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First let us consider the name, "automobile." Now, a "car" could have
been called anything and, sometimes, it is. Oliver Evans applied for
a U.S. patent in Philadelphia in 1792 on a steam land carriage, which
he called the "oruktor amphibolos!" We could have been strapped with
that name forever, if it weren't for more reasonable individuals
working on the same concept.
Martini was a 14th Century Italian painter, who had been trained in
engineering. He designed (on paper) a man-propelled carriage, mounted
on four wheels. Each wheel was powered by a hand-turned capstan
arrangement. Gearing was also provided to transmit the rotation of
each capstan to the wheel below. It may have looked good on paper,
but the four turners of the capstans couldn't have kept it up for
long before they fell over with exhaustion. It is lucky for us that
Martini did not name his invention after himself, as many inventors
do. If he had, and the word had survived to the present, it might be
a little confusing. If we were offered a "Martini," we might not know
whether to drive it or drink it! (Representatives of MADD and SADD
would probably tell us to park it!) We could be reading headlines
like: ORUKTOR ACCIDENT TAKES THREE LIVES or UNITED MARTINI WORKERS ON
STRIKE. The really historical (and fortunate) aspect of Martini's
design is the name that he gave it: "automobile," from the Greek
word, "auto," (self) and the Latin word, "mobils," (moving). "Car,"
on the other hand, comes from an ancient Celtic word, "carrus,"
meaning cart or wagon.
George B. Selden, an attorney in Rochester, New York, applied for,
and finally received, a patent for a "road machine" in 1879. The
Duryea brothers (1895) called their products "motor wagons." In 1896,
Henry Ford introduced an experimental car labeled the "Quadricycle."
Newspapers used words like autometon, motor-vique, oleo locomotive,
autokenetic, buggyaut, motor carriage, autobaine, automotor horse,
diamote, motorig, mocole, and, of course, the horseless carriage. In
1895, H. H. Kohlsaat, publisher of the Chicago Times-Herald, offered
a $500.00 prize for the best name for the motorized vehicles of the
day. The judges picked "motorcycle" as the winner. "Quadricycle" was
a favorite, as was "petrocar." The word "automobile" wasn't even in
the running! But in 1897, The New York Times prophesied, "...the new
mechanical wagon with the awful name -- automobile...has come to
stay..."
Many of the words that are associated with automobiles are derived
from the French; i.e, garage, chauffeur, limousine, and chassis are
just some examples.
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