Automobiles and Automobile Cultures

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I. The Definition of Automobiles

1. An automobile, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally for the transport of people rather than goods.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile

2. A self-propelled passenger vehicle that usually has four wheels and an internal-combustion engine, used for land transport. Also called motorcar.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/automobile

An automobile vehicle or mechanism; esp., a self-propelled vehicle suitable for use on a street or roadway. Automobiles are usually propelled by internal combustion engines (using volatile inflammable liquids, as gasoline or petrol, alcohol, naphtha, etc.), steam engines, or electric motors. The power of the driving motor varies from about 4 to 50 H. P. for ordinary vehicles, ranging from the run-about to the touring car, up to as high as 200 H. P. for specially built racing cars. Automobiles are also commonly, and generally in British usage, called motor cars.

http://www.brainyquote.com/words/au/automobile133789.html

Vehicles that you ride in usually reflect two things; the direction you are heading in life, and your body. (the thing you travel or "ride" through life in) This might vary if you are a mechanic or designer of vehicles. Unusually over exposure to a specific vehicle type may easily change the meaning.

The condition of the vehicle might give you an idea of your health. Driving an old beat up car down a muddy road on a stormy night would be considered a pretty bad dream! However flying a Lear jet through blue skies with a song in your heart and the wind at your tail would be a rather good dream.

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II. Car classificationThe cars are classified by the standard

bodies like EuroNCap in • Superminis, Audi A2,BMW Mini, Sma

rt, Citroën C2, C3 ( below 3.6m )

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Familiy cars. --Small: Alfa Romeo 147, Audi A3, Citroën Xsara 1.4i, Daewoo Lanos 1.4 SE --Large: Audi A4, Citroën C5, Peugeot 406, Renault Laguna, Volkswagen (From 3.6m to 4.8m)

Executive cars: Audi A6 , Peugeot 607,

Vauxhall/Opel Omega, Volvo S70 and S80.

Roadsters: Audi TT Roadster, Honda S2000, Mazda MX-5 .

Small and large MPVs (Multiple Purpose Vehicle): Small: Chrysler PT Cruiser, Citroën Picasso, Fiat Multipla, Ford Focus C-MAX, Ford Fusion Large: Chrysler Voyager, Hyundai Trajet, KIA Carnival/Sedona, Mitsubishi Space Wagon, Nissan Serena, Peugeot 806 and 807.

Chrysler PT Cruiser 11

Peugeot 807

III. Automobiles/cars come in configurations such as

I. Bubble car

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II.Convertible

III.Hatchback

IV. Sedan

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V.Sports coupé

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VI.Coupé convertible

VII.Station wagon or Estate car

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VIII. Sport utility vehicles (SUVs)

IX. Pickup trucks

X. Truck (or lorry)

XI. Van and minivan

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Other Classifications

1. Volkswagen: AOO, AO, A, B, C, D2. In China, A00 级车（微型车）： A0 级车（小型车） A

级车（紧凑型车）： B 级车（中型车） C 级车（高级车）

** 按照国家规定，排量小于或等于 1 升，属于微型车；排量大于 1 升且小于或等于 1.6 升，属于普通级轿车；排量大于 1.6 升且小于或等于 2.5 升，属于中级轿车；排量大于 2.5 且小于或等于 4 升，属于中、高级轿车；排量大于 4 升，属于高级轿车。（http://www.pcauto.com.cn/teach/qczs/qt/0702/426918.html）

3. 美国通用公司将轿车分为 i( 微型 ) 、小型、 Lowmed( 中低级 ) 、 Interm( 中级 ) 、 Upp-med( 中高级 ) 、 Large/Lux( 高级 / 豪华 ) 等 6 级。

• 我国国家标准 GB3730.1-86 《汽车和半挂车的术语和定义车辆类型》和 GB9417-89《汽车产品型号编制规则》，曾把轿车分为微型轿车、普通轿车、中级轿车、中高级轿车和高级轿车等 5 级。后来 GB9417-89 停止执行， GB3730.1 几经修订，现行 GB3730.1-2001 《汽车和挂车类型的术语和定义》对轿车只划分类别，不划分等级，为的是与国际标准接轨，同时使技术性的术语脱离消费层面的等级划分。目前，中国汽车工业协会的分车型产销量统计基本上是按照 GB3730.1-2001 分类的。

Automobile is the most important means of personal transportation for many millions of people around the globe. People depend on their cars and trucks to travel to and from work, to run

IV. The Importance of Automobiles

errands, to visit friends, and to take vacations. Companies and government organizations operate commercial fleets of automobiles.

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The United States, China, Canada, Japan, Western European countries, and other developed nations have the most automobiles. But even in developing nations, more and more people own cars, and bumper-to-bumper traffic clogs the streets of big cities in many of those countries.

