蒸汽机车
　　
　　我们知道汽车并不是被一个发明家在一天里就发明出来的。汽车的历史反映了其在全世界的发展。据估计，超过十万项发明专利才造就出现代的汽车。然而，我们可以指出历史进程中的许多“第一”来。
　　1769年，最初的一部机动车是一辆军用拖车，由法国工程师与机械师尼古拉斯·约瑟夫·居纽（1725 - 1804）发明。居纽利用一台蒸汽发动机来发动他的车。它被法军用来运载大炮，只有3个轮子。这辆车每10分钟到15分钟必须停下来增加蒸汽动力。蒸汽发动机与锅炉跟车子的其它部分分离，被放置在车头。第二年，居纽建造了一辆能乘坐4名乘客的蒸汽三轮车。
　　在机动车的早期发展史上，公路与铁路的蒸汽机车都得到发展。蒸汽发动机使得车辆负荷过重，被证明是一个拙劣的设计；然而，蒸汽发动机却被成功地运用来做火车头。历史学家认为尼古拉斯·居纽是第一辆汽车的发明者。
　　
　　电车
　　
　　到了世纪之交，美国颇为繁荣，汽车变得越来越受欢迎，有蒸汽车、电车或燃油汽车几种车。1899年和1900年是美国电车发展的高峰时期。
　　那时电车的基本价格是一千美元，大部分早期电车都是为上流阶层设计的，车厢华丽。到了1910年，平均售价是三千美元。20世纪20年代电车得到迅猛发展。
　　到了1935年，所有电车都销声匿迹。接下来的岁月，直至20世纪60年代，是电车发展的静止时期。
　　20世纪60年代与70年代，人们需要寻求办法减少汽车的内燃发动机排出的废气，以及减少对进口外国原油的依赖。从1960年至今，人们为生产实用的电车进行了多次尝试。
　　20世纪90年代，汽车制造商“三巨头”、美国能源部以及众多车辆改装公司都积极参与到电车发展事业中来。
　　通用汽车公司开发出一种名叫“EV1”的电车。这是一款双人跑车，用液冷交流电发动机和铅酸蓄电池来发动。EV1最高时速可达80英里，1加仑汽油最远可跑80英里，并且可以在7秒之内从静止状态加速到时速50英里。
　　
　　内燃机车
　　
　　1885年 ，德国机械工程师卡尔·本茨设计和制造了世界上第一辆用内燃机马达发动的实用型汽车。1886年1月29日，本茨获得了颁给内燃机车的第一个发明专利号（DRP No. 37435）。这是一辆三轮车；1891年，本茨制造了他的第一辆四轮汽车。这位发明家创立的奔驰公司到1900年时成为世界上最大的汽车制造商。
　　截至20世纪初期，燃油汽车的销量开始超过其它类型的汽车。市场需要更多节能汽车，工业化生产的需求也很迫切。
　　
　　著名汽车制造商亨利·福特
　　
　　汽车制造商亨利·福特1863年7月30日出生于密歇根州迪尔波恩市的自家农庄中。从孩提时代开始，就福特就喜欢对机器进行修修补补。后来他成为威斯丁豪斯发动机公司的兼职员工。截至1896年，福特建造了他的第一辆自行推进汽车。
　　1903年，福特建立了福特汽车公司，他宣称：“我将为广大群众建造一辆轿车。”1908年10月，他终于如愿以偿，以950美元的售价推出Model T。在Model T投入生产的19年里，它的售价低至280美元。仅在美国便售出了将近1550万辆。Model T揭开了汽车时代的序幕。
　　到1914年，福特在密歇根州高地公园的工厂可以每93分钟生产出一个完整的底盘。原先需要的时间是728分钟，这是一项极佳的改进。
　　1914年，福特开始每天支付他的员工5美元，接近其他制造商所支付工资的2倍。为了将工厂改为每天三次轮班，他将一天的工作时间从9个小时改为8个小时。福特的大规模生产技术最终达到每24秒就生产出一辆Model T。他的革新措施使他成为一位国际名人。
　　福特的Model T改变了美国社会。随着越来越多的美国人拥有汽车，都市化的进程也发生了改变。美国的城郊得到很大的发展，全国的公路系统也逐步成形。福特在有生之年目睹了这些变化，但是他自己一直渴望重温他年少时期的田园生活。在1947年4月7日他去世的前几年，他曾资助重建一个名叫“绿野村”的乡镇。
　　
　　


　　Steam Powered Cars
　　
　　The automobile^[汽车] as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects^[反映] an evolution^[发展] that took place worldwide. It is estimated^[估计] that over 100,000 patents^[专利] created the modern automobile. However, we can point to the many firsts that occurred along the way.
　　In 1769, the very first self propelled^{[自动推进]} road vehicle was a military tractor^{[军用牵引车]} invented by French engineer and mechanic, Nicolas Joseph Cugnot (1725 - 1804). Cugnot used a steam engine to power his vehicle. It was used by the French Army to haul^[拖运] artillery^[大炮] on only three wheels. The vehicle had to stop every ten to fifteen minutes to build up steam power. The steam engine and boiler were separated from the rest of the vehicle and placed in the front. The following year, Cugnot built a steam powered tricycle^[三轮车] that carried four passengers.
　　During the early history of self propelled vehicles, both road and railroad^[铁路] vehicles were being developed with steam engines. Steam engines added so much weight to a vehicle that they proved a poor design for road vehicles; however, steam engines were very successfully used in locomotives^[火车头]. Historians^{[历史学家]} believe that Nicolas Cugnot was the inventor of the first automobile.
