12 First Cars

First Cars written by Julie Ellis

horse and cart There were no roads before cars were invented. Most people rode horses or walked on dirt tracks. Some people rode in carriages pulled by horses. The horses got tired and needed rest, food, and water. People wanted a carriage that could move along without horses.

steam car Inventors tried to make a carriage that could move without horses. One carriage had a sail, but it could only move on windy days. A carriage that used coal gas moved too slowly. Some carriages had steam engines. They were heavy and hard to steer, so they often crashed!

petrol engine, 1888 About 150 years ago, an inventor found a new way to move a carriage. He built an engine that used petrol, and he put it on a hand cart. Other men thought that petrol could be a good way to move carriages. Soon more engines were made.

One inventor put an engine onto a three-wheeled carriage. The first time he drove it, he crashed into a wall! So the next petrol engine was put on a four-wheeled carriage. first car, 1888 All these engines had been put on horse carriages. Then one inventor had a better idea. He made a new body for his engine. It was the first real car ever made.

The first cars were very different from the cars we have today. Some didn't have steering wheels, and they were steered by a stick. They only had one speed, and that was slow! Some were made without a roof, doors, a windshield, or lights. You had to pay more for extra things. The first cars cost a lot of money.