.de/Medien/ medien_d/sehen/diesel.jpg)

(Diesel), Morton Grosser (1978). Diesel, The Man & the Engine. (New York, NY: Atheneum, 166 p.). Diesel, Rudolf, 1858-1913; Diesel motor; Mechanical engineers--Germany--Biography; Diesel motor; Mechanical engineers.

(Diesel), Donald E. Thomas, Jr. (1987). Diesel: Technology and Society in Industrial Germany. (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 279 p.). Diesel, Rudolf, 1858-1913; Mechanical engineers--Germany--Biography; Diesel motor--History.

(Dodge), Jean Maddern Pitrone and Joan Potter Elwart (1981). The Dodges, The Auto Family Fortune & Misfortune. (South Bend, IN: Icarus Press, 316 p.). Dodge family.

Horace and John Dodge (http://www4.oakland.edu/upload/images/MBH/id7747_1_DodgeBrothers.jpg)

(Dodge), Jean Maddern Pitrone (1989). Tangled Web: Legacy of Auto Pioneer John F. Dodge. (Hamtramck, MI: Avenue Pub. Co., 289 p.). Dodge, John F. (John Francis), 1864-1920; Mealbach, Frances Lucille Manzer, 1914- ; Dodge family; Industrialists--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(Dodge), John R. Velliky and Jean Maddern Pitrone (1992). Dodge Brothers/Budd Co. Historical Photo Album. (Detroit, MI: Harlo, 306 p.). Dodge, John F. (John Francis), 1864-1920; Dodge, Horace E. (Horace Elgin), 1868-1920; Dodge Brothers--History; Budd Company--History; Dodge automobile--Bodies--Design and construction--History.

(Dodge), Charles K. Hyde (2005). The Dodge Brothers: The Men, the Motor Cars, and the Legacy. (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 256 p.). Professor of History (Wayne State University). Dodge, John F. (John Francis), 1864-1920; Dodge, Horace E. (Horace Elgin), 1868-1920; Dodge Brothers--History; Automobile engineers--United States--Biography. 

(Duckham Alexander & Co.), Robin Wager; foreword by John Surtees (1999). The Duckham's Story: A Century of Fighting Friction. (Somerset, UK: Haynes Pub., 160 p.). Alexander Duckham & Co.--History; Duckham family; Automobiles--Great Britain--Lubrication; Lubrication and lubricants industry--Great Britain--History.

(Duple Coachbuilders), Alan Townsin (1998). Duple: 70 Years of Coachbuilding. (Glossop, UK: Venture Publications, 168 p.). Duple Coachbuilders--History; Buses--Great Britain--History.

(Durant-Dort Carriage Company), Robert G. Schafer (1986). J. Dallas Dort: Citizen Compleat. (Flint, MI: University of Michigan--Flint Archives in cooperation with Genesee County Historical Society, 81 p.). Dort, J. Dallas (Josiah Dallas), 1861-1925; Automobile industry and trade--Michigan--Flint--History; Flint (Mich.)--Biography.

(Duryea Motor Wagon Company), Richard P. Scharchburg (1993). Carriages without Horses: J. Frank Duryea and the Birth of the American Automobile Industry. (Warrendale, PA: Society of Automotive Engineers, 243 p.). Duryea, J. Frank (James Frank), 1869-1967; Duryea, Charles E., 1861-1938; Stevens-Duryea Company--History; Automobile engineers--Biography; Duryea automobile--History; Automobile industry and trade--United States.

(Edelbrock Corporation), Tom Madigan; foreword by Benny Parsons (2005). Edelbrock: Made in USA. (San Diego, CA: Tehabi Books, 324 p.). Edelbrock, Victor, 1913-1962; Edelbrock Corporation--History; Automobiles, Racing--Parts; Automobile supplies industry--United States--Biography; Automobile mechanics--United States--Biography. 

(English Racing Automobiles Limited), David Weguelin (1980). The History of English Racing Automobiles Limited: And the Continuing Story of the Cars 1933-1980. (London, UK: White Mouse, 288 p.). English Racing Automobiles Limited -- History; E.R.A. automobile; Automobiles, Racing -- England; Great Britain Racing car industries.

