THE HISTORY OF THE AUTOMOBILE

(C) Herbert Austin set up his own company, called Austin and by the early 1920s it was one of Britain’s most important carmakers. Clearly a big idea was needed. Salvation came along when Austin proposed to ‘motorize the common man’ with a very small, economical car. He might have been inspired by the many cheap-to-buy ‘cycle cars’ being offered by enterprising French companies, but this type was not quite what he had in mind. Instead, he wanted to make a car with none of the compromises. Austin worked with a talented draftsman called Stanley Edge. They created what became the Austin Seven. It offered 4 seats, 4-cylinder engine and 4-wheel brakes. It became the world’s leading small car. The battle for the world land speed record entered an extraordinary phase in 1922, when aircraft engines became the favored method to push the boundaries of speed. In 1920 a V12 engine was installed in a Sunbeam chassis to produce a car with record-breaking capabilities. Redesigned to produce 350hp engine was given shaft-drive to the rear wheels – much safer than the dangerous chains that could sometimes break and injure the driver. Campbell painted it blue and named it ‘Bluebird’.

He took the land speed record after the car had received crucial aerodynamic modifications in 1924.

A 2-wheeled car was what the Monotrace purported to be, although, with its ‘stabilizer’ wheels either side of its narrow, tandem 2-seater body, it was hardly a claim that stands up. Its single-cylinder engine was concealed in its tail, driving the rear-wheel via chains through motorbike gearbox. The driver, sitting behind a tiny windshield, steered using an enormous hybrid of a steering wheel and motorbike handlebars. The stabilizer wheels were retractable, but on the Monotracethey were on outriggers that could be raised and lowered from the cockpit using a lever and came complete with their own tiny fenders.

In 1934 Austrian chief engineer Hans Ledwinka brought together his expertise in air-cooled engines and intelligent chassis design, with a newfound enthusiasm for aerodynamics. At Tatra’s core was a welded box-section chassis, a sort of metal backbone with a forked extension at the back to cradle the air-cooled, overhead-camshaft V8 engine designed especially for this car. The entire power pack, gearbox included, could be easily unbolted and detached for repairs. With the mechanical elements at the rear, Ledwinka could concentrate on excellent streamlining – the first in a long line of luxury cars. Some of them had a small frontal area; a windshield angled at 45 degrees and carefully sculpted air intakes on the body sides and on the long, tapering tail, to cool the engine as it drove along.

1. Are the following statements true (T) or false (F)?

a) Austin wanted to make a tiny car for an ordinary man.

b) His car became one of best on the market.

c) In 1922 a V12 engine was installed in a Sunbeam.

d) Bluebird became an air speed record holder in 1924.

e) The steering wheel of Monotrace resembled sth. between aircraft propeller and motorbike handlebars.

f) Ledwinka was concentrated on streamlined shape of a car.

2. Choose the correct modal verb and translate these sentences:

a) This material doesn’t have to / mustn’t be used as it harms people’s health.

b) This material isn’t strong enough. It must / could break under pressure.

c) We must / could change the design, but I’m not sure that’s the answer.

d) We must / could be more innovative or we will go out of business.

e) We can / must hire that designer. He is the best in this business.

f) We should / can take this can of fuel as the petrol tank is almost empty.

g) Designing a car we must / needn’t take into account safety requirements.

h) To succeed in our job we should / may face the problem and solve it.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1170