The automobile revolutionized the American way of life and would change living patterns in much the same way when it spread to other countries. The automobile helped give people the freedom to live, work, and travel wherever they wanted. The automobile has given many people incredible freedom of movement. It enables them to decide where they want to go and when.

The automobile influences where people live and work and how they spend their leisure time. It ended the lonely lives of farm families by placing neighbors, cities, and towns within easy reach. The automobile led to the growth of suburbs, motels, shopping centers, superhighways, theme parks, drive-in restaurants, and drive-through banks.

But along with all the glories of the automobile culture came serious problems. Car accidents became a major cause of death and injury throughout the world, exhaust fumes fouled the air, and the roar of city traffic became nerve-racking. Some people yearned for the old days before the automobile, when life seemed simpler, slower, and gentler. But there could be no going back.

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The automobile had become woven into the fabric of modern life. And the auto industry itself had become basic to the economic well-being of developed countries. Today, many developing nations also seek to set up an automotive industry because it generates and supports a wide range of businesses, such as automobile dealerships, garages, and filling stations, and so can stimulate economic growth.

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The development of automobiles has had an enormous effect on people's way of life throughout much of the world. Probably no other invention, discovery, or technological advance has created greater or more rapid changes in society.

A Machine that Changes the World

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1 Impact on society

When the first automobiles were produced, only the well-to-do could afford them. Soon, however, prices declined as production increased in response to the growing demand. The lower prices put the automobile within reach of more and more people.

Well-off urban residents found car ownership cheaper than keeping a horse and carriage. The growth in car ownership led to the building of more and better roads, which further increased travel.

Ford Model T

Although cars were first bought mainly by wealthy city folk, it was country people who became the first large-scale group of car owners. During the late 1890's, most people in North America and Europe lived in rural areas and had little contact with people more than 20 miles (32 kilometers) or so away. Many of these people were farmers or residents of small towns that served farmers.

In the early 1900's, they became the first mass group of car buyers. Automobiles enabled farmers to sell their goods faster and farther away, and to travel more often and in greater comfort than ever before.

Before the development of automobiles, urban workers walked, bicycled, or rode trains or horse-drawn vehicles to their jobs. But as roads improved and car ownership expanded, the freedom provided by automobile ownership enabled more and more people to move to the suburbs. By the mid-1950's, even factories had begun to relocate in the suburbs.

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Wherever people have easy access to automobiles, cars play a major role in social life and the choice of recreational activities. People find it fun to hop in the car and visit friends and relatives, whether the drive takes a few minutes, hours, or days. The automobile helps make it easy to organize picnics, family reunions, and other get-togethers. Trips by automobile to such places as theme parks, national parks, and mountain and seashore resorts are a favorite type of vacation for many people.

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2 Economic impact

Such developed nations as the United States, Japan, Germany, and Italy depend on automotive production to provide jobs for millions of workers. But even in developed nations with little or no automotive production—for example, Norway and New Zealand—the widespread use of cars has become vital to the economy. Filling stations, motels, restaurants, and other businesses that serve automobile travelers are of major importance to the economic well-being of all developed countries and increasingly of developing ones.

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In addition, many developing nations have begun making automotive vehicles or parts to stimulate industry and to provide the vehicles needed for growth. For example, China has promoted broad-based automotive manufacturing, and the Philippines has expanded parts production for export to carmakers in other countries.

3 Problems of safety

Each year, motor vehicle accidents kill an estimated 300,000 people throughout the world. A high percentage of those killed in automobile accidents are young people. In fact, in the United States, traffic accidents are the leading cause of death for people from 5 to 32 years old. Young people also have the highest accident rate of all drivers.

Almost every accident results from one or more of these three factors: the driver, the car, and the road. The same three factors contribute to accident prevention.

Drivers are the chief factor in vehicle safety because they are responsible for about two-thirds of all accidents. They cause accidents by speeding, driving in the wrong lane, making improper turns, and breaking other rules of safe driving. Many traffic deaths involve drunken drivers. Alcohol slows a driver's reflexes, reduces alertness and concentration, impairs vision, and clouds judgment. The use of illegal drugs by drivers is also a serious safety problem.

The automobile itself has become safer over the years because of advances in its design and manufacture. Automakers must meet strict government standards designed to prevent accidents and to protect drivers and passengers. The standards to prevent accidents involve the installation of government-specified lights, reflectors, brakes, tires, windows, windshield wipers and defrosters, and dashboard controls.

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Standards to protect car occupants include the installation of seat belts or air bags, head restraints, and bumper systems. Seat belts—when used—are probably the main safety equipment. A driver must not assume that the engine, brakes, lights, and steering system always operate properly. All equipment should be tested frequently.

