All About An Automobile's Body / Chassis Some History of the ...

All About An Automobile’s Body /
Chassis
Some History of the Automobile
The Automobile in America
What is different between America
and China when we discuss “cars”?

History of the Automobile
Q: When was the first self‐propelled
vehicle built and where?
A: 1769 in France
Q: Who is credited?
A: Cugnot
Q: What is the oldest auto company
in the world?
A: Peugeot
Q: When was it founded?
A: 1822

History of the Automobile
Q: What type of Propulsion came first (other than the wind)?
A: Steam –engine invented in 1st century AD by Heron of
Alexandria a Greek scientist. He developed several devices that
were operated by water, steam, or compressed air, including a
fountain, a fire engine, the gates of a temple and the steam engine
Thomas Savery patented (1698) a machine consisting of a closed
vessel filled with water into which steam under pressure was
introduced, forcing the water to a higher level; when the water
was expelled, a sprinkler condensed the steam, producing a
vacuum capable of drawing up more water through a valve below
The first commercially successful steam engine was invented in
1711 by Englishman Thomas Newcomen (1663–1729), who
created a machine that used steam to pump water. Savery joined
Newcomen in the effort.
James Watt (1736–1819) improved on Newcomen's model and
patented (received exclusive rights to make, use, and sell) his
own steam engine in 1769 which included a condenser and valves
that would allow operation in both directions.

History of the Automobile
Q: What came next and why?
A: Electric, because oil was very expensive and gasoline/petrol (naptha was considered a
waste product)
Q: Who invented petrol engine?
A: Multiple parts to answer
1824: French physicist Sadi Carnot established the thermodynamic theory of idealized
heat engines. This scientifically established the need for compression to increase the
difference between the upper and lower working temperatures.
1860: Belgian Jean J. Lenoir (1822–1900) produced a gas-fired internal combustion
engine similar in appearance to a horizontal double-acting steam engine-this was the
first internal combustion engine to be produced in numbers.
1862: German inventor Nikolaus Otto was the first to build and sell the engine-he
designed an indirect-acting free-piston compressionless engine whose greater
efficiency won the support of Eugen Langen and then most of the market
1876: Nikolaus Otto, working with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, started the
genesis of the four-cycle engine. The German courts, however, did not hold his patent
to cover all in-cylinder compression engines or even the four-stroke cycle, and after
this decision, in-cylinder compression became universal.
1879: Karl Benz, working independently, was granted a patent for his internal
combustion engine, a reliable two-stroke gas engine, based on the same technology
as De Rochas's design of the four-stroke engine. Later, Benz designed and built his
own four-stroke engine that was used in his automobiles, which were developed in
1885, patented in 1886, and became the first automobiles in production.

Q: First petrol engine
History of the Automobile
A: 1884: British engineer Edward Butler
constructed the first petrol (gasoline) internal
combustion engine. Butler invented the spark
plug, magneto, coil ignition and spray jet
carburetor, and was the first to use the word
petrol.

Q: Who invented CI engine?
History of the Automobile
A: 1892: Dr. Rudolf Diesel developed his Carnot heat engine type
motor.
1893 February 23: Rudolf Diesel received a patent for his
compression ignition (diesel) engine.
1896: Karl Benz invented the boxer engine, also known as the
horizontally opposed engine, or the flat engine, in which the
corresponding pistons reach top dead center at the same time,
thus balancing each other in momentum.
1900: Rudolf Diesel demonstrated the diesel engine in the 1900
Exposition Universelle using peanut oil fuel
1900: Wilhelm Maybach designed an engine built at Daimler
Motor Company who required the engine to be named Daimler‐
Mercedes after his daughter. In 1902 automobiles with that engine
were put into production by DMG.

History of the Automobile
Q: Why is any of this important?
A: Without it there would be no cars and we
wouldn’t be sitting here today.
Q: How were early cars built or made?
A: Like wagons and bicycles.
Q: Can you describe?
Q: What about the body? How were they
made? What materials?
A: Discussion

Examples of Early Vehicles‐Peugeot

Peugeot

Stanley Steamer 1898
American

Electric –Kreiger UK 1908

Lohner Porsche – Motors in Wheels – 1900‐1901

Baker Electric –US – 1901‐1906
Alkaline Battery

Battery Servicing –Baker Electric
Jay Leno

Benz Patent Motor Wagon

Benz Patent Motor Wagon

Differences Between China and America
America the auto is transportation but it is
also a love affair
Aftermarket industry is bigger than OEM
Some OEM supplied by aftermarket
Camshafts, engine parts, fuel injection systems,
wheels, tires, air conditioning, lubricants
Aftermarket organized by SEMA
Standards and advertising
Work with other sanctioning bodies
NHRA, AHRA, racing organizations, SPCCA
Work with OEM too

Beginnings
Certain makes became synonymous with
speed
Ford had a racing “team” at the beginning
Ford and others provided equipment
beginning the aftermarket industry
Ford Speedster bodies for the Model T

Beginnings
OEMs competed against each other or
sponsored racing teams
Racing became a popular past-time
Some races became popular and were followed in the
national press
Wealthy Americans or newspapers sponsored
races with monetary prizes
Vanderbilt Cup – racing in Long Island
Cross country races both for speed and endurance
Could create advertising for makers
Some races became famous and infamous
Daytona Beach
Lake Mirage
Bonneville Salt Flats
Indianapolis