(Ferman Motor Car Company), Carol M. Dyches (1994). A Century of Service: One Car at a Time: A History of Ferman Motor Car Company. (Tampa, FL: Ferman Motor Car Co., 155 p.). Ferman Motor Car Company--History; Automobile industry and trade--Florida--Tampa--History; Automobile dealers--Florida--Tampa--History; Service stations--Florida--Tampa--History.

(Ferrari), Enzo Ferrari (1963). The Enzo Ferrari Memoirs My Terrible Joys. (London, UK: H. Hamilton, 164 p.). Automobile racing.

 Enzo Ferrari (http://www.gptotal.com.br/ images/Enzo-Ferrari.jpg)

(Ferrari), Brock W. Yates (1991). Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine. (New York, NY: Doubleday, 465 p.). Ferrari, Enzo 1898- ; Ferrari, s.p.a.--History; Industrialists--Italy--Biography; Automobile engineers--Italy--Biography; Automobile racing drivers--Italy--Biography; Ferrari automobile--History; Automobile industry and trade--Italy--History.

(Fiat), Michael Sedgwick (1974). Fiat. (New York, NY: Arco, 352 p.). Fiat (Firm); Fiat automobiles.

Giovanni Agnelli (http://www.velocetoday.com/ images/march03/image8_1a.jpg)

Giovanni Agnelli (grandson of Fiat founder) (http://www.autointell.com/european_companies/fiat/giovanni-agnelli-klein.jpg)

(Fiat), Enzo Biagi (1976). Il Signor Fiat: Una Biografia. (Milano, Italy: Rizzoli, 163 p.). Agnelli, Giovanni, 1921- ; Fiat (Firm); Businessmen--Italy--Biography.

(Fiat), Valerio Castronovo (1977). Giovanni Agnelli: la FIAT dal 1899 al 1945. (Torino, Italy: Einaudi, 565 p.). Agnelli, Giovanni, 1866-1945; Fiat (Firm)--History; Businesspeople--Italy--Biography.

(Fiat), Cesare Roccati (1977). Umberto & [i.e. e] C.: Gli Anni Caldi della Fiat. (Firenze, Italy: Vallecchi, 214 p.). Agnelli, Umberto; Fiat (Firm); Businesspeople--Italy--Biography.

(Fiat), Gabbi e Sicchiero (1978). Umberto Agnelli, Il Padrone di Razza. (Legnano, Italy: Landoni, 220 p.). Agnelli, Umberto; Executives--Italy--Biography.

(Fiat), Piero Bairati (1983). Vittorio Valletta. (Torino, Italy: Unione Tipografico-Editrice Torinese, 449 p.). Valletta, Vittorio, 1883-1967; Fiat (Firm)--Biography; Fiat (Firm)--History; Businesspeople--Italy--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--Italy--History.

(Fiat), Gino Pallotta (1987). Gli Agnelli: Una Dinastia Italiana: La Storia di Una Delle Famiglie Più Ricche e Potenti Del Mondo, Attraverso le Vicende e i Protagonisti Che Hanno Dato Vita a un Impero Multinazionale Inserito Tra i Giganti Dell'industria e Della Finanza Mondiale (Roma, Italy: Newton Compton, 334 p.).

(Fiat), Alan Friedman (1989). Agnelli: Fiat and the Network of Italian Power. (New York, NY: New American Library, 367 p.). Agnelli, Giovanni, 1921- ; Fiat (Firm)--History; Automobile industry and trade--Italy--History; Industrialists--Italy--Biography; Businesspeople--Italy--Biography; Power (Social sciences).

(Fiat), Giancarlo Galli (1997). Gli Agnelli: Una Dinastia, Un Impero : 1899-1998. (Milano, IT: Mondadori, 358 p.). Agnelli family; Fiat (Firm)--Management; Automobile industry and trade--Italy--Management.

(Fiat), Valerio Castronovo (1999). FIAT, 1899-1999: Un Secolo di Storia. (Milano, Italy: Rizzoli, 2,093). Fiat (Firm)--History; Automobile industry and trade--Italy--History.

