16 | GLASURIT – EARLY AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY
Above: One of the first ‘modern cars’, Karl Benz’s 1888 Patent-Motorwagen Nr. 3 . Left: Henry Ford alongside the 10 millionth Model T and one of his earlier vehicles, the Quadracycle.
EARLY AUTOMOTIVE HISTORY THE START OF SOMETHING BIG Australia has a great track record when it comes to innovation in transport and other important technologies. In the automotive field, Henry Sutton in South Australia invented the electric motor that became the basis for dynamos in the 1870s. A century later a Perth engineer, Ralph Sarich, developed the energy efficient orbital combustion engine. Perhaps our most loved and iconic Australian automotive innovation is the ute. This was the result of a letter in 1932 from a farmer’s wife asking for “a vehicle to go to church in on a Sunday and which can carry our pigs to market on Mondays”. In response, Ford designer Lew Bandt developed the now famous ute and it was released in 1934.
Act (1865). This required many self-propelled vehicles on public roads in the United Kingdom to be preceded by a man on foot waving a red flag and blowing a horn. This effectively killed auto development in the UK the rest of the 19th century (The law was not repealed until 1896, although the need for the red flag was removed in 1878.) What many people consider to be the first “real” automobile was produced in 1873 by Frenchman Amédée Bollée, who built selfpropelled steam road vehicles to transport groups of passengers.
THE CAR INDUSTRY STALLS IN THE UK
The first practical automobiles with internal combustion engines were completed almost simultaneously by several German inventors including Karl Benz. He built his first automobile in 1885 and began the first production of automobiles in 1888, after Bertha Benz, his wife, had proved – with the first long-distance trip in August 1888, from Mannheim to Pforzheim and back – that the horseless coach was absolutely suitable for daily use.
In the mid 19th century in the UK, steamdriven vehicles were in vogue. Some of these vehicles became commercially successful, until a backlash against such large speedy vehicles resulted in the introduction of the Locomotive
By 1900, early centres for the automotive industry had developed in many countries including Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy and as far afield as Australia. Some, obviously, achieved more success than others.
Of course, there’s more to automotive history than these examples. So let’s look at some other important chapters in the story of the automobile from here and overseas.