There’s a lot of talk these days about a possible bailout for the auto industry, and many North Americans are bemoaning the lost glory days of the Big Three. But automobiles (and their makers) have been evolving since ancient times?beginning with Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches of self-powered vehicles.
That master of the Renaissance, da Vinci, may be credited with the earliest drawings of automobiles, but he wasn’t the first one to imagine such a machine. Apparently, the Greek poet Homer was way ahead of him.
While Karl Benz built the first true combustion-powered automobile back in 1885, it was Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot who really got things moving back in 1769?even though his steam-powered military tractor only reached speeds of 2.5 miles per hour.
This archival footage of a Model T assembly line is of remarkably good quality. The link to the right of the image takes you to the full story.
This slideshow gets right inside some of the best-loved classic muscle cars. If you can’t get enough of ?68 Camaros and ?67 Shelby GTs, then this site is for you.
All these concept cars were entries in the Peugeot Design Contest 2008. Hmm . . . the wind turbine may be a great idea for recharging batteries, but what if someone reverses too quickly with that giant propeller on the back of their car?
