The Amazing World of Automobiles

The Amazing World of Automobiles charts the evolution of cars throughout the ages, from the first Model T Ford to roll off the conveyor belt to the most recent innovations in design, including cars that reduce your carbon footprint.

We look at the advent of the machine that has kept us on the road over the last century. Since the earliest days, motoring has not exactly been cheap. In the beginning it was only the rich who could afford wheels, but then Henry Ford changed the way the world moved.

In the earliest days, roads were where horses pulled carts, but as cars came along, gravel gave way to cobblestones, which in turn disappeared as the modern roads were paved with tar. Roads became more durable, but that didnʼt stop the intrepid traveller who wanted to explore more inhospitable terrain.

Ever since the automobile was invented men have raced them, pitting themselves and their cars against those of other countries in all kinds of races, in all kinds of conditions. The first races were feats of endurance, the most famous being Le Mons. After WWII, motor sport became a team affair, and drivers went professional.

Join us as we chart the lives of some of the most important names in the automobileʼs short history - men who have raced them, designed or built them, and as a result have become icons in their chosen field. Probably the most influential man - particularly in the early days of motor cars - was Henry Ford.

BMW has long been associated with motor-sport, its BM1 division devoted to creating cars that can outperform and outlast their competitors while sticking to the designs that have made BMW one of the most sought after cars in the middle class, prestige market.

Each year, thousands more cars are introduced to our roads, filing our air with harmful pollutants and using up precious resources. In the last ten years car manufacturers have been working on ways to cut carbon emissions and save fuel at the same time - the result so far has been hybrid cars such as Toyotaʼs Prius and Fordʼs Fiesta E-kinetic.

By the end of the first twenty-five years of motoring history, Britainʼs road toll was in the thousands, and something had to be done to curb the terrible cost associated with the centuryʼs newest invention. The earliest seatbelts caught on in the 1950ʼs, three-point belts becoming law in some countries (including the UK and Australia) due to their effectiveness in saving lives.

Early British vehicles relied on developments from Germany and France, but by the turn of the century the first all British automobile was manufactured by the Woolsley Tool and Motor Car Company. The Baby Austin becoming available in 1922, selling for 225 pounds, putting it in reach of people previously unable to afford to buy a motor car.

While cars can be seen on virtually every street in every modernized country on the planet, to find the first reliable engines we would have to go back in time to Germany, where two inventors, Niklaus Otto and Karl Benz, revolutionized the way people travelled from A to B.

Around the time Henry Ford was building his first car, so was Ransom Olds, father of the famous American Oldsmobile. But it was Ford who would establish the forty hour working week within his factories and introduce mass production via his moving assembly lines, heralding a new era for industry.

The 1970ʼs were a classic era in sports car racing. Porsche and Renault were just two of the famous names that competed for glory during this time. The Porsche short-tail 917 was one of the newer lightweight vehicles introduced during the early 70ʼs.

Some of Europeʼs great circuits evolved from city-to-city road races. The Spa-Francorchamps hosted the 1939 Belgian Grand Prix, run in treacherous conditions with low visibility. Mercedes driver Richard Seaman was badly burned in a crash, dying later in hospital. After WWII, racing resumed in Europe, with Maserati and Ferrari well represented by drivers like Juan Manuel Fangio and Nino Farina.