Table Of ContentThe definitive
visual history of
the automobile
CAR
CAR
THE DEFINITIVE VISUAL HISTORY
OF THE AUTOMOBILE
Contents
LONDON, NEW YORK, MELBOURNE,
MUNICH, AND DELHI
DORLING KINDERSLEY
Senior Project Editor Kathryn Hennessy
Senior Art Editor Helen Spencer
Editors Steve Setford, Andrew Szudek,
Manisha Majithia, Scarlett O’Hara FIRST AUTOMOBILES UP TO 1920
US Editor Beth Landis Hester
Designers Mark Lloyd, Anna Hall, Amy Orsborne, The concept of personal transportation with its own mobile power
Paul Drislane, Richard Horsford, Philip Fitzgerald
source took off with Karl Benz’s motorwagen in 1885. Within
Photographers James Mann
a generation, the car had arrived and could take you anywhere.
Gary Ombler, Paul Self, Deepak Aggarwal
Picture Researchers Ria Jones, Julia Harris-Voss, When Henry Ford brought his “Tin Lizzie” to the masses in 1908,
Jenny Faithfull, Nic Dean, Myriam Mégharbi America’s automobile industry had come of age.
DK Picture Library Claire Bowers, Emma Shepherd, Laura Evans
Jacket Designer Mark Cavanagh
Pioneer Vehicles 10
Production Editors Ben Marcus, Jamie McNeill
Production Controller Linda Dare First Cars for Customers 12
Managing Editor Camilla Hallinan Great marques: The Mercedes story 14
Managing Art Editor Karen Self Early Production-Line Cars 16
Art Director Phil Ormerod
Ford Model T 18
Associate Publisher Liz Wheeler
Ford Model T straight-four 22
Reference Publisher Jonathan Metcalf
Driving through Paris, 1908 24
DK INDIA Birth of the Competition Car 26
Editorial Manager Rohan Sinha
Great marques: The Cadillac story 28
Senior Editor Ankush Saikia
Luxury and Power 30
Editor Sreshtha Bhattacharya
Assistant Editor Megha Gupta Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost 32
Design Manager Arunesh Talapatra
Senior Designers Tannishtha Chakraborty, Sudakshina Basu
Designers Shomik Chakraborty, Devan Das, Arijit Ganguly,
Niyati Gosain, Payal Rosalind Malik, Nidhi Mehra, Anjana Nair, THE 1920S
Pallavi Narain, Neha Sharma, Shruti Singh Soharia
Production Manager Pankaj Sharma This was a golden age for the car industry. The ritziest
DTP Manager Balwant Singh automobiles became status symbols for Hollywood stars,
Senior DTP Designers Dheeraj Arora, Jagtar Singh while smaller cars brought reliable, affordable driving to
DTP Designers Nand Kishor Acharya, Neeraj Bhatia, Jaypal Singh Chauhan,
the public for the very first time. Meanwhile, sports cars
Arjinder Singh, Bimlesh Tiwary, Mohd. Usman, Tanveer Abbas Zaidi
turned driving into an exhilarating pursuit, on roads and
Editor-in-chief Giles Chapman race tracks alike.
Contributors Charles Armstrong-Wilson, Richard Heseltine, Keith Howard,
Phil Hunt, Malcolm McKay, Andrew Noakes, Jon Presnell
Competition Cars 38
Bugatti Type 35B 40
First American Edition, 2011
Published in the United States by Cadillac Cadillac V16 44
DK Publishing, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014
Luxury and Prestige 46
11 12 13 14 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
001—176758—05/11 Lancia Lambda, 1922 48
Copyright © 2011 Dorling Kindersley Limited
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copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
Published in Great Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited.
A catalog record for this book is available from the
Library of Congress.
ISBN: 978-0-7566-7167-9
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Hollywood Coupés and Glorious Roadsters 50 THE 1940S
Duesenberg Model J 52
World War II brought car production to a halt, but when
Cars for the Middle Classes 56
peacetime returned and factories were rebuilt, the legacy of
Great marques: The Rolls-Royce story 58
military technologies resulted in an explosion of excellent new
Small Cars 60 engines, practical, no-frills pickups, and economical small cars
Great marques: The Renault story 62 that sold in the thousands.
Sports Cars 64
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 66 Large Cars 106
Chrysler, 1929 70 U.S. Style-Setters 108
Jeep, 1942 110
Practical Everyday Transportation 112
THE 1930S Ford F-Series 114
Roadsters and Sports Cars 118
In the shadow of the Great Depression, thrifty models and
Jaguar XK straight-six 120
the advent of the “people’s car” made motoring ever more
Great marques: The Jaguar story 122
egalitarian. Streamlining and teardrops were all the rage,
newspapers hailed the superheroes who smashed speed Small Cars 124
records, and sports and luxury cars reached new peaks Volkswagen Beetle 126
of power and style. Great marques: The Citroën story 130
Mid-Range Family Sedans 132
Economy Models of the Post-Depression Era 74
Racing Cars and Single-Seaters 76
Great marques: The Chevrolet story 78 THE 1950S
Luxury Cars 80
In the post-war boom U.S. carmakers highlighted speed, luxury,
Rytecraft Scoota-car, c.1937 82
and power by harnessing aerospace lines and chrome-plated
Sports Cars 84
decoration, with breathtaking (and sometimes absurd) results. In
Mass-Market Models 86 Europe fabulous sports cars and racing machines stirred the
Volkswagen flat-four 88 soul, and bubble cars bounced on to city streets.
