There are so many programs or policies in America that got their start at the same time (roughly) that could be considered the same time period that gave birth to the automobile (not just the rough concept) that a subject would be easy to pick. How about explaining how a “Progressive” from Wodrow Wilson’s time differs from what is considered to be a Progressive today? Or how about writing about the time in America where the socialist movement was very popular (and it was not the 60’s).How about what prompted the creation of the FDA or child labor laws?
Meaneyedcatz is correct.
For reasons that I cannot fathom, a myth grew up many years ago, stating that Henry Ford was the originator of the automobile assembly line. In reality, it was begun by Ransom Olds, one of the true geniuses of the early auto industry, who went on to run the Reo automobile company after he sold the Oldsmobile name to GM.
The probable reason for the myth about Henry Ford is that a fire destroyed the Olds factory shortly after Mr. Olds began his assembly line. In the aftermath of that fire, and before Olds had a chance to rebuild, Ford adapted the same cost-saving process to his factory.
You guys are correct! But if you read the Wiki article on assy. lines, Olds doesn’t even get a mention. Here’s what I found on another site which might be where the confusion lies.:
Olds should have become known as “The father of automotive assembly line,” although many people think that it was Henry Ford who invented the assembly line. What Ford did do was to improve upon Olds?s idea by installing conveyor belts. That cut the time of manufacturing a Model T from a day and a half to a mere ninety minutes. Henry Ford should been called “The father of automotive mass production.”
LOL…wow…you have an ez paper I would trhink. There are soooo many directions that you could take.
The beginning of autos and their tech…and how long that tech stayed in use…
The future of the car…green stuff…electric…hydrogen fuel cells
The OLD CRAP that GM and others sold us until almost modern day…
The entire idea of the personal auto as transport…are they just luxury items?
If they arent luxury items…then why has the infrastructure been built as such?
Different engines or power plants…
Sharing cars in the city and beyond?
Cars vs public transit…using the USA as an ex of what not to do…USing Europe for how it should be…
The way Amsterdam is entirely Bicycle centric…and how our cities are NOT sort of thing
Different fuels to use?..
Do we need to keep going or do you like ANY of our ideas?
Lots o stuff could be covered really
asoto18, you’ve been given lots of ideas, what do you think?
Borders & B/N have a lot of books but both of those stores in my area have an awful selection of auto books. Hope it’s better elsewhere.
Well that is the assignment i just have to write a research paper on the history of Automobiles, But I have no idea on what to write about can you help me with some topics.
I had one in mind and that was stick shift cars
Sorry I flagged this which i never meant to but this was really helpful i just need to keep reading some of these responses and come to a conclusion on a specific topic.
A few things come to mind, safety glass for the windshield, padded dashboards, instead of the old steel ones, seat belts, side turn markers, cordless cigarette lighters, fm radio, not just am, air bags, mpg, just a few thoughts.
Well I was thinking more about the history of stick shift cars what do you think about that?
But I don’t know exactly what to write about it.
You’ve mentioned stick shifts several times and no one has noticed except me. Here’s some ideas. Originally all cars were stick shift. Now only a small minority are stick shifts. Why? Are people lazy now? Is traffic congestion a factor? Did we all get rich?
Which car had the first automatic transmission? How long before auto transmissions became common?
When I was younger stick shifts were common in regular cars. Automatics were in high end cars. Now stick shifts are mostly in sports cars. Why?
Do cars with automatic transmissions last longer than cars with stick shifts? Myth or fact?
How about pickup trucks. Used to be 100% stick shifts through the 1950s. Used to be strictly work tools. Now they’re as fancy as cars, including AC, power everything, and automatic transmissions.
Stick shifts in the 1950s were “three on the tree”. In the 1960s “four on the floor” was the hot setup. Lately I see 6 speed stick shifts on the market. Why so many speeds? Economy? Environment? Fun?
Rally cars use sequential manual shifters, like motorcycles. No need to go through the neutral gate to shift. Why can’t the public buy sequential manual shifters?
Now you can buy cars with transmissions that are claimed to be manual, but don’t have a clutch pedal. Can these cars really be called manual transmissions if the clutch actuation is performed by a computer?
Compare stick shifts in over-the-road trucks vs in cars. Synchronized vs non syncro. Why not use syncros in the big rigs? Cost? Economy?
I could go on, but maybe this gives you some ideas.
Well Please go on i think that i have more ideas then i would be able to come up with an idea of my own. but it is really helpful. do you have any websites on stick shift cars.
You can Google the same as I can. I’m a 65 year old mechanical engineer who has read automobile mags for over 50 years. All my previous suggestions were off the top of my head. This is your project. Take it wherever you desire.
