Cars In The World List : History(Earliest Gasoline-Driven Cars)

ROAD VEHICLES

Before the widespread use of tarred road surfaces from 1845 coach-riding was slow and hazardous. The zenith in speed was reached on July 13, 1888, when J. Selby, Esq, drove the "Old Times" coach 108 miles from London to Brighton and back with 8 teams and 14 changes in 7 hours 50 min to average 13.79 mph. Four-horse carriages could maintain a speed of 21 1/2  mph for nearly an hour.

CARS

Most Cars

In 1978 it was estimated that in the US 138 million drivers drove 147 million vehicles 1,480,000 million miles, or 206.2 miles per week per driver.

Earliest Automobiles

The costliest car of which there is record is a 2-ft-long steam-powered model, constructed by Ferdinand Verbiest (d 1687), a Belgian Jesuit priest, which he described in his Astronomia Europaea. His 1668 model was possibly inspired either by Giovanni Branca's description of a steam  turbine published in 1629, or by writings on "fire carts" during the Chu dynasty (c.800 BC) in the library of the Emperor K'ang-hsi of China, to whom he was an astronomer during the period c. 1665-80. 

The earliest mechanically-propelled passenger vehicle was the first of (two military steam tractors completed at the Paris Arsenal in 1769 by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot (1725-1804). This reached about 2 1/4 mph. His second, large tractor, completed in 1771, today survives in the Conservatoire national des arts et métiers in Paris.

 The first true internal-combustion-engined vehicle was built by a Lon- doner. Samuel Brown (patented Apr 25, 1826) whoOse 4-hp 2-cylinder at- atmospheric gas 88 liter engined carriage climbed Shooters Hill, Black-heath, Kent, England in May 1826.

Earliest Gasoline-Driven Cars

 The first successful gasoline-driven car, the Motorwagen, built by Kurl-Friedrich Benz (1844-1929) of Karlsruhe, ran at Mannheim, Germany in late 1885. Ii was a 560-lb 3-wheeler reaching 8-10 mph. Its single cylinder 4-stroke chain-drive engine (bore 91.4 mm, stroke 160 mm ) delivered 0.85 hp 200 rpm. I was patented on Jan 29, 1886. Its first  l-km road test was reported in the local newspaper, the Neue Badische Landes Zeitung, of June 4, 1886, under the heading "Miscellaneous". Two were built in 1885 . of which one has been preserved in running order" at the Deutsches Museum, Munich.

Earliest Registrations

 The world's first plates were probably introduced by the Parisian police in France in 1893. The first American plates were in 1901 in NY Registration plates were introduced in Britain in 1903. The original AI plate was secured by the 2nd Earl Russell (1865-1931) for his 12-hp Napier. This plate, willed to Trevor Laker of Leicester, was sold in Aug 1959, for 2,500 (then $7,000) in aid of charity. It was reported in Apr 1973 that a cherished" number plate changed hands in a private sale for 14,000 (then 35,000) .Sir Run Run Shaw, the movie producer, on Dec 9,1978 bid HK $ 330,000 (hours $66,000) for a "Good Fortune number plate at a Hong Kong Government charity auction.

 Fastest Cars 

The highest speed attained by any wheeled land vehicle is 739.666 mph or Mach 1.0106 in a one-way stretch by the rocket-engined Budwer Rocket, designed by William Fredrick, and driven by Stan Barrett at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif on Dec 17, 1979. The vehicle, owned by Hal Needham, has a 48,000-hp rocket engine with 6,000 lb of extra thrust from sidewinder missile. The rear wheels (100 lb solid discs) lifted 10 in off the ground above Mach 0,95 acting as 7,500 rpm gyroscopes .

The highest speed attained by any jet-engine car is 613.995 mph over a flying 666.386 yd by the 34-ft-7-in-long, 9,000-lb Spirit of America Sonic I driven by Norman Craig Breedlove (b Los Angeles, March 23, 1938) on Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, on Nov 15, 1965, The powered by a General Electric J79 GE-3 jet engine, developing 15,000 Ib static thrust at sea level .

