Very Early Attempts

• A number of early designs showcased a desire for powered transportation.02_vehicle image by alfpok from Fotolia.com
  
  The concept of using some sort of "non-animal" power to create drive for transportation is old. There are designs for vehicles using wind power that date back to the 1300s. A steam powered vehicle is reported to have been built in the late seventeenth century. An inventor named "M. Brezin" created a steam powered vehicle in 1769 that could travel a few miles per hour.
  
  

The Birth of the Internal Combustion Engine

• A three wheeled wagon was driven by a petroleum powered engine in 1858.wagon and barn image by dvest from Fotolia.com
  
  The car, as we know it, is very much a product of its power source. Although there have been automobiles that have used other power sources, the primary power plant in cars has remained the internal combustion engine. While there was a design in the 1600s for an engine using gun powder as fuel, the first internal combustion engine wasn't created until 1807. Perhaps the more important development, though, was a petroleum-powered internal combustion engine that took a three wheeled vehicle fifty miles in 1858.
  
  

Steam Cars

• Steam was a popular source of power for early experimental cars.steam image by Dave from Fotolia.com
  
  Although steam had been used as a power source for vehicles both theoretically and practically (locomotives being a classic example) for many years, the 1870's saw a wave of interest in steam as a power source for cars. Various experimental designs were created. Some were more successful than others. In 1878, one finished a two-hundred mile race with an average speed of six miles per hour.
  
  

First Gasoline Powered Cars

• Gasoline ermerges as a fuel for cars near the end of the 1800's.filling station image by Oleg Tarasov from Fotolia.com
  
  The first patent for a gasoline powered vehicle was awarded to Karl Benz in 1886. The first true gasoline powered car in America, though, would arrive in the 1890's. Charles and Frank Duryea built it by installing an engine on a horse buggy. Their car is in the United States National Museum today. Henry Ford built his first car at about the same time and sold it for $200.
  
  

Early Production Cars

• The first production cars arrived in the late 1800's.delhi,char antique image by jean claude braun from Fotolia.com
  
  While Ford became known as the founder of the American auto industry, the Duryea brothers actually beat him to it. There were thirteen of their vehicles produced in 1896 and they were really among the most prominent automakers early in the development of the car. The curved dash Oldsmobile also predated the Ford production vehicles, debuting in 1901.
  
  

Ford Motor Company

• Ford Motors launched the modern automobile era.antique cars image by Charlie Rosenberg from Fotolia.com
  
  Ford Motor Company introduced the Model T in 1908. It represented a car that had enough power to perform as a practical vehicle. It could reach a top speed of 45 miles per hour, making it quite useful. When the production line concept was put into place in 1913, the pieces were all in place for the true beginnings of the auto industry. Although there was a lot leading up to it, this was the final leg of the journey to the first modern cars.