Automobiles are vehicles that are driven by an internal combustion engine and run on a volatile fuel. They have a huge variety of uses and there are many different types of automobiles, including passenger cars, trucks, buses, and even motorcycles. Automobiles can be powered by any source of energy, but most are gasoline-powered. The modern automobile is a complex technical system that contains thousands of subsystems, each with specific design functions. These systems have been continually refined and improved since the first automobile was made.
The idea of self-moving vehicles captured the imaginations of men for hundreds of years. Homer, for example, describes Haephestus (the Roman “Vulcan”) making three-wheeled vehicles that moved from place to place under their own power. It was not until the 19th century that inventors were able to produce something that could be called an automobile.
As soon as the automobile arrived on the scene, it was hailed and denounced in equal measure. The people who loved it were quick to point out that it would bring them convenience and freedom of movement that no other machine had been able to offer. Those who hated it foretold a future of destruction, death and disease.
The haters were right in some respects, but they overstated the case. The truth was that the automobile did make it possible for people to get where they wanted, when they wanted and without having to depend on someone else’s schedule or cleanliness standards.