LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Automobiles: Cars
built 262 days ago
FRANKFURT, Germany, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/-- Dana Corporation (NYSE: DCN) today announced that it will supply a lightweight aluminum final drive unit (FDU) for a new generation of all-wheel-drive, small-city automobiles that will soon be available in European markets. Production of the vehicle is due to begin in the fall of 2004. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990903/DANA ) Dana's joint-venture partner, GETRAG, is providing the power take-off unit (PTU) for the AWD system. The PTU transfers torque to the rear wheels when additional traction is needed to provide enhanced stability. Dana's Torque-Traction Group, together with GETRAG, will provide the compact rear differential and the PTU that enables torque to be transferred to the rear wheels when additional traction is needed. The resultant on-demand AWD system brings enhanced stability and safety to small entry-level passenger cars.
Source:
Ford Motor Company develops the first moving assembly line for automobiles. It brings the cars to the workers rather than having workers walk around factories gathering parts and tools and performing tasks. Under the Ford assembly line process, workers perform a single task rather than master whole portions of automobile assembly. The Highland Park, Michigan, plant produces 300,000 cars in 1914. Ford’s process allows it to drop the price of its Model T continually over the next 14 years, transforming cars from unaffordable luxuries into transportation for the masses.
Source:
Most automobiles at the turn of the 20th century appeared more or less like horseless carriages. In 1906 gasoline-powered cars were produced that had a style all their own. In these new models, a hood covered the front-mounted engine. Two kerosene or acetylene lamps mounted to the front served as headlights. Cars had fenders that covered the wheels and step-up platforms called running boards, which helped passengers get in and out of the vehicle. The passenger compartment was behind the engine.
Source:
Steam engines were not the only engines used in early automobiles. Vehicles with electrical engines were ... invented. Between 1832 and 1839 (the exact year is uncertain), Robert Anderson of Scotland invented the first electric carriage. Electric cars used rechargeable batteries that powered a small electric motor. The vehicles were heavy, slow, expensive, and needed to stop for recharging frequently. Both steam and electric road vehicles were abandoned in favor of gas-powered vehicles.
Source:
For many years after the introduction of automobiles, three kinds of power sources were in common use: steam engines, gasoline engines, and electric motors. In 1900 more than 2,300 automobiles were registered in New York City; Boston, Massachusetts; and Chicago, Illinois. Of these, 1,170 were steam cars, 800 were electric cars, and only 400 were gasoline cars. Gasoline-powered engines eventually became the nearly universal choice for automobiles because they allowed longer trips and faster speeds than engines powered by steam or electricity.
Source:
Large-scale use of automobiles had a tremendous effect on the cities, too. Public health benefited as horses disappeared from cities; but street life became increasingly hazardous, especially for playing children, and automobile accidents became a major cause of deaths and permanent disabilities. Modern city planning and traffic engineering arose to meet growing traffic and parking problems; and attempts to accommodate the motorcar through longer blocks, wider streets, and narrower sidewalks strained municipal budgets even as they undercut the tax base by encouraging residential dispersal. Parents complained that automobiles undercut their authority by moving courtship from the living room into the rumble seat; police complained that getaway cars made it more difficult to catch crooks. Recreational activities changed, too, as the automobile vacation to the seashore or the mountains became institutionalized and as the Sunday golf game or drive became alternatives to church attendance, the family dinner, and a neighborhood stroll.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Cars