Modern road building techniques have increasingly lowered the risk of automobile accidents. To build safe roads, highway engineers consider such factors as road foundations and surfaces, lighting, guardrails, and grading. They carefully plan bypasses, intersections, on-and-off ramps, traffic signals, and the number of lanes.

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4 Environmental impact

As automobiles burn gasoline, they release hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides into the air and so pollute it. Air pollution endangers people's health and damages crops and livestock. Automobiles produce terrible pollution in many of the world's big cities. Especially severe pollution occurs in such cities as Los Angeles, Mexico City, Tokyo, and Madrid, where the streets and highways are choked with traffic.

In many countries, steps have been taken to control air pollution caused by automobiles as well as by other sources. Government agencies enforce emission standards that limit the amount of pollution new automobiles may produce. The agency that enforces these regulations in the United States is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Automakers have made great progress in reducing the emission of major pollutants by meeting the increasingly strict environmental standards. From the 1960's to the 1990's, the emission of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide by American-built cars was reduced more than 95 percent and nitrogen oxides more than 90 percent.

The reduction was achieved largely with the installation of a catalytic converter in the exhaust system of cars. The device changes carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and water vapor. In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed new rules calling for even tougher limits on the emission of pollutants.

The first cars.

During the late 1700's, the development of steam-powered engines progressed rapidly in Europe. Inventors dreamed of a "horseless carriage"—and steam seemed the obvious power source.

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V. Cars of Yesterday

The steam car. Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot, a French military engineer, built the first self-propelled road vehicles in 1769 and 1770. One was designed to carry passengers, while the other was a three-wheeled steam tractor for hauling artillery. In 1801 and 1803, Richard Trevithick of the United Kingdom demonstrated four-wheeled steam-propelled road vehicles to carry passengers. But he lacked the money to continue his work.

Numerous attempts in the United Kingdom to promote the use and development of steam cars failed because of competition from railroad and stagecoach companies. Early steam cars damaged roads and sometimes blew up. They also made a terrible racket, dirtied the air with smoke, and frightened horses.

In 1865, the "Red Flag Law" ended further development of automobiles in the United Kingdom for about 30 years. Under the law, a steam car could go no faster than 4 miles (6 kilometers) per hour in the country and 2 miles (3 kilometers) per hour in town. To warn of its approach, a signalman had to walk ahead of the vehicle, swinging a red flag by day and a red lantern by night.

In 1805 in the United States, an inventor named Oliver Evans demonstrated a steam-operated dredge mounted on a boat. He had built it to deepen and clean the Philadelphia waterfront. Evans put wheels on the boat and drove the gigantic machine, which weighed about 20 tons (18 metric tons), through the streets to the harbor and into the water.

During the 1860's, another American inventor, Sylvester H. Roper, developed a much smaller steam vehicle. It looked more like a present-day automobile. Roper's vehicle received much public attention.

Many other Americans experimented with steam cars during the late 1800's. They included J. N. Carhart, Richard Dudgeon, and Ransom E. Olds. The number of U.S. companies that made steam cars grew rapidly. One of the most successful firms was founded by identical twin brothers, Francis E. and Freelan O. Stanley. They built the famous Stanley steamer.

Steam cars had big disadvantages. At first, it took too long for the fire to heat the boiler. Inventors solved that problem, but others remained. The steam engines had to be small to be practical for cars, and so they had to be high-pressure engines to produce the required power. However, such engines cost much to build and maintain, and the steam-powered car gradually disappeared. In 1924, the Stanley brothers' company—one of the last steam car manufacturers—went bankrupt.

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The electric car. About 1891, William Morrison, an American inventor, built a successful electric car. The six-passenger vehicle was powered by batteries under the seats. Electric cars quickly became popular because they were quiet, easy to operate, and free of smelly fumes.

In 1900, they accounted for 38 percent of all U.S. car sales. But the batteries limited how far or fast electric cars could go. Few electrics could travel faster than 20 miles (32 kilometers) per hour, and the batteries had to be recharged at least every 50 miles (80 kilometers). By 1905, only about 7 percent of all cars sold in the United States were electrics.

The gasoline car. The automobile as we know it today resulted from the development of the internal-combustion engine. Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir, a Belgian living in France, patented the first commercially successful internal-combustion engine in 1860. It burned coke oven gas and was noisy and inefficient. But Lenoir sold several hundred engines, which powered printing presses, lathes, and water pumps. He also installed one in a crude motorcar.

In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz, two Germans working separately, developed the first successful four-stroke gasoline engines. Their engines led to the development of those used in most cars today. Many European manufacturers turned out cars based on Daimler's and Benz's work and patents.

