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Andrew Dahl
UWRT 1103-037
21 October 2014
Assignment Two
The Evolution of the Automobile
Introduction
Three Mini Cooper Ss are waiting in a stopped underground railway system in
Los Angeles, California. Above them, on the street, a bank truck is transporting gold
bricks in a safe. The light turns red on command and an explosion goes off, the truck is
now falling through the street. On the tracks is a team waiting to go in and get the bricks.
These bricks once belonged to them but were stolen away from a guy they trusted and
after thinking they were dead, the team reappears to the guy and plans to take their gold
back. They eventually break the safe, loads the bricks and head towards a train. This is
from F. Gary Grays 2003 version of The Italian Job. The gold bricks were going to