Classic car lovers drove into Charleston, the West Virginia capital city, and lined the sidewalks today for a news conference. The news conference was organized in support of recent pro-hobby laws that will boost the collector car hobby general in the state. The new legislation would also extend the driving hours for classic car owners in West Virginia. Governor Joe Manchin, III, signed the bill into law as car admirers stood by. The car enthusiasts were in town for the West Virginia Collector Car Appreciation Day and were able to view over 200 collector vehicles that surrounded the Capitol fountain. The Governor indicated that he is an automotive enthusiast himself. He said he was pleased that the new legislation expanded weekend driving privileges for West Virginia antique vehicle hobbyists. The passing of the legislation will allow West Virginia's antique vehicle hobbyists to enjoy expanded weekend driving privileges throughout the state. The antique vehicles are now permitted on the roads beginning on Friday nights. The support antique car owners are receiving from the state of West Virginia is allowing more people the opportunity to participate in preserving our automotive heritage, according to Eric Denemark, executive director of West Virginia Motor Sports Council.
Cars in History:
FIRST INVENTORS:
The decade 1896 - 1905 is considered in the history of the automobile as the decade of the first inventors. The factory "Panar-Levassor" (France) in 1896 designed and started production of four-cylinder engines. The German electronic firm "R.Bosch" in 1897 found the practical solution for an electrical ignition with a breaker. In 1901, the automobile "Mercedes", which was a specimen for many factories for imitation, was produced and became the classical design for a long period.
But still there was a search of unusual engineering solutions. In the year 1900, Austrian firm "Lochner" made an electronic vehicle with motor-wheels. Engineer F. Porshe, who became famous subsequently, designed it. In the year 1903, the Holland firm "Spaiker" as an experiment designed a skilled driving car. They - "Lochner" and "Spiker" - for many years advanced, as well as the models "Lyatil" (France) and "Gref-Stift" of the year 1897 with forward driving wheels.
Unfortunately, issues regarding the creation of reliable hinges of equal angular speeds remained unsolved till the border of the 19th and 20th centuries. Before the introduction of machines with a drive on all or on the forward wheels in serial production, it was necessary to wait for thirty more years.
By 1906 the shift over from a chain transfer to transmission by shaft with a cardan joint was observed. To tell the truth, on powerful, high-speed automobiles the chain transfer to the driving wheels remained. Experts argued that such design provided smaller non-sprung weights.
The Classical Period:
The aspiration to increase the capacity of the engine was expressed during 1906-1915 by the introduction (in 1907 by Chedvik (USA)) of a supercharger, used by the firm "Peugeot" (France) in 1912 , but only for racing vehicles, engines with two camshafts in the heads and four valves per cylinder. Such a design in serial production was claimed only in the year 1980.
Some important innovations appeared in 1908 and 1909 accordingly. The replacement of tires on fixed wheels, which were widely used at that time, caused big difficulties. The English company “Ruj Whiteort” started production of the quick-detachable wheel, which was fastened with one central butterfly nut. And other English firm, "Appall Johnston" acted as the pioneer for the installation of brakes on all four wheels.
The introduction of the conveyor assembly became the real technological break, which further opened way to the mass production of automobiles. It was used in the USA in the beginning of the 20th century in the factory "Olds mobiles", but it was modified by the company "Ford" in the years 1912-16. Henry Ford himself very closely approached the solution of technological problems, which resulted in low manufacturing cost. He suggested, for example, the demountable head of cylinders. In case of fixed heads, during the casting of the blocks of the engines casting rods, which formed the cylinders, they were fixed in a cantilever position and frequently got skewed. For excluding the rejection, Ford introduced removable head of cylinders. This gave an opportunity to give a support to the other end of a rod and to exclude skews.
The casting of the separate head appeared as a simple operation, and for its sealing gaskets, manufacturing of which derived so many fears for manufacturers, Ford found cheap technology.
By 1908, France, which was the leader in automobile production till that time, has conceded superiority to the American automobile industry. The USA had perfectly advanced metal cutting machinery and tooling machinery. It could produce online the equipment for new technological processes, which, in turn, have served as a basis for the mass production of high-quality and cheap automobiles. Finally, since 1916, the factory "Packard" and other enterprises in the USA had an opportunity to produce V-shaped 12-cylinder motors, hydraulic shock absorbers of a double directional action ("Mercer", 1918), and hydraulic drive brakes ("Duesenberg" 1920, "Chrysler" 1925).
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