No capitalist has achieved such fame as Henry Ford.
Books written by him and about him have been published in millions of copies; his biography was included in the book series "Lives of Remarkable People." His fame was brought by the modest Model T, jokingly called the "losers' car" in the US, meaning it was for "average" people who didn’t earn millions of dollars.
The "Ford-T" appeared when a "real" car was considered to be a large carriage with a luxurious body and a powerful engine—a car for the rich, costing several thousand dollars. The Model T was ten times cheaper. Each unit brought a modest profit, but mass production (hundreds of thousands of units per year) made the enterprising American one of the richest people in the world. During the lifetime of an entire generation, from 1908 to 1927, more Ford cars roamed the earth than all other brands combined.
The Model T had everything necessary (by the standards of those years) to ensure driving safety; at the same time, it was free of excesses. The simplicity of the design is evident, even when looking at the engine. Four cylinders are cast in a single block. They are cooled by water circulating without a pump: warmer water, heated by the cylinders, displaces the cooled water from the radiator. The fuel is gravity-fed, with the tank located under the seat. The transmission has only two gears. Instead of four longitudinal springs, there are two transverse ones. There is no battery. The headlights receive power from the ignition system.
Of course, such simplifications came at a cost—"losers" paid for the cheapness of the "Ford-T" with their labor and nerves. If the tank was lower than the engine, fuel wouldn't reach the carburetor. Sometimes, hills had to be climbed... in reverse. To refuel, the passenger had to vacate the seat. At low engine speeds, the headlights would flicker dimly. Therefore, in the dark, drivers would shift to first gear to increase the engine speed. In winter, frozen oil would clog the gearbox gears, connecting the engine directly to the wheels. By cranking the starting handle, the driver would simultaneously move the car, and when the engine started, would jump into the car on the move.
These drawbacks were tolerated, especially since in daytime, warm weather, and on smooth roads, the car performed quite well. The early "Fords" surprised people with their left-hand drive. The innovation was considered unsafe since there were more horse-drawn carriages and pedestrians on the right side of the road than oncoming cars. However, it made getting into the car much easier, and with this, Ford seemed to announce a new era—an era of roads filled with cars.
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In Europe, this era came later. Even now, on the streets of Prague, for example, among modern cars, you can still occasionally spot vehicles from the 1920s. Most commonly seen are the "Tatras" models 11 and 12, which have survived thanks to their exceptional durability and endurance.
The fenders flip up with the hood to provide access to the mechanisms. In front, under the hood, are ribbed engine cylinders cooled by incoming air. A radiator is unnecessary, and water heating was not yet considered. The "Tatra" design is unusual. Its creator, H. Ledwinka, replaced the frame with a tube running along the car's length. The engine and main transmission are mounted on the ends of the tube. The half-axles are also encased in tubes that swing on hinges. When a wheel climbs a bump or dips into a pothole, the gear of its half-axle rolls along the teeth of one of the two gears on the longitudinal shaft. Therefore, the transmission lacks universal joints.
The small "Tatra" initially faced strong opposition from competitors until it won two major victories in 1925—in the challenging mountain race Targa Florio on the island of Sicily and in the international rally from Leningrad to Tbilisi to Moscow on Russian cobblestone and dirt roads.
The "Tatra-11" and "Tatra-12" were produced for five years, after which their design was used by the company in creating other models, including heavy trucks. "Relatives" appeared in Germany ("Stoewer," "Röhr") and in the Soviet Union (NAMI).
The first Soviet passenger car NAMI-1 was jokingly nicknamed "Primus" because its engine hissed. The history of this car is as follows: K. Sharapov, now an employee of the USSR Academy of Sciences, was finishing his studies and pondering a topic for his diploma project. Around that time, a rally took place that brought a tremendous success to the "Tatra." Sharapov took its design as the basis for his car, although he increased the engine power and altered the suspension. Due to the absence of a differential and its large, wide tires, the car had excellent off-road capabilities. The project was so successful that it was approved for the development of a production car at the NAMI institute. The prototypes successfully completed a run from Moscow to Sevastopol and back. The Moscow "Spartak" plant on Pimenovskaya Street (now Krasnoprudnaya) began producing these cars, and they were manufactured for three years. Recently, a surviving car was discovered in Irkutsk, restored, and now it adorns the lobby of NAMI.
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Many designers and manufacturers tried their hand at creating a car "for the average person." Most went bankrupt, while a minority became wealthy. In Europe, before World War II, the Frenchman André Citroën succeeded. His most interesting model, the "Traction Avant," was one of the first mass-produced cars with front-wheel drive. This car was produced (in various versions) until 1955, and the principles it embodied—front-wheel drive, a frameless unibody, torsion bar suspension, and an overhead valve engine—were further developed in later Citroën models and other brands. Front-wheel drive provides stability on turns and slippery roads; torsion bar suspension offers a smooth ride and durability; a unibody adds lightness and rigidity; overhead valves increase engine power.
More about other Citroën designs, as well as subsequent cars "for the average person," will be discussed later.
1-2. "Ford-T" (USA, 1908-1927). 3-5 seats. Engine: 4-cylinder, 20 hp. Speed: 70 km/h. Weight: 550 kg. Engine cooling: thermosyphon. The illustrations show "roadster" bodies with a single rear seat (the so-called "mother-in-law seat") and "tudor" (two-door).
3. "Tatra," model 12 (Czechoslovakia, 1925-1930). 4 seats. Engine: 2-cylinder, 12 hp. Speed: 70 km/h. Weight: 680 kg. Air-cooled engine. Body type: "phaeton" or "torpedo." Note the padlock on the hood.
4. NAMI-1 (USSR, 1927-1930). 4 seats. Engine: 2-cylinder, 22 hp. Speed: 75 km/h. Weight: 700 kg. Air-cooled engine. Body: "phaeton." A tool box with a padlock is mounted on the running board.
5. "Citroën" models 7 SU, 11 SU, 15 SU (France, 1934-1955). 4-8 seats. Engine: 4- and 6-cylinder. Power: 30, 40, and 50 hp. Speed: 100 km/h. Weight: 900-1100 kg. Water-cooled. Front-wheel drive. Body type: 4-door "sedan" (known in French as a "berline" with interior controls).