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In 1891, a French company, Panhard et Levassor, created the basic design for the automobile that remained largely unchanged for nearly 100 years. The firm placed a Daimler engine in the front of the car and used a revolving chain to transfer power to the rear wheels. In 1898, the French inventor Louis Renault replaced the chain with a drive shaft. Most cars had a front engine and rear-wheel drive until the mid-1980's, when front-wheel drive began to predominate.

A French rubber-making firm, Michelin, introduced the first tires filled with compressed air for use on cars in 1895. Michelin developed such pneumatic tires under license from a British manufacturer of bicycle tires. Many people believe that the automobile became a practical means of transportation because of, first, the invention of the internal-combustion engine and, second, the development of the pneumatic tire.

VI. The birth of the automobile industry

The birth of the automobile industry occurred in 1885, the year Daimler and Benz built their successful gasoline engines. Until 1900, Europe led the world in automobile development and production. Many present-day European car companies began in the late 1800's. For example, Peugeot, a French firm, started making automobiles in 1890. Another French company, Renault, began producing cars in 1898. Fiat of Italy dates from 1899. France and Germany became the first large production centers.

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The Duryea brothers, Charles E. and J. Frank, built the first successful gasoline car in the United States. The Duryea car was completed in 1893 and made its first successful run in 1894. In 1895, the brothers founded the Duryea Motor Wagon Company, the first U.S. firm to make gasoline cars.

Many other automaking firms were started in the United States during the industry's early years. Some quickly failed, but others still produce vehicles. The center of the auto industry shifted from Europe to the United States after 1900. Production of American cars increased from fewer than 5,000 in 1900 to more than 1 1/2 million in 1916.

From the beginning, the auto industry had an enormous impact on Western economies. As car production increased, the demand for steel, rubber, glass, machine tools, and other goods essential to the manufacture of the automobile grew and grew. At the same time, the industry began to develop its own supporting divisions for sales, service, and repairs. Employment in the automotive industry soared.

The discovery of huge oil fields in eastern Texas in 1901 helped contribute to the rapid growth of the U.S. auto industry. The discovery caused a sharp drop in the price of gasoline, and plentiful, cheap fuel made cars relatively inexpensive to operate. Another factor aiding the U.S. auto industry was the application of mass-production techniques to the manufacture of automobiles.

Many historians credit the 1901 Oldsmobile with being the first mass-produced car. More than any car before, this automobile was built of parts made by outside suppliers and shipped to the assembly plant.

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Mass production took a giant step forward in 1904, when Henry M. Leland took charge of the Cadillac Automobile Company in the United States and began building cars using interchangeable parts. Such parts could be used to assemble or repair any car of the same model. Previously, most parts were made to fit only one particular car.

But more than anyone else, the American industrialist Henry Ford perfected the mass production of automobiles. In 1913, Ford installed a moving assembly line in his car factory. The frame of the car was pulled through the plant by a chain. Workers on each side assembled the car by adding parts that had been brought to them on conveyor belts. This process resulted in a huge cut in production time and costs.

• Top 10 Books on the History of Cars

http://inventors.about.com/od/inventormagazines/tp/Car_Books.htm

VII. The automobile today

• About 450 million passenger cars travel the streets and roads of the world. Most cars are in the United States, Japan, Canada, and the countries of Western Europe. Many people of these nations consider a car a necessity. In most countries of Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and South America, the car is still regarded as a luxury by the great majority of the people.

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The widespread use of the automobile has resulted in a number of challenges. Gasoline, the fuel that powers the engines of almost all cars, is a petroleum product. But most countries do not have a sufficient supply of oil to meet their energy needs. Also, cars give off harmful fumes that pollute the air. In addition, traffic accidents cause thousands of deaths and injuries each year.

VIII. Cars of tomorrow

Cars of tomorrow will probably be increasingly fuel efficient and less polluting. Internal combustion engines will probably still power most automobiles. But worries about pollution will likely increase the use of vehicles that use alternative fuels, despite their limited range and speed. Delivery services and other commercial fleets in large cities will probably use such vehicles.

Hybrids vehicles that have all the components of electric cars plus another power source, may serve as a compromise between electrics and traditional automobiles. Fuel cells, devices that convert chemical energy to electrical energy, may be used in hybrids.

Computerized controls will do more and more tasks in tomorrow's cars because of their low cost and precise functioning. With the flick of a switch, computerized suspension systems will adjust to changes in the road surface. Computers will also play an increasing role in creating tomorrow's cars, from the designing to the engineering to the assembling. The selling and servicing of cars will also be more and more computerized.

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Many modern automobiles include an on-board navigation system. This electronic device uses a network of satellites called the Global Positioning System to locate a driver's vehicle. It can then display a map showing the best route to reach a specific destination selected by the driver.

Assignment

• 1. Review the important technical advances in the automotive history.

• 2. Try to know some famous figures in the automotive history.