(Fiat), Valerio Castronovo; con 13 illustrazioni fuori testo (2003). Giovanni Agnelli: Il Fondatore. (Torino, Italy: UTET libreria, 824 p.). Agnelli, Giovanni, 1866-1945; Fiat (Firm)--History; Businesspeople--Italy--Biography.

(Fiat), Alberto Mazzuca, Giancarlo Mazzuca (2004). La FIAT da Giovanni a Luca: Un Secolo di Storia Sotto la Dinastia Agnelli. (Milano, IT: Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 460 p.). Fiat (Firm)--History; Automobile industry and trade--Italy--History.

(Fiat), Pierre de Gasquet (2006). La Dynastie Agnelli: Grandeur et Decadence d’Une Famille Italienne. (Paris, FR: Grasset, 326 p.). Milan Correspondent for Les Echos en Italie. Agnelli family; Fiat (Firm)--History; Industrialists--Italy--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--Italy--History. 2003 - death of Gianni Agnelli created an immense void for family dynasty, financial and moral crisis for the company. Economist compared Agnellis to decadent Republic of Venice, complete with internal strife and contradictions.

(Ford), Rose Wilder Lane (1917). Henry Ford's Own Story; How a Farmer Boy Rose to the Power That Goes with Many Millions, yet Never Lost Touch with Humanity, as Told to Rose Wilder Lane (Forest Hills, NY: E.O Jones, 184 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Businessmen -- United States -- Biography; Automobile industry and trade -- United States.

Henry Ford (http://img.timeinc.net/time/ time100/images/main_ford.jpg) April 8, 1947 Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/ learning/ general/onthisday/bday/ 0730.html 

Henry Ford - 1924 with the 1st Ford (right) and the 10,000,000th Ford (http://www.historyplace.com/specials/calendar/docs-pix/henry-ford.jpg)

 Henry Ford II (http://www.autonews.com/ files/euroauto/2003inductees/HenryFordii250.jpg)

(Ford), William L. Stidger (1923). Henry Ford, The Man and His Motives. (New York, NY: George H. Doran Company, 207 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.

(Ford), Henry Ford; in collaboration with Samuel Crowther (1926). My Life and Work. (Garden City, NY: Garden City Pub. Co., 289 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.; Businessmen--United States--Biography.

(Ford), Henry Ford, in collaboration with Samuel Crowther (1926). Today and Tomorrow. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Page, 281 p.). Ford Motor Company.

(Ford), Charles Merz (1929). And Then Came Ford. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran, 321 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company; Ford automobile. 

(Ford), William A. Simonds (1929). Henry Ford, Motor Genius. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 205 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Automobiles.

(Ford), Henry Ford, in collaboration with Samuel Crowther (1930). Moving Forward (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company Incorporated, 310 p.). Founder, Ford Motor Company. Machinery in industry; United States--Industries.

(Ford), Ralph H. Graves (1934). The Triumph of an Idea; The Story of Henry Ford. (New York, NY: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 184 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company; Ford automobile.

(Ford), Willam A. Simonds (1943). Henry Ford; His Life, His Work, His Genius. (Indianapolis, IN: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, 365 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.

(Ford), Cyril Cassidy Caldwell (1947). Henry Ford. (New York, NY: J. Messner, 246 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.

(Ford), William C. Richards (1948). The Last Billionaire, Henry Ford. (New York, NY: Scribner, 422 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Billionaires--United States--Biography.

(Ford), Allan Nevins with Frank Ernest Hill (1954). Ford: The Times, the Man, the Company - Volume 1. (New York, NY: Scribner, 688 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company.

(Ford), Allan Nevins with Frank Ernest Hill (1954). Ford: Expansion and Challenge, 1915-1933 - Volume 2. (New York, NY: Scribner, 688 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company.

(Ford), Allan Nevins with collaboration of Frank E. Hill (1963). Ford: Decline and Rebirth, 1933-1962 - Volume 3. (New York, NY: Scribner, 563 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company. 