　　


　　Electric Vehicles
　　
　　By the turn of the century, America was prosperous^[繁荣的] and cars, now available in steam, electric, or gasoline versions^[版本], were becoming more popular. The years 1899 and 1900 were the high points of electric cars in America.
　　While basic electric cars cost under $1,000, most early electric vehicles were ornate^[华丽的] carriages^[车厢] designed for the upper classes. The average price was $3,000 by 1910. Electric vehicles enjoyed success into the 1920s.
　　Electric vehicles had all but disappeared by 1935. The following years, until the 1960s, were dead years for electric vehicle development.
　　The 1960s and 1970s saw a need to reduce the problems of exhaust emissions^{[排出废气]} from internal combustion engines^{[内燃发动机]} and to reduce the dependency^[依赖] on imported foreign crude oil^[原油]. There have been many attempts to produce practical^[实用的] electric vehicles from 1960 to the present.
　　In the 1990s, the "Big Three"automobile manufacturers^[制造商], the U.S. Department of Energy, as well as a number of vehicle conversion^[改装] companies were actively involved in electric vehicle development.
　　General Motors has developed an electric car called the EV1. It was a two passenger sports car^[跑车] powered by a liquid cooled alternating current^[交流电] motor and lead acid batteries. The EV1 had a top speed of 80 mph, a range of 80 miles and could accelerate^[加速] from 0 to 50 mph in less than seven seconds.
　　
　　Automobile Powered by the Internal Combustion Engine
　　
　　In 1885, German mechanical engineer^{[机械工程师]}, Karl Benz, designed and built the world's first practical automobile to be powered by an internal combustion engine. On January 29, 1886, Benz received the first patent (DRP No. 37435) for a gas fueled car. It was a three wheeler; Benz built his first four wheeled car in 1891. Benz & Cie., the company started by the inventor, became the world's largest manufacturer of automobiles by 1900.
　　By the early 1900s, gasoline cars started to outsell all other types of motor vehicles. The market was growing for economical^[节约的] automobiles and the need for industrial production was pressing^[急切的].
　　
　　Famous Automobile Maker Henry Ford
　　
　　Automobile manufacturer Henry Ford was born July 30, 1863, on his family’s farm in Dearborn, Michigan. From the time he was a young boy, Ford enjoyed tinkering with^{[胡乱地修补]} machines. He later worked as a part time^[兼职的] employee for the Westinghouse Engine Company. By 1896, Ford had constructed^[建造] his first horseless carriage.
　　Ford incorporated^{[组成公司]} the Ford Motor Company in 1903, proclaiming^[宣布], "I will build a car for the great multitude^[大众]."In October 1908, he did so, offering the Model T for $950. In the Model T’s nineteen years of production, its price dipped^[下降] as low as $280. Nearly 15,500,000 were sold in the United States alone. The Model T heralded^[宣布] the beginning of the Motor Age.
　　By 1914, Ford’s plant^[工厂] atHighland Park, Michigan^{[密歇根州]}, could turn out a complete chassis^[底盘] every 93 minutes. This was a stunning^[极好的]improvement^[改进] over the earlier production time of 728 minutes.
　　In 1914, Ford began paying his employees five dollars a day, nearly doubling the wages^[工资] offered by other manufacturers. He cut the workday^[工作日] from nine to eight hours in order to convert^[转变] the factory to a three shift^[轮班] workday. Ford’s mass production^{[大规模生产]} techniques would eventually allow for the manufacture of a Model T every 24 seconds. His innovations^[革新] made him an international celebrity.
　　Ford’s Model T altered^[改变] American society. As more Americans owned cars, urbanization^[都市化] patterns changed. The United States saw the growth of suburbia^[郊区] and the creation of a national highway^[公路] system. Ford witnessed^[目睹] many of these changes during his lifetime, all the while^[一直] personally longing for the agrarian^[农耕的] lifestyle of his youth. In the years prior to^[在前] his death on April 7, 1947, Ford sponsored^[赞助] the restoration^[重建] of an rural town called Greenfield Village.
　　
　　相关链接
　　国外汽车品牌中英文对照表
　　德国
　　BMW 宝马 Mercedes Benz 奔驰
　　Ford 福特 Opel 欧宝
　　VW 大众 Audi 奥迪
　　Porsche 保时捷
　　
　　瑞典
　　SAAB 绅宝 Volvo 富豪
　　
　　法国
　　Citroen 雪铁龙 Renault 雷诺
　　Peugeot 标致
　　
　　美国
　　G. M. 通用 Buick 别克
　　Cadillac 凯迪拉克 Chevrolet 雪佛兰
　　Oldsmobile 奥斯麾比 Pontiac 庞帝克
　　Mercury 水星 Lincoln 林肯
　　Chrysler 克莱斯勒 Jeep 吉普
　　
　　英国
　　Rover 路宝 Jaguar 积架
　　Lotus 莲花 Rolls Royce 劳斯莱斯
　　Aston Martin 奥斯顿马汀 Bentley 本特利
　　
　　意大利
　　Alfa 阿尔法 Lancia 兰吉雅
　　FIAT 菲亚特 Maserati 马莎拉帝
　　Ferrari 法拉利 Lamborghini 林宝坚尼
　　Bugatti 伯嘉帝
　　
　　日本
　　Yelong 裕隆 Toyota 丰田
　　Honda 本田 Mitsubishi 三菱
　　Mazda 马自达 Daihatsu 大发
　　Suzuki 铃木 Subaru 速霸陆
　　Isuzu 五十铃 Nissan 尼桑 Eunos 优娜斯(音) Efini 仪飞尼(音)
　　Autozam 奥图兰姆(音)
　　
　　韩国
　　Ssang Yong 双阳 Hyundai 现代
　　Daewoo 大宇 Kia 起亚