The possibilities were (and are) endless. All you need is a sturdy chassis and a good set of blueprints.

A hard-sell advertisement from Gramm Trucks asks the business owner a pointed question about the utility of a smart modern truck versus a team of tired old nags.

A truck hauls a load of road-building stone to John D. Rockefeller's mansion in Pocantico Hills, N.Y. The estate is now a historic site of the National Trust.

"Three-ton truck loaded with trunks for a large summer hotel." In 2012, thanks to air-conditioning, the middle class no longer flees the city because of the heat of summer.

Inventors and companies put a lot of effort into trying to provide agriculture the right kind of vehicle with enough horse-replacing power.

The tailboard opens automatically as the bed is tilted. The concept remains unchanged.

DIESEL ENGINE:

Dr. Rudolph Diesel developed an engine that delivered more miles per gallon than a gasoline engine. Until recently, diesel-fuelled cars were considered to be more polluting than gasoline engines....[More]

DIESEL ENGINE:

Dr. Rudolph Diesel developed an engine that delivered more miles per gallon than a gasoline engine. Until recently, diesel-fuelled cars were considered to be more polluting than gasoline engines.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

If the material for the 209,000 cars manufactured in 1911 were used for one car, it “would tower to a height of 442 feet, or within 100 feet of the top of the Municipal Building.”

This advertisement for Studebaker (it ceased producing autos in 1966) shows young folk fleeing the cares of the world—and perhaps the strict oversight of their parents?

Stylish and easy-to-operate competition for the internal-combustion engine. The lack of range and a top speed of only 20 M.P.H. doomed the Waverley company and it ceased production in 1916.

A French automobile club had a contest to find the best way to reduce "mud" (a mix of various kinds of filth) flung onto pedestrians by cars on early-20th-century Paris streets.

SAFER DRIVING:

Tire advertisement from the Republic Rubber Company--and an endorsement of headlights. Guard rails on the narrow mountain road would help. Macadam would be nice, too....[More]

SAFER DRIVING:

Tire advertisement from the Republic Rubber Company--and an endorsement of headlights. Guard rails on the narrow mountain road would help. Macadam would be nice, too. Such was the state of roads a century ago.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

MOTORCYCLES:

A Harley-Davidson 1911 Model 7 hauls groceries to a farm (left). The 1912 advertisement is for an Excelsior Auto Cycle (right). Excelsior halted production in 1931; Harley-Davidson had $4.6 billion in revenue in 2011....[More]

MOTORCYCLES:

A Harley-Davidson 1911 Model 7 hauls groceries to a farm (left). The 1912 advertisement is for an Excelsior Auto Cycle (right). Excelsior halted production in 1931; Harley-Davidson had $4.6 billion in revenue in 2011.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

HEAVENLY HIGHWAY:

Coleman du Pont's philanthropic share-the-road ideal for a throughway for cars, trams, trucks, horses, walkers and shade trees. The scaled-back scheme ended up as US Route 113 in Delaware....[More]

HEAVENLY HIGHWAY:

Coleman du Pont's philanthropic share-the-road ideal for a throughway for cars, trams, trucks, horses, walkers and shade trees. The scaled-back scheme ended up as US Route 113 in Delaware.  [Less] [Link to this slide]

Toy manufacturer E. P. Lehmann of Germany sold a "joy-rider" equipped with a small bellows to blow his horn (left), and a motorcycle that ran upright.