A self-propelled vehicle able to be run and be steered on normal roads.
Although it is recorded that in 1479 one Gilles de Dom was paid 25 livres by the treasurer of Antwerp, for supplying such
a vehicle, the ‘father of the automobile’ is generally agreed to be N. Cugnot’s cubmrous steam carriage
(1769), still preserved in Paris. Steam was an attractive form of power to the English pioneers, and in the 19th
century practical steam coaches by Hancock and Goldsworthy Gurney were used for public transport, until stifled out of existence
by punitive road tolls and legislation. If another Parisian, Etienne Lenoir, made the first ‘real’ car in 1861,
using electrically ignited petroleum vapour, Benz and Daimler can be said to be the first producers of cars for sale –
from 1885; and Panhard 1890 (front radiator, engine under bonnet, sliding-pinion gearbox, wooden ladder-chassis) and Mercédès
1901 (honeycomb radiator, in-line 4-cylinder engine, gate-change gearbox, pressed-steel chassis) set the pattern for the modern
car. Emerging with Haynes and Dyryea in the early 1890s, U.S. demand was so fervent that 300 makers existed by 1895: many
so ephemeral that there were 109 left in 1900. Meanwhile in England cars were still considered to be light locomotives in
the eyes of the law, and theoretically required a man to walk in front with a red flag. Despite this and other iniquities,
which put U.K. development another 10 years behind all others, F.W. Lanchester in 1896 produced an advanced and reliable vehicle,
later much copied. The period 1905-6 inaugurated a world boom continuing to the present. Among the legendary M.Cs. of this
century are: De Dion Bouton, with the first practical high-speed engines; Mors, notable first for racing and later as a silent
tourer (silentium mortis); Napier, the doughty 24 hr. –record holder at Brookslands in 1907, unbeaten for 17 years;
the incomparable ´Silver Ghost´ Rolls-Royce; the enduring Model T Ford (known to rivals as the car which popularized walking);
and the many types of Bugatti and Delage, from record-breakers to luxury tourers. After the First World War popular motoring
was inaugurated with the era of cheap light (baby) cars made by Citroën, Peugeot and Renault (France); Austin 7, Morris, Clyno,
and Swift (England); Fiat (Italy), and the cheap though bigger Ford, Chevrolet and Dodge in U.S.A. The inter-war years saw
a great deal of racing, and experience thus gained was of benefit to the everyday motorist in improved efficiency, reliability
and safety; and also saw the divergence between the lighter, economical European car, with good handling; and the heavier
American car, cheap and rugged, well adapted to long distances at speed. One typical modern European design would have a semi-monoque
construction in which the body panels, suitably reinforced, support the road loads through independent front and rear springing
systems, with seats located within the wheelbase for comfort. A vertical 4-cylinder engine is supplied with a suitable petrol-air
mixture by the carburettor and cooled by water circulating through the engine block to a front-mounted radiator. From the
rear of the engine power is transmitted through a clutch (which disconnects the engine from the rear wheels) to a 4-speed
gearbox (which enables optimum engine speed to be maintained for varying road speeds) through a drive shaft to the differential
gear, and thence to drive the rear wheels. After the Second World War small European cars tended to beof3 varieties – front engine and rear drive –
in about equal numbers. From the 1950s a creative resurgence has produced in practical form automatic transmission for small
cars, rubber suspension, and transverse engine mounting, self-levelling ride, disc brakes, safer wet-weather tyres; and the
possibility of banishing reciprocating engine parts for ever, as shown by the Rover and Chrysler jet turbine, and the Wankel
rotary engine. The prospect of world-wide anti-air-pollution laws ld in the 1960s to renewed research on the steam car, and
the electric ‘city’ car, limited in speed and range by the capacity of its batteries.
Special Ford Universal Truck
The Swap body Truck are designed, developed and built by Royal Coach Company, Florida. With
interchangeable bodies, lift and drive away, one truck many body styles, change in 3 minutes. The multi-functional Swap
body Truck offers unlimited possibilities for a uniqe combination of business and personal use. The Swap body Truck can be
fully depreciated in just five years as a business tax deduction. Its functional life offers you many more years of pleasure
and benefits for your business and personal enjoyment.
At Dealership – Manager’s Edition
Ford Excursion 2000
V10, Supercharged, Auto, Fullpower, Dual Air, Quad Capt. Chairs, Leather, Cd Changer, Stepside, Tow, Premium
Wheels, New Tires, Very Clean with Service Records.
Zink-plated light weight chassis. Rubber spring-mounted torsion axels, with wide 225 x 12 wheels and
special low-profile 225 x 55 tires, complete the unit, yielding the lowest possible floor height (21 inches). As well as the
weight category you require.
