MOTOR VEHICLES AND MOTORCYCLES

    The history of the automobile is closely linked to the evolution of individual traffic about the turn of the 20^th century. Millions of cyclists experienced a great deal of freedom of movement as increased by a private vehicle on a daily basis. They could reach every point of the country without depending on railways and in half the time of a horse carriage. The range of action, however, was retricted by the limited muscle power of man.

    As a matter of fact, man became mobile only by the automobile. The prerequisite for this was a small, light power source with low fuel consumption. Neither the steam engine nor the electromotor met these requirements. The internal combustion engine prevailed because the gasoline is the fuel with the highest energy output. Of course, the ow-noise steam carriages and the electro-mobiles without exhaust gas production were much more popular with the city population than the annoying early motor-cars, but the racing trophies helped the gasoline cars overcome their competitors. The automobile races played an outstanding role in the development of motor vehicles. Less than ten years after Carl Benz had constructed his automobile in 1886 and Gottlieb Daimler motorized a coach there were races in France. The best automobiles were constructed for competitions, e.g. the famous Mercedes of 1901. Its 35 hp engine did not fit under the rear seat any more, as it had in the motor carriages of the 19^th century. The automobiles emerged into the 20^th century with front engines. Wilhelm Maybach, the designer of the Mercedes car, had created the model for the automobile of the future.

    Hundreds of automobile factories were set up at that time, most of them by extension of a machinery or bicycle production plant. In rare cases they were newly founded.

    The first manufacturer of production cars was Benz of Mannheim. The most important was Henry Ford of Detroit in the USA. Of his Model T 15 million cars were built from 1913 onwards in assembly-line production. In the United States, the “Car for Everyone” already competed with the railways while in Europe the First World War seriously affected the spreading of the passenger car. Motorcycles and commercial vehicles were in demand then. Smaller car manufacturers had no chance in the post-war period any more. They either stopped production or joined larger companies like Daimler-Benz, Opel-GM, Auto-Union, etc. The motorcycle manufacturers were luckier because the motorcycle had become the “automobile of the ordinary man”. The true people’s car (Volkswagen) was still to come.

    Though automobiles with self-supporting body, front-wheel drive or rear engine were lighter and consumed less fuel, frame construction and standard drive (front engine, rear-wheel drive) predominated in the thirties, especially in deluxe cars. Since these limousines and cabriolets were mobile “visiting cards” rather than means of locomotion, their weight and fuel consumption were of no importance. In order to look more aerodynamic, the cars got streamlined bodies as the latest fashion hit. Truly streamlined cars, however, hardly existed before the Second World War.

    During the Second World War, the horse was definitely superseded by the motor vehicle. The American jeep and the military version of the Volkswagen fully acquired their cross-country mobility and reliability. The long and severe trial benefited the post-war Beetle, which became the car with the world’s highest production figure. Its competitors took on more or less sporting airs. They continuously grew flatter, broader and faster. Registration figures jumped, but so did the accident rates. In 1972 ten thousand car passengers died in West Germany. One car generation later, in 1985, the figure of car passengers killed in accidents has sunk by half. This was thanks to safety belts and crash zones.

    Mass motorization made the passenger car a common commodity. The compact middle class car superseded the sub-compact as well as the “battleship”. Light construction and streamlined body design have been used for the reduction of fuel consumption since the days of the energy crisis. Motors with improved environmental compatibility ensure that the pleasure of driving will not be lost. There is no way of doing without the automobile today.

Taken from- Deutsches Museum: Guide through the Collections