Skip to main content

Road Transportation

Siegfried Marcus Car
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadSub Category: Road TransportationEra: 1870-1879DateCreated: ca. 1875Technical Museum
ViennaCountry: AustriaWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/road-and-off-road-transportation/-203-siegfried-marcus-car-%28ca--1875%29Creator: Marcus, Siegfried

Siegfried Marcus (1833-1898), a remarkable engineer and manufacturer, lived most of his life and died in Vienna, leaving his most important legacy — an experimental automobile resembling today's modern car and the oldest extant automobile known worldwide. Marcus' second car, built circa 1875 (a more specific date still being investigated by historians), is believed to be the first vehicle powered by a four-cycle engine and the first to use gasoline as a fuel, featuring the first carburetor for a gasoline engine and the first magneto ignition.

YearAdded:
1998
Image Credit: Public Domain; Produced prior to 1/1/1923Image Caption: Siegfried Marcus CarEra_date_from: ca. 1875
Model T
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadSub Category: Road TransportationEra: 1900-1909DateCreated: 1908-1927The Henry Ford Museum
DearbornState: MICountry: USAWebsite: https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/233-model-tCreator: Ford Motor Company, Wills, Childe

When Ford Motor Company introduced its new Model T on October 1, 1908, even an inveterate optimist like Henry Ford (1863-1947) could not predict the vast changes that his rather homely new vehicle would produce. What flowed from this series of bold innovations was more than an endless stream of Model Ts — it was the very foundation of the twentieth century itself. The assembly line became the century's characteristic production mode, eventually applied to everything from phonographs to hamburgers.

YearAdded:
2005
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/Don O'Brien (CC BY 2.0)Image Caption: Model TEra_date_from: 1908
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadSub Category: Road TransportationEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 1910Lumberman's MuseumPattenState: MEZip: 04765Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/road-and-off-road-transportation/-79-lombard-steam-log-hauler-%281910%29Creator: Lombard, Alvin
This steam crawler-tractor emancipated horses from the killing work of hauling trains of sleds over iced roads in the winter woods of the United States and Canada. Designed, patented (1901), and built by Alvin C. Lombard (1856-1937) of Waterville, Maine, eighty-three "Lombards" were the first practical examples of the often-tried lag or crawler tread that would become the mark of the internal combustion engine-driven agricultural and construction equipment and military tank in current use.
YearAdded:
1982
Image Credit: Courtesy Flickr/cliff1066,Image Caption: Lombard Steam Log HaulerEra_date_from: 1910
Jeep Model MB
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadSub Category: Road TransportationEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1947 Jeep HouseToledoState: OHCountry: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/road-and-off-road-transportation/-152-jeep-model-mb-%281947%29, https://www.asme.org/getmedia/4a0140bc-eb23-4e7a-837e-8fa5fe675075/152-Jeep-Model-MB-1947.aspxCreator: Willys-Overland Motors

Although not the first four-wheel-drive vehicle or the first designed for rough, multipurpose field use, the Jeep MB was built as an unusual combination of these and other features of modern vehicle design in the World War II era.

YearAdded:
1991
Image Credit: Public Domain (United States Army)Image Caption: Jeep Model MBEra_date_from: 1947
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadSub Category: Road TransportationEra: 1950-1959DateCreated: 1957Jacobs Manufacturing CompanyBloomfieldState: CTZip: 06002Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/road-and-off-road-transportation/-108-jacobs-engine-brake-retarder-%281957%29Creator: Cummins, Clessie Lyle
The Jake Brake permits large trucks to descend long, steep grades at a controlled speed. It was the first practical mechanism for altering on demand the valve timing on a truck diesel engine, thereby converting the engine to a power absorbing machine. The modified engine can continue to power the truck in normal operation, allowing service brakes to remain cool for emergency situations. Invented by Clessie Lyle Cummins (1886-1968), this device (produced by the Jacobs manufacturing company since 1961) has contributed significantly to highway safety.
YearAdded:
1985
Image Credit: Courtesy Wikipedia/Sierra Fournier (CC BY-SA 3.0)Image Caption: Jacobs Engine Brake Retarder ("Jake Brake")Era_date_from: 1957
Holt Caterpillar Tractor
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadSub Category: Agricultural, Road TransportationEra: 1910-1919DateCreated: 19181201 N Pershing AveStocktonState: CAZip: 95203Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/road-and-off-road-transportation/-60-holt-caterpillar-tractor-%281918%29Creator: Holt, Benjamin

