The automobile was the machine of the 20th century. However, all the main components that were used to provide the power had already been invented by the end of the 19th century. The pioneers of the earliest automobiles were two German engineers, Karl Benz (1844-1929) and Gottlieb Daimler (1834-1900). Both men independently and very successfully applied an internal combustion engine to wheeled vehicles. This was done in the years 1885 and 1886, respectively. The first vehicle that Karl Benz produced was little more than a glamourised tricycle. He improved the stability by creating the `Viktoria' which was a four-wheeled model. The Viktoria was in limited production by 1890. Meanwhile, Gottlieb Daimler licensed a French company called Panhard et Levassor, to manufacture an engine he had designed. This design emerged in 1892, and is still used as the foundation for modern vehicle technology. The design consisted of an engine which was forward-mounted, which could pass its driving force to the rear wheels via a clutch and gearbox.
By 1900, an industry for automobiles was becoming established in France. Germany had lost the lead it could have had from the work of Benz and Daimler. During the First World War the USA took the lead in development, due to Henry Ford's use of a moving-line production system for his `Model T' in 1908, which achieved sales in excess of 15 million.
Automobile development after 1918 grew rapidly. Over the following two decades, the automobile became more available to the western world. The automobile's bodies were mainly made with steel. In addition, four-wheel brakes were progressively taken on, and refinements such as independent front suspension and synchromesh gearboxes were also adopted in the 1930's. With the appearance of the British Austin-Morris Mini in 1959, the trend of having automobiles with forward-mounted engines soon caught on. It did not take long for rear-engined automobiles to virtually disappear.
