Horseless carriage

Trevithick's London Steam Carriage of 1803
L'Obéissante

Horseless carriage is a term for early automobiles; at the time it was common that carriages were pulled by animals, typically horses, but the automobiles were not.[1][2] In 2010, the term was compared to other transitional terms, like cordless phone and wireless phone. These are cases in which a new technology is described by what it does not have, compared to an older technology.[2]

Horseless carriages are noted for their similarity to horse-drawn carriages, but instead with some type of motor; some features of carriages include a high center of gravity and tiller-steering.[3] In 1803, what has been said to be the first horseless carriage was demonstrated in London, Britain, as made by Richard Trevithick.[4] This was a steam-powered conversion of a carriage, hence the moniker.[4] In the 1820s, Goldsworthy Gurney built steam powered road vehicles.[4] One survived to be on display at Glasgow Museum of Transport.[4] In the United States, a four wheel steam carriage was made by Sylvester H. Roper in 1863.[4] The 1800s were a period where steam engines were a popularized as source of power for locomotives, ships, and things like mills.

The 1896 Armstrong horseless carriage was noted as an early hybrid vehicle, in the case electric with combined electric motor with battery and gasoline fueled internal-combustion engine.[5]

In 1893, Frank Duryea is reported to have made the first horseless carriage trip on U.S. roads in Springfield, Massachusetts, traveling approximately 600 yards before engine problems forced him to stop and make repairs.[6] He went on to found the first U.S. car company with his brother, the Duryea Motor Wagon Company.[6]

Horseless carriages from the turn of 19th to 20th century participated in a re-creation of the first London, UK auto-show in April 2016.[7]

A motorized stage coach was built in Arizona USA for actor Burt Reynolds.[8]

References

  1. ↑
  2. 1 2 Google's Horseless Carriage
  3. ↑ What Was The First Car? A Quick History of the Automobile for Young People Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Steam Power in the 1800s
  5. ↑
  6. 1 2 Frank Duryea, winner of the first American “horseless carriage” race, is born
  7. ↑ Horseless Carriage Exhibition
  8. ↑

See also

Specific models:

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