The first practical demonstration of this tractor took place in a peat field on Roberts Island on November 24, 1904, and was patented and in production by December of 1907. The existing machine represents the earliest gasoline-powered track-type tractors that were to help revolutionize agriculture, logging, construction, road building, and transportation around the world. Its design and development is credited to Benjamin Holt (1849-1920), president of the Holt Manufacturing Company of Stockton.

YearAdded:
1981
Image Credit: Public Domain (Copyright Expired)Image Caption: The Holt 75 model gasoline-powered Caterpillar tractor used early in World War I as an artillery tractor. Later models were produced without the front "tiller wheel."Era_date_from: 1918
Society: ASMEMain Category: Mechanical, RoadSub Category: Road TransportationEra: 1940-1949DateCreated: 1940US Marine Corps Air-Ground MuseumQuanticoState: VAZip: A 22134Country: USAWebsite: http://www.asme.org/about-asme/history/landmarks/topics-m-z/road-and-off-road-transportation/-193-alligator-amphibian-%281940%29Creator: Roebling, Donald
The "Alligator" amphibian tractor is the progenitor of all amphibian assault vehicles used since 1941, a pioneer venture both in its design and the materials used in its construction. Donald Roebling, a grandson of Colonel Washington Roebling (designer of the Brooklyn Bridge), built an amphibian tractor to rescue victims of Florida's devastating hurricanes (particularly those in 1926, 1928, and 1932 that hit southern Florida).
YearAdded:
1997
Image Credit: Public Domain (US Marine Corps)Image Caption: An Alligator Amphibian on the slope of a Landing Craft Tank, armed with machine gunsEra_date_from: 1940
Subscribe to Road Transportation

Innovations

The "Alligator" amphibian tractor is the progenitor of all amphibian assault vehicles used since 1941, a pioneer venture both in its design and the materials used in its construction. Donald Roebling, a grandson of Colonel Washington Roebling (designer of the Brooklyn Bridge), built an amphibian… Read More
Holt Caterpillar Tractor

The first practical demonstration of this tractor took place in a peat field on Roberts Island on November 24, 1904, and was patented and in production by December of 1907. The existing machine represents the earliest gasoline-powered track-type tractors that were to help revolutionize…

Read More
The Jake Brake permits large trucks to descend long, steep grades at a controlled speed. It was the first practical mechanism for altering on demand the valve timing on a truck diesel engine, thereby converting the engine to a power absorbing machine. The modified engine can continue to power the… Read More
Jeep Model MB

Although not the first four-wheel-drive vehicle or the first designed for rough, multipurpose field use, the Jeep MB was built as an unusual combination of these and other features of modern vehicle design in the World War II era.

The prototype four-cylinder "Quad" was designed in 1940-…

Read More
This steam crawler-tractor emancipated horses from the killing work of hauling trains of sleds over iced roads in the winter woods of the United States and Canada. Designed, patented (1901), and built by Alvin C. Lombard (1856-1937) of Waterville, Maine, eighty-three "Lombards" were the first… Read More
Model T

When Ford Motor Company introduced its new Model T on October 1, 1908, even an inveterate optimist like Henry Ford (1863-1947) could not predict the vast changes that his rather homely new vehicle would produce. What flowed from this series of bold innovations was more than an endless stream of…

Read More
Siegfried Marcus Car

Siegfried Marcus (1833-1898), a remarkable engineer and manufacturer, lived most of his life and died in Vienna, leaving his most important legacy — an experimental automobile resembling today's modern car and the oldest extant automobile known worldwide. Marcus' second car, built circa 1875 (a…

Read More

We hope you enjoyed this essay.

Please support America's only magazine of the history of engineering and innovation, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to Invention & Technology.

Donate

Stay informed - subscribe to our newsletter.
The subscriber's email address.