Do You Know ???

• Nissan was the first Asian carmaker to start production in Britain. The Bluebird was the first car that rolled off of the assembly line.

• In 1965, the United States car manufacturer Chevrolet enjoyed a sales record of selling over a million cars in a year.

• Cars did not always use steering wheels. The first cars actually used a lever to manoeuvre the car.

• The Porsche 911 was not available for sale until 1964.

• Every day Ferrari manufacturers no more than 14 cars.

• In 1980, there was a traffic jam that was over 100 miles long. It was on the French AutoRoute between Lyon and Paris.

• The first insurance policy written for automobiles occurred in 1897 in the United States.

• The world’s cheapest car is the Tata Nano. It is manufactured by Tata Motors in India.

• Have you ever wondered who invented windshield wipers? A woman invented windshield wipers for cars in 1903. She wanted drivers to have better visibility during inclement weather.

• The French Army was the first to use self-propelled cars. These cars were invented in 1769 by Nicolas Cugnot. The maximum speed for the car was 6km/h. The car was useful to the army because the soldiers were able to move their cannons more efficiently.

• After introducing the three wheeled self-propelled car, Cugnot decided to invent a car that was steam driven. This car was introduced two years after the self-propelled car, but had a short life span. The car was involved in an accident, and this became the world’s first automobile accident.

• Isaac de Rivaz also developed several steam cars. He then developed the first recognised car engine in the world. The engine used oxygen and hydrogen.

• The first automobile company that was available for sale was Benz. It became available to buyers in 1887.

• The Otto and Langen Company of Germany was the first company to upgrade the car engine into a four stroke engine. Prior to this invention, all engines were two stroke gas engines. Otto and Langen worked with Gottlieb Daimler, a German engineer, to create the practical engine that is still used today in many different types of cars.