Antique cars are usually viewed at car shows because most are not driven around anymore. The Antique Automobile Club of America says any car built before 1930 is antique. Any automobiles made between 1930 and 1950 are officially called either production cars or classic cars. For instance the Packard made in 1931 is not an antique car.

     Back in the day cars used different engines. Now we use internal combustion engines and electric generators. They used steam, electric, and gasoline engines. A steam engine uses heated water to create steam. The pressure from the steam enables the car to move. An electric engine is really an electric generator. It generates electricity, which is used to move the car. A gasoline engine uses internal combustion or explosion to move the car.

    Some of the most famous carmakers were Henry Ford, Charles Goodyear, Nicolaus August Otto, and Charles Franklin Kettering. Henry Ford improved the assembly line for cars. His most popular car was the Model T Ford. Charles Goodyear invented the Goodyear tire. Nicolas August Otto invented the gas motor engine. Charles Franklin Kettering invented the first electric powered ignition System.

 Antique Car Speed 

 When Antique cars where being invented they were limited in speed. Some would go 4mph, 7mph, or ten mph. The first car would drive a walking speed. When the years passed the cars would go faster, such as 20mph, 40mph, 50mph,or even 55 mph.

Antique Car Improvements
Cars continue to improve over the year. Some inventors figured out how to make more than one car at once as well as adding new features.

John Lambert: invented the gasoline-powered engine in 1891. He created a three-wheeled buggy that had a surrey top.

Duryea Brothers: were both bicycle technicians who had interest in gasoline engines. On Sept. 20, 1893 they tested their first automobile on public roads in Springfield, Massachusetts. Charles Duryea established Duryea Motor Wagon Company in 1896.
They founded the first American manufacture company to sell gasoline-powered vehicles.

Henry Ford: first started working on machines in a Detroit machine shop. Later he became an employee for Westinghouse Engine Company. In 1896 Ford created his first horseless carriage. Ford improved the assembly line for automobile manufacturing. The most famous car he invented was the Model T. Henry also invented a transmission mechanism.

Rudolf Diesel: was educated in Munich Polytechnic. After the graduation he became a refrigerator engineer. However Diesel had a love for engine design. He designed many heat engines and one solar powered air engine. In 1893 published a paper about an engine, with combustion, in a cylinder, called the internal combustion engine. Almost killed by his invention of an explosion he proved that gasoline could be ignited with out using a spark.

 Charles Franklin Kettering: created the first driven generator also the electric ignition system.      

                                                                                       

 Antique Features

 The first automobiles were windmill-powered vehicles. Later on, the steam powered vehicle finished in 1769 by Nicolas Cugnot. It was a large three-wheel vehicle at the speed of someone walking. It was built to haul canons.

Some special features and their inventors are the car radio in 1929 by Paul Galvin. Daimler invented the electric windows in 1948. Heater Canadian Thomas Ahearn created the first car heater in 1890. Francis W. Davis invented powered steering. Before that he came up with hydraulic steering. It wasn't available until 1951.                           

Some of the special features of the 1930 Ford Model A:

    Exterior: Two tone gray and black. Interior: Grey Cloth. Engine: Inline, L-head, four cylinders. Cast iron block. 200.5 cubic  inch, 40bhp at 2200 R.P.M. Mechanical valve lifters. Torque: 128 lb.-ft. at 1000 R.P.M. Chasis: 103.5 inch wheelbase. Front/Rear Tread: 56 inch. Tires: 4.75 x 19.