As motive power increased in capacity, reliability and utility, motor vehicles evolved to fulfill a wide variety of personal and business needs in 1912--the same kinds of needs that we have a century later.

» View the Motor Vehicles from 1912

7 Comments

1. 1. Seaglass 12:25 PM 6/1/12

   The most murderous invention ever concocted by man. Who would have known the motor car with an internal combustion engine would be our civilizations swan song in the 21st century. Unless, we change engines to electric we will cook ourselves and the planet in these odious devices exhaust. I'm afraid there is no escaping the 2nd law of thermodynamics on this one friends.

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2. 2. PGracey 12:56 PM 6/1/12

   That was the year of the electric starter, the compromised solution that put more and cheaper automobiles in the hands of the public. I am old enough to remember hand cranked cars still in use. The twenty miles per hour of that electric car was more than adequate for the roads of that time. A Ford model T sold well without electric starting for many years and could only go a little over thirty mph when the roads would allow it. More typically all cars not used on raceways traveled much slower back then.

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3. 3. jgrosay 07:43 PM 6/1/12

   There was a very good video in YouTube entitled "Top gear" put there by somebody named eptesicuss, showing how dangerous were the first cars on sale, and the evolution of such basic aspects as brakes, gearbox, and so on, but it seems it contained images copyrighted by BBC Worldwide, and it's blocked now, may be you can locate it elsewhere

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4. 4. TXbornandbred 05:26 PM 6/5/12

   The most murderous invention ever concocted by man? Seriously Seaglass? I'm sure most would agree that the atomic bomb is the most murderous invention concocted by man.

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5. 5. TXbornandbred in reply to Seaglass 05:27 PM 6/5/12

   The most murderous invention ever concocted by man? Seriously Seaglass? I'm sure most would agree that the atomic bomb is the most murderous invention concocted by man.

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6. 6. TXbornandbred in reply to N a g n o s t i c 09:57 PM 6/7/12

   I understand that automobiles have caused more deaths, but the sole purpose of the atomic bomb is and was to annihilate as many people as possible and cause long lasting effects to the bomb site. The creation of the automobile was intended to make life easier and it has.

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7. 7. Pazuzu in reply to Seaglass 10:18 AM 4/8/13

   And what energy source do you propose for electric transportation?

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