Sunbeam Silver Bullet, Daytona Beach, 1930 90
Streamlined Cars 92 Economy Cars 136
Lincoln-Zephyr 94 De Soto, mid-1950s 138
Magnificent and Exotic Body Styles 98 Detroit Fins and Chrome 140
Great marques: The BMW story 100 Opulence and High Performance 142
Powerful Sports Tourers 102 Great marques: The Ford story 144
Racing Cars 146 THE 1970S
Sports Cars 148
If the 60s was the car party, the 70s was its morning after, with
Chevrolet Corvette 150
the fuel crisis and the first inklings that soaring car use required
Chevrolet small-block V8 154
tighter controls. But cars also became better to drive: Mid-
Bubble Cars and Microcars 156 mounted engines boosted responsiveness, turbochargers added
Austin Mini Seven 158 bite, and automatic seatbelts and airbags gave assurance.
Fiat Nuova 500, 1957 162
Large Sedans 164 Supercars 210
Family Cars 166 Jaguar E-type 212
Great marques: The Chrysler story 168 Small Cars 216
Convertible Style 170 4x4 and Off-Roaders 218
Citroën DS 172 Great marques: The Alfa Romeo story 220
Sedans 222
Sports Cars 224
THE 1960S NSU Wankel rotary 226
Stylish Coupés 228
This was the age of anything goes. With new engines and body
NASA Lunar Roving Vehicle, 1971 230
shapes, and a galaxy of all-time greats, from E-type to Elan, and
Great marques: The Volkswagen story 232
Mini Cooper to Corvette Sting Ray, it was excitement all the way.
Muscle Cars 234
Family Cars 178 Racing Cars 236
Rear/Mid-Engined Racers 180 Hatchbacks 238
Sports and Executive Sedans 182
Great marques: The Aston Martin story 184
Sedans and Sporty Coupés 186 THE 1980S
Lotus/Ford Cosworth DFV V8 188
With the rise of the Japanese car industry, this decade saw three
Ultimate Luxury and Limousines 190
car-making continents compete head to head. Cars became safer,
BMC Mini, 1968 192
more comfortable, and better equipped with improved electronic
Great marques: The Austin story 194 systems. There was still plenty of excitement, too, as designers—
Compact Coupés 196 led by the Italians—transformed family cars and supercars.
Powerful GT Cars 198
Volkswagen crash-test dummies, c.1968 200 Boosted Performance 242
Sports Cars 202 U.S. Compacts 244
Mercedes-Benz 280SL 204 Toyota, 1980 246
Superminis 248 2000 ONWARD
Great marques: The Audi story 250
Crossover cars have blurred traditional genres by combining
Ultimate Sports Sedans 252
off-road ability, passenger accommodation, and performance.
Pace-Setting Style from Italian Designers 254
Hybrids are helping save fuel and cut emissions, while the
DeLorean DMC-12 256 latest supercars make 200mph (322km/h) seem ordinary. What
Porsche 911 flat-six 260 next? Enthusiasts are hoping driving will still be the one thing it
Lamborghini Countach 262 has always been—fun.
Two-Seater Excitement 266
Ferrari F40 268 Famous Marques Reinvented 310
Multi-Purpose Vehicles 272 Crossovers and Off-Roaders 312
Great marques: The Peugeot story 274 Great marques: The Suzuki story 314
Premium Luxury 276 City Cars 316
Tata Nano 318
Toward 200mph 322
THE 1990S Motor Sports Contenders 324
Great marques: The Ferrari story 326
Consumers demanded safety, luxury, performance, and perfect
Compact Genius 328
build—and got them all. Excellence in manufacturing was satisfied;
High-Performance Sports Cars 330
now imaginative design could shine. A new epoch in sports cars
and executive sedans was matched by rapidly evolving and Morgan Aero 8 332
increasingly user-friendly genres such as the SUV and MPV. Lotus Racing T127, Formula 1, 2010 336
Sports Cars 338
Modern Roadsters 280 Off-Road Luxury and Power 340
Mazda MX5 282 Honda Insight gas/electric hybrid 342
Great marques: The Toyota story 286 Cars of the Future 344
Competition Machines 288
HOW AN ENGINE WORKS 346
Renault Zoom, 1992 290
GLOSSARY 348
U.S. Design Reinvigorated 292
INDEX 352
Family-Friendly Cars 294
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 359
Chrysler/Dodge Viper V10 296
Great marques: The Porsche story 298 Car dates: The date given for each catalog entry refers to the year that the model
was first released. In some cases the accompanying photograph shows a later edition
Executive Sedans 300 of the model, in these cases the year of the later edition is mentioned in the caption.
Engines: A single engine size has been given for each catalog entry. For models that
Hyper-Performance Cars 302 have a range of engine sizes, the most powerful engine is given for fast cars, and the
most common engine for family cars. Engine sizes can be converted to cubic inches
Bentley Continental R 304
(cu in) by multiplying the cubic centimeters (cc) figure by 0.061.
First
automobiles up to 1920
Experiments & invention | Empty roads & wild races | Craft & mass-production
