-
The first U.S.-built car to appear at a World's Fair was William Morrison's six-passenger
electric wagon in 1893.
- In 1952, Chrysler manufactured Jupiter space exploration missiles for the U.S. Army.
- There are laws in all 50 states requiring children to ride restrained, yet one out of
three children (ages 5 to 15) rides unbuckled.
- Walter Reuther, an American labor leader and president of the United Auto Workers of
America, was the pioneer and organizer of the sit-down strikes against automotive giants,
such as Ford in 1936.
- The automotive industry's environmental protection really began to take shape in 1963,
when the first emission controls were mandated.
- Pierce-Arrow Motor Co. descended from rather strange roots. Before it earned its
namesake building luxury cars, Pierce-Arrow was known as Heintz, Pierce and Munschauer, a
firm which made birdcages (and a few other non-auto-related products).
- Many of us today would not survive without power steering. (Well, maybe that's going a
little overboard, but it is a nice luxury.) Power steering seems like it would be a
fairly recent innovation, but the Francis W. Davis invention was commercially available in
1951.
- Ferrari often is associated with red, for the most part because red was the color
assigned to Italian Grand Prix cars in the early 20th century. Today, Ferrari's GT
cars are available in 16 different colors.
- The year 1966 marked the release of the first Chevrolet Camaro. It was produced
largely to compete with the popularity of the Ford Mustang.
|