The highest speed attained by a wheel-driven car is 429.311 mph over a flying 666.386 yd by Donald Malcolm Campbell (1921-67), a British engineer, in the 20-A-long Bluebird, weighing 9,600 lb, on the salt fiat Lake Eyre, South Australia, on July 17, 1964. The car was powered by Bristol Siddeley Proteus 705 gas-turbine engine developing 4,500 shp. Its peak  speed was c. 445 mph. It was rebuilt in 1962, after a crash at about 360 mph on Sept 16, 1960. 

The highest speed attained by a piston-engined car is 418.504 mph over a flying 666.386 yd by Robert Sherman Summers (b Omaha, Neb Apr 4, 1937) in Goldenrod at Bonneville Salt Flats Utah, on Nov 12 ,1965. The car, measuring 32 ft long and weighing 5,500 lb was powered by four fuel-injected Chrysler Hemi engines (total capacity 27,924 cc) developing 2,400 bhp .

The diesel-engine prototype 230-hp 3-liter Mercedes C 111/3 attained 203.3 mph in tests on the Nardo Circuit, Italy, Oct 515,1978 .

Fastest Racing Car

The fastest racing car yet produced was the Porsche 917/30 Can-Am car powered by a 5,374-cc flat 12 turbo-charged engine developing 1,100 bhp .On the Paul Ricard circuit near Toulon, France in Aug 1973 Mark Donohue (US) reached a speed of 257 mph. The two models built took 2.2 sec to go from 0 to 60 mph, 4.3 sec from 0 to 100 mph, and 12.6 sec from 0 to 200 mph. In 1973, the UOP Shadow Can-Am car's 8.1 liter turbo-charged Chevrolet V8 engine developed 1,240 bhp.

Fastest Production Road Model

Various detuned track cars have been licensed for road use but are not purchasable production models. Manufacturers of very fast and very e pensive models are understandably reluctant to allow maximum speed tests to be carried out. The fastest manufacturer's claim (as opposed to independent road-tests) for a production road car, is 195.7 mph for the Lamborghini Countach P400. The 5.3 liter V8 Aston Martin Lagonda Bulldog announced on Apr 15, 1980 has a claimed top speed of 197 mph and a 0-60 mph acceleration of "just over 5 sec."

The highest adested acceleration reporied is 0-60 mph in 5.3 sec and 0-100 mph in 12.3 sec by Motor (May 19, 1979 issue) for a Porsche 3,299 cc. Turbo at Ehra-Lessien, W Germany. The engine yielded 300 bhp (DIN) at 5500 rpm.

Most Durable Car 

The highest recorded mileage for a car is 1,184,880 authenticated miles by Aug 1978 for a 1957 Mercedes 180D owned by Robert O'Reilly of Olympia, Wash.

Longest in Production 

The longest any car has been in production is 42 years (1938 to date) including  wartime interruptions in the case of the West German Volks wagen "Beetle" series, originally designed by Ferdinand Poriche. It ceased production on Jan 19, 1978, with 19,200,000 cars produced. Residual production continues in South America. 

Largest Cars

Of cars produced for private road use, the largest has been the Bugatti "Royale" Type 41, known as the "Golden Bugatti." of which only 6( not 7) were made at Molsheim. France by the italian. Ettore Bugatti and some survive. First built in 1927, this car has an 8-cylinder engine of 127 liter capacity, and measures over 22 It in length. The hood is over 7 long .

A special $100.000 "stretched" 1927, Fleetwood Cadillac built for Joel D. Nelson of Bakersfield, Calif exhibited in Apr 1979, measures 29 ft 6 in long.It is  fitted inside with 2 color TV sets, an 8-speaker stereo system, a sink, refrigerator, bar, videotape recorder and camera, 4 telephones and a safe. 

The longest limousine is the 9-door 1968 6-wheeled Oldsmobile Toronado which measures 28 ft overall .