Gaston Plante, our French physicist hero, sparked the rechargeable revolution with his lead/acid battery in 1859, giving life to countless car batteries and making roadside jump starts a thing. Fast forward to 1895, and Henry Austin is vrooming around Britain in his gasoline chariot. By 1921, Ford is the king of the American car jungle, while GM plays catch-up. Meanwhile, in 2014, Toyota and Hyundai are busy brewing up hydrogen cars. Talk about an electrifying journey through automotive history!
- Gaston Plante is a French physicist credited with inventing the first practical and commercially viable rechargeable lead/acid storage battery in 1859.
MCF thanks Gateway Classic Cars for the image here.
- In 1895, Henry Austin, a resident of Britain, builds his first gasoline powered car.
- There is an upward trend, and 4,800 cars are manufactured in France during 1900, an indicator of things to come in the twentieth century.
- Under the firm hand of Henry Ford in 1921, the largest family owned business on earth, Ford Motors, owns 61% of the American car market, and General Motors is a distant second, controlling only 12%.
- In 1933 Richard Hollingshead opens the first drive-in movie theater on a property in New Jersey.
- The Impala is now a model and in Chevrolet showrooms for the first time in 1958, a new top of the line full sized car for the popular GM Division.
- Toyota and Hyundai, in 2014, are the first two manufacturers to mass produce a hydrogen powered car.
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