(Ford), Charles E. Sorensen with Samuel T. Williamson (1956). My Forty Years with Ford. (New York, NY: Norton, 345 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company.

(Ford), William Greenleaf. With a foreword by Allan Nevins (1961). Monopoly on Wheels; Henry Ford and the Selden Automobile Patent. (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 302 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947.; Selden, George Baldwin, 1846-1922; Automobile industry and trade--United States; Automobiles--Patents.

(Ford), Mira Wilkins & Frank Ernest Hill. With an introd. by Allan Nevins (1964). American Business Abroad: Ford on Six Continents. (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 541 p.). Ford Motor Company; Automobiles; Economics.

(Ford), J. Mel Hickerson with a foreword by Henry Ford, II (1968). Ernie Breech; The Story of His Remarkable Career at General Motors, Ford, and TWA. (New York, NY: Meredith Press, 241 p.). Breech, Ernie, 1897-.

(Ford), Keith Sward. With a new pref. by William Greenleaf (1968). The Legend of Henry Ford (New York, NY: Atheneum, 550 p. [orig. pub. 1948]). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Businessmen -- United States -- Biography; Automobile industry and trade -- United States -- Biography; Industrialists -- United States -- Biography.

(Ford), Booton Herndon (1969). Ford; An Unconventional Biography of the Men and Their Times. (New York, NY: Weybright and Talley, 408 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford, Henry, 1917-1987; Ford Motor Company.

(Ford), Anne Jardim (1970). The First Henry Ford: A Study in Personality and Business Leadership. (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 278 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford, Henry, b.1863.

(Ford), Reynold M. Wik (1972). Henry Ford and Grass-Roots America. (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 266 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; United States--Rural conditions.

(Ford), Jan Deutsch (1976). Selling the People`s Cadillac: The Edsel and Corporate Responsibility. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 261 p.). Edsel automobile--History; Ford Motor Company.

(Ford), David L. Lewis (1976). The Public Image of Henry Ford: An American Folk Hero and His Company. (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 598 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(Ford), James Brough (1977). The Ford Dynasty: An American Story. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 352 p.). Ford family; Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Executives--Michigan--Biography; Michigan--Biography.

(Ford), John Côté Dahlinger as told to Frances Spatz Leighton (1978). The Secret Life of Henry Ford (Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 243 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Businessmen -- United States -- Biography.

(Ford), Carol W. Gelderman (1981). Henry Ford: The Wayward Capitalist. (New York, NY: Dial Press, 463 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History; Businessmen--United States--Biography.

(Ford), Victor Lasky (1981). Never Complain, Never Explain: The Story of Henry Ford II. (New York, NY: Richard Marek Publishers, 307 p.). Ford, Henry, 1917-1987; Businessmen--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(Ford), Huw Beynon (1984). Working for Ford. (Hammondsworth, UK: Penguin, 409 p. [2nd ed.]). Ford Motor Company; Automobile industry workers--Great Britain--Case studies; Industrial relations--Case studies; Trade-unions--Automobile industry workers--Great Britain.

(Ford), Robert Lacey (1986). Ford, the Men and the Machine. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, 778 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford family; Ford Motor Company--History; Automobile industry and trade--United States--Biography.

(Ford), Paul F. Lorenz (1986). Recollections from the Back of the Wagon. (Bloomfield Hills, MI: P.F. Lorenz, 834 p.). President (Ford of Europe, 1968-1973); Introduced Mercury Cougar. Lorenz, Paul F.; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; Businesspeople--United States--Biography; United States--Biography. 

(Ford), Peter Collier and David Horowitz (1987). The Fords: An American Epic. (New York, NY: Summit Books, 496 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947 --Family; Ford family; Ford Motor Company--History; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(Ford), Alton F. Doody and Ron Bingaman (1988). Reinventing the Wheels: Ford's Spectacular Comeback. (Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing, 135 p.). Ford Motor Company, Automobile Industry, Corporate Turnaround.

(Ford), Ford R. Bryan (1989). The Fords of Dearborn. (Detroit, MI: Harlo, 301 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947 -- Family; Ford family; Dearborn (Mich.) -- Biography; Dearborn (Mich.) -- History.

