The creation of the automobile can’t be pinpointed to one person. What actually happened is one person created a design of an automobile which then another person would take it and improve on it, this pattern happened for several years to create the modern car we see today. Most historians believe that Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot in France created the first car. In 1769 he created the “first car” which is steam powered and also is a tricycle compared to having four wheels. It can reach speeds of 3.6 Km/h.
It is commonly accepted by historians that the first gas-powered car is created by Karl Benz in 1885, who also create the Mercedes Benz company.
The very first car was very different compared to the cars we see today. It had three wheels compared to four. The three wheels didn’t help the vehicle because it couldn’t take tight turns because it would topple over. This is because the centre of gravity is in the rear wheels so when it takes the turn the front wheels can’t shift and hold the weight of the rear wheels. The wheels are also very large and thin compared to what we see today. The thin wheels also create less friction between the ground the vehicle because there is less surface area, this intern cause the vehicle to gain speed a lot easier. Bigger wheels also help with speed, which is why you can see larger wheels on sports cars today. This created the vehicle to be more unsafe since the car would be faster and the already tipping problem the three wheels created was amplified more.
Henry Ford would make the commercial car in 1906, Ford is also famous for creating the Ford company. He is famously known for making the manufacturing line which helped him mass produce his car called the Model-T at a quicker rate. Henry Ford would make the car affordable, so the everyday person could but it. This made the car very popular compared to other types of cars available because it was more affordable. This car also had four wheels compared to the Benz car which had three. The Model-T could reach speeds of 65-70 km/h. The Model-T added seat belts, windshield, rear view mirrors and the speedometer.
The Physics of Cars 