Organized Racing Events
Vanderbilt Cup
Beginnings
1904-1910, 1914-1916, 1930’s-1941, 1960’s- 1980’s
Vanderbilt felt that it would help development of cars in US
as such races did in Europe.
First American to win was in 1908
Locomobile - #16
Indianapolis 500 – Brickyard
First race held in 1911
Pikes Peak Hill (Mountain) Climb
First held in 1916
Dry Lakes (California) 1930’s –late 1940’s
Daytona Beach (Florida)

Ford Speedster 1912
1912 was first year for moving production line

Ford 999 Racing Car 1903
Picture from 1953

Vanderbilt Cup Races‐1905‐Fiat

Vanderbilt Cup Races

Vanderbilt Cup Races
Locomobile #16 (1908)
Westbury Bend at 80mph

Vanderbilt Cup Races
Locomobile #16 (1908)

Vanderbilt Cup Races
Locomobile #16 (1908)

Vanderbilt Cup Races
Locomobile #16 (1908)

Indianapolis 500 – 1909 to…
Indy 500 is one of the oldest continuously run
races in the world
Every conceivable car type has run at Indy
First 500 was held on May 30, 1911
Won by Ray Harroun at an average speed of
74.602 mph in a Marmon Wasp
First use of a rear view mirror & no riding
mechanic
Marmon built cars from 1903 to 1933

Indianapolis 500 – 1909 to…
Safety firsts
Rear view mirror
Running start
4-wheel hydraulic brakes-1921 by Duisenberg
FWD 1925 won 2nd place
Early 1930’s – Magnaflux introduced and required
Helmets are made mandatory, a first for motor
racing. They were not required in European grand
prix racing until 1952.
Seat belts became mandatory in the 1960’s

Pikes Peak Hill climb
First held in 1916 – aka the Race to the Clouds
The track measures 12.42 miles (19.99 km) over
156 turns
Climbing 4,720 ft. (1,440 m) from the start at Mile 7
on Pikes Peak Highway
The finish at 14,110 ft. (4,300 m), on grades
averaging 7%
90 races since 1916
Multiple classes from unlimited to 250cc motor
bikes

Autos as a Hobby
Dry lakes racing took place in California in the
1930’s and continued after WW2
Most speed trials are at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Many CA dry lakes were taken over by USAF
Hot rodding, Custom car building and Restoration
Thousands participate – building themselves or
hiring it out
Example pictures follow

1932 Ford Roadster (stock body height on the frame)

Modified 1932 Ford Roadster

New 1932 Ford Steel Body Roadster

1936 Ford 3 Window coupe customized

Stock versus modified (sectioning)

Luigi Colani Auto Designs

VW L1

Automobile Construction
What is the purpose of the body?
From inception to present
Body-on-frame
Body is constructed out from various materials
and mounted on a frame
Ladder Frame
Backbone tube
Perimeter Frame
Superleggera
Unibody
Sub Frame

Construction –Pre‐Unitary body
What is the purpose of the body?
From inception to present
Body-on-frame
Body is constructed out from various materials
and mounted on a frame
Example-Trucks

Body on Frame
Why did it last so long?
Pre CAD bodies were frequently restyled
sometimes yearly
Advantages
B-O-F allowed frequent changes without affecting
chassis though chassis improvements continued to be
made
Keeps costs down and design time short
Easy to use same chassis and drive train for more than
one model
Big advantage before CAD became available
Same thing continues to be done with unibody
construction – (most are actually semi monocoque
majority of body carries no significant load)

Disadvantages
Body on Frame
Heavier than unibody – but not always
Lower performance and/or higher fuel consumption (if
equipped with towing rear axle gears i.e. 3.73s, 4.10s,
4.56s and 3.55s)
Far less resistant to torsional flexing (flexing of the
whole car in corners)
Generally compromising handling and road grip (not
counting the Crown Victoria)
No crumple zone - higher rate of death and serious
injury *(Ford Crown Victoria & Chevrolet Impala
exceptions)
*Adoption of front and rear clip crumple zones allowed
for high degree of safety at much higher speeds than
even unibody construction

Chevy Impala and Impala Super Sport 1994‐1996

1951 Studebaker Custom

Body on Frame
Continues to be used
Commercial vehicles
Limited production automobiles
Trucks –i.e. pickup trucks
Limousines
Last American Auto
2011 Ford Crown Victoria
Very safe even with separate frame

Frame (vehicle)
Coachwork
Spaceframe
Subframe
Superleggera
Backbone chassis
Body on Frame

Coachwork
What is This?
Coachwork is the art of building bodies of
metal and wood
The way all cars were built until the 1930’s
And a select few continue to do today.
Q: Is it a viable method?
Q: Is it environmentally sound?
Q: How can it be done and still have a
“modern car”?

Morgan Motors Ltd ‐ UK
Founded in 1909
Early cars were 3‐wheelers (2010)
4‐wheelers use wood to support body work
Use traditional and modern methods to
produce strong bodies
Frame is either aluminum or galvanized steel
–race proven
Pictures of the newest car –AeroMax 8 &
Aero 3

Morgan 3

Morgan 3

Morgan 3

Morgan 3

Morgan 3

Morgan AeroMax 8

Morgan AeroMax 8

Morgan AeroMax 8

Morgan AeroMax 8

Morgan AeroMax 8

Morgan AeroMax 8 GT3

Morgan AeroMax 8

Morgan AeroMax 8

Morgan AeroMax 8

Morgan AeroMax 8

Morgan 4+4

Morgan 4+4 &
Vintage Restoration

Morgans at Auto Show

The Automobile Body and Chassis
What are the names of the various parts
&
IMPORTANT LINKS
(Links are only for those that really want to learn about this subject)

The World of Information
Internet Links
http://deansgarage.com/links/