From Benz Patent Motorwagen to Model T

If you have read the previous article about the birth of the first car, you might also be interested in learning more about the development of the automobile production boosted by the invention of the assembly line. Here you will find more interesting facts about the production of first cars.

When did people start using cars for long-distance journeys?

As you have just learnt, the speed of the first car invented by Carl Benz was extremely small. Knowing this fact, you might be wondering when people actually started using cars for long-distant journeys. Actually, this happened not thus long after the invention of the first automobile.

Bertha Benz who was the wife of Carl Benz as well as their two sons were the first people to make a long trip by an automobile. They travelled from Manheim to Pforzheim in 1888.

When did cars enter the market?

Even though Benz Patent Motorwagen was the first car in the world, it was not produced on a massive scale. The mass production of cars started due to Henry Ford who had invented the Model T in 1908. This was the car produced in such a way as its final price was pretty modest. In 1908, it was available for 805 USD.

When the assembly line was invented, the price of this car dropped significantly. Thus, in 1925 it costed only 260 USD.

When was the first electric traffic signal invented?

Certainly, the mass production of cars lead to new requirements concerning the safety of people on the roads and inside their cars. Since the world developed a need for a new solution, on the 5th of August in 1914, the first traffic signal using electricity was installed in America. To be precise, the traffic signal was placed in Cleveland. Its position was on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue. Not only was this the first time an electric traffic signal was installed in the United States of America, but it was also the first time such a device was used in the entire world. In 1916, the first sign of “No Left Turn” appeared in 1916.

Even though there had been no electric signal systems used for regulating traffic prior to 1914, people became aware of a need to develop some signs on the road for making it a more secure place earlier. Thus, the first line dividing the road was painted in 1911. The place it was painted in was Michigan.

By the way, The USA became a country with an official standard for left-hand drive in 1908.

How much did it take to assembly the first cars

Even though the state of the development of technology was not thus developed at the beginning of the 20th century as it is today, it does not mean the car assembly process was taking especially long. The first series of Model T required 12 hours for assembling indeed. Yet, the invention of the assembly line allowed to reduce this time to only 8 minutes in 1913. Finally, during the last years of production of this Model T, the assembling process took only 24 seconds!