(Ford), Walter Hayes (1990). Henry: A Life of Henry Ford II. (New York, NY: Grove Weidenfeld, 285 p.). Ford, Henry, 1917-1987; Ford Motor Company--History; Executives--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(Ford), Robert L. Shook (1990). Turnaround: The New Ford Motor Company. (New York, NY: Prentice Hall Press, 260 p.). Ford Motor Company; Automobile industry and trade--United States; Corporate turnarounds--United States.

(Ford), Donald E. Petersen and John Hillkirk (1991). A Better Idea: Redefining the Way Americans Work. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 270 p.). President, Chairman of the Ford Motor Company in the 1980s. Ford Motor Company--Management; Industrial management--Employee participation--United States; Teams in the workplace--United States; Competition--United States. 

(Ford), Eric Taub (1991). Taurus: The Making of the Car That Saved Ford. (New York, NY: Dutton, 278 p.). Ford Motor Company--History; Taurus automobile--History.

(Ford), John A. Byrne (1993). The Whiz Kids: The Founding Fathers of American Business--and the Legacy They Left Us. (New York, NY: Currency, 581 p.). Ford Motor Company--History; Businessmen--United States--Biography; Entrepreneurship--United States--Case studies.

(Ford), Ford R. Bryan (1993). Henry's Lieutenants. (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 321 p.). Ford Motor Company -- History; Automobile industry and trade -- United States -- Biography; Industrialists -- United States -- Biography.

--- (1997). Beyond the Model T: The Other Ventures of Henry Ford. (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 232 p. [rev. ed.]). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Businessmen -- United States -- Biography; Industrialists -- United States -- Biography; Millionaires -- United States -- Biography; Philanthropists -- United States -- Biography.

(Ford), Mary Walton (1997). Car: A Drama of the American Workplace. (New York, NY: Norton, 360 p.). Taurus automobile--Design and construction--History.

(Ford), Rudolph Alvarado and Sonya Alvarado (2001). Drawing Conclusions on Henry Ford. (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 196 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company--History; Automobile industry and trade--History; Industrialists--United States--Biography.

(Ford), Neil Baldwin (2001). Henry Ford and the Jews: The Mass Production of Hate. (New York, NY: Public Affairs, 416 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Industrialists--United States--Biography; Antisemitism--United States; Jews--United States; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(Ford), Martin Rawbone (2001). Ford in Britain: A History of the Company and the Cars. (Newbury Park, CA: Haynes North America, 302 p.). Ford Motor Company--History; Ford automobile--History; Automobiles--Great Britain--History. 

(Ford), Russ Banham; foreword by Paul Newman (2002). The Ford Century: Ford Motor Company and the Innovations That Shaped the World. (New York, NY: Artisan, 272 p.). Ford Motor Company--History; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History.

(Ford), Thomas E. Bonsall (2002). Disaster in Dearborn: The Story of the Edsel. (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 230 p.). Ford Motor Company--Decision making; Edsel automobile--History; Product management.

(Ford), Michael W.R. Davis, James K. Wagner (2002). Ford Dynasty. (Chicago , IL: Arcadia Pub, 128 p.). executive director of the Detroit Historical Society. Ford, Henry, 1863-1947 -- Family; Ford family; Dearborn (Mich.) -- Biography; Dearborn (Mich.) -- History. Story of one extraordinary American family, their company, its accomplishments over the course of a century.

(Ford), Eds. Hubert Bonin, Yannick Lung, Steven Tolliday (2003). Ford, 1903-2003: The European History. (Paris, FR: P.L.A.G.E., 2 vols.). Ford Motor Company--History--Congresses; Automobile industry and trade--Europe--History--Congresses; International business enterprises--Congresses. Results of Bordeaux conference on first hundred years of the Ford Motor Company in Europe.

(Ford), Douglas Brinkley (2003). Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress, 1903-2003. (New York, NY: Viking, 880 p.). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company--History; Automobile engineers--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--History; Industrialists--United States--Biography.

(Ford), David L. Lewis and the auto editors of Consumer Guide (2003). 100 Years of Ford: A Centennial Celebration of the Ford Motor Company. (Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International, 480 p.). Ford Motor Company--History; Ford automobile--History.

(Ford), David Magee (2004). Ford Tough: Bill Ford and the Battle To Rebuild America's Automaker. (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 272 p.). Ford, Bill, 1957- ; Ford Motor Company--History. 

(http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/04/19/business/ford.graph.ready.jpg)

(Ford), Steven Watts (2005). The People's Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century. (New York, NY: Knopf, 640 p.). Chair, Department of History (University of Missouri—Columbia). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Industrialists--United States--Biography; Automobile industry and trade--United States--History; Mass production--United States--History.

(Ford), Howard P. Segal (2005). Recasting the Machine Age: Henry Ford's Village Industries. (Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press, 272 p.). Adelaide & Alan Bird Professor of History (University of Maine). Ford, Henry, 1863-1947; Ford Motor Company--History; Automobile industry and trade--Location--Michigan--Case studies; Industrial location--Social aspects--United States; Labor unions--Michigan--History; Technology--Social aspects--United States; Industrialists--United States--Biography. Henry Ford's efforts to shift production of Ford cars, trucks from large-scale factories to 19 decentralized, small-scale plants within sixty miles of Ford headquarters ("village industries").

(Ford), Robert Casey (2008). The Model T: A Centennial History. (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 166 p.). John and Horace Dodge Curator of Transportation at The Henry Ford Museum. Ford Motor Company--History; Ford Model T automobile --History. Car's history and development, its long-lasting impact on America; iconographic piece of American technology; nation’s first mass-produced, affordable, versatile vehicle; made Americans mobile as never before, spurred revolution in manufacturing methods, marked sea change in automotive design and engineering; how few engineering innovations led to car's reliability, popularity, innovations across motor vehicle industry.

(Ford Motor Company of Canada), David Roberts (2006). In the Shadow of Detroit: Gordon M. McGregor, Ford of Canada, and Motoropolis. (Detroit, MI: Wayne State University Press, 326 p.). Editor with the Dictionary of Canadian Biography (University of Toronto). McGregor, Gordon M. (Gordon Morton), 1873-1922; Ford Motor Company of Canada--History; Automobile engineers--Canada--Biography; Industrialists--Canada--Biography; Windsor (Ont.)--History; Detroit (Mich.)--History. Dominated, defined  growing automotive industry in Windsor-Detroit.

Gordon McGregor - Ford of Canada (http://www.windsormemorial.com/images/GM-McGregor.jpg)

(Glencullen Motor Group), Bill Cullen; with a foreword by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern (2003). It's a Long Way from Penny Apples. (New York, NY: Forge, 382 p. [orig. pub. 2001]). Cullen, Bill, 1942- --Homes and haunts--Ireland--Dublin; Cullen, Bill, 1942- --Childhood and youth; Cullen, Bill, 1942- --Family; Poor families--Ireland--Dublin; Dublin (Ireland)--Social life and customs; Dublin (Ireland)--Biography. 

(GM), Arthur Pound (1934). The Turning Wheel; The Story of General Motors through Twenty-five Years, 1908-1933. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 517 p.). General Motors Corporation; General Motors Company; Automobile industry and trade--United States.

William C. Durant  - founder General Motors  (http://www.sos.state.mi.us/history/museum/ explore/museums/hismus/1900-75/erlyauto/images/durant.gif)

David Dunbar Buick (http://www.automotivechronicles.com/articles/2006/jan/03/images/ david_dunbar_buick_m448.jpg) 

Louis Chevrolet (http://www.webcarcenter.com/dossier/histoire_automobile/ louis_chevrolet/louis_chevrolet.jpg)

 Alfred P. Sloan, Jr. (elected President of GM in 1923) (http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:O9bIuGjOmkYA5M:https://mitsloan.mit.edu/shared/images/apsloan.jpg) Sloan's February 18, 1966 Obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/nlearning/general/ onthisday/bday/ 0523.html