How about the history of ;
the influence of the auto industy on the infrastructure neccessary to support itself to the point of being daily simple and mundane.
Yet to the point that no alternate technology ( hydrogen, CNG, Propane, electric, biodiesel, etc )
can get a foothold on developing their infrastructure to the point of being the simple daily driver
“Build it and they will come” should apply here but no one’s stepping up to the plate to produce the infrastructure needed to encourage production, or even r&d, of alternate power sources.
Gasoline is so ingrained that it seems ther’s no getting beyond it as the accepted means.
Is it political influence ?
Is it Business leverage pressure ?
Many of the alternate means are good ideas in their own rite but without nationwide refueling and services they don’t make any practical sense. Even my local propane dealer who bought factory propane outfitted pickups uses gasoline in them. My fork lift is propane but heaven forbid we run out on a Saturday ( we’re open all day ) or that pallet will sit waiting till Monday.
Writing papers for the viewpoint of the instructor is so much BS. A poor grade probably has more to do with unsupported statements or poor sentance structure. Geeze I’m tired of this anti-education crap.
Yes Olds did the assembly line but Ford did the standardized parts mass produced and was the first to put them all together to boost productivity. He also did many other innovative things to boost productivity or reduce costs such as making his own glass, generating his own electricity, etc.
You might want to pick a topic having to do with auto history such as labor/union relations, design changes, consolidation of the companies, and so on. In view of the current anti-union efforts, Ford brought in his goons with baseball bats to beat up union organizers at the River Rouge plant. At the same time he paid his people $5 a day which was twice the normal labor rate at the time. He said he did it to sell more cars-so his workers could buy his cars.
A fascinating story is that of Horatio Jackson, the first man to drive across America. Be sure to include a paragraph about that.
No one is mentioning The History of Stick Shift cars…BECAUSE THAT SUCKS…
Sorry.
Cars were stick shift from the get go because…that was the logical way to change gears in the primitive beginning…then as we wanted more luxury we devised an auto shift…it doesnt go much further beyond that…
NOW…tie together the STICK SHIFT AND THE AMERICAN MENTALITY…and you got a paper
You can include…one upmanship, keeping up with the Joneses, product improvement, laziness, sense of entitlement…and it all started with the stick shift…and I pulled this topic out of my ARSE… Title it “It all started with the Stick” OR “You Can Beat that with THE Stick” LOL… C’mon BOY …THIIIIIINK
Stick shifts could be fun, but remeber… You have to take a stance. Are stick shifts dissapearing because people are lazy? Why does no american car manufacturer still make a fullsized stickshift pickup. Just a few examples. You have to pick an answer to a question that YOU can argue an answer for. That is the making of a good paper.
I wrote a paper for college comp II on how investment in light and hi-tech manufacturing was the answer to bring cleveland and surounding areas out of economic depression. I got an A cause I proved my thesis (the answer to the question). The question was what can cleveland do to help improve its economic standing. Bonus: if you write a good paper you might be able to submit if for publication in various trade mags. I’m planning on submitting mine to crane’s business.
If you are interested in the stick shift transmission, here are some things to check out:
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Henry Ford’s Model T had a transmission that operated as follows: The right pedal was the brake. The left pedal was the transmission pedal. All the way down and the Model T was in low. All the way out, the Model T was in high. Half way down and the Model T was in neutral. To go into reverse, the left pedal was pressed half way down and then one depressed the center or reverse pedal and the car backed up. In some states, two drivers’ licenses were issued–one to drive a Model T and one to drive the stick shift cars on the road. In those states, to drive all cars you had to have two licenses.
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Most three speed transmissions had the following shift pattern: bottom left–low; top left–reverse; top right–second; bottom right–high. However the original Dodge built by the Dodge brothers before the company was bought by Chrysler had the following shift pattern: Top left–low, Bottom left-- reverse; bottom right–second, top right–high. Dodge’s idea was that in high gear the shift lever (floor mounted) was up and out of the way. It might be interesting to know when the shift pattern was standardized for the common three speed transmissions.
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Back in 1938, some GM cars moved the shift lever to the column. By 1939, it was standard on almost all cars except Ford products and the Chevrolet. On the Chevrolet in 1939 the column shift was optional and had a vacuum assist. Ford motor company did not go to a column shift until 1940. The column shifter disappeared on U.S. cars after about 1977 and the manual shifters were back on the floor. It might be interesting to find out why these changes in both directions took place.
http://www.skypark.org/images/747Rand2.jpg
What I liked was each five miles of road had to have a one mile straight that could be used as a airstrip.