Motor Vehicles from 1912: A Look Back in Scientific American's Archives
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MOTOR VEHICLES: The possibilities were (and are) endless. All you need is a sturdy chassis and a good set of blueprints. Scientific American, January 6, 1912
TRUCKS VS. HORSES: 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. Scientific American, September 28, 1912
STONE FOR ROADS: 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. Scientific American, January 6, 1912
MOTORIZED BAGGAGE: "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. Scientific American, January 6, 1912
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FARM MOTORS: Inventors and companies put a lot of effort into trying to provide agriculture the right kind of vehicle with enough horse-replacing power. Scientific American, February 10, 1912
A "DUMPING TRUCK": The tailboard opens automatically as the bed is tilted. The concept remains unchanged. Scientific American, January 6, 1912
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. Scientific American, April 20, 1912
AUTO INDUSTRY: 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.” Scientific American, July 20, 1912
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WHAT ARE WE SELLING 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? Scientific American, August 10, 1912
ELECTRIC CAR: 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. Scientific American, September 7, 1912
MOTORCARS AND MUD: 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. Scientific American, March 16, 1912
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. Scientific American, January 6, 1912
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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. Scientific American, October 8, 1912 (left) and March 16, 1912 (right)
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. Scientific American, March 16, 1912
CULTURAL MAINSTREAM: 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. Scientific American, May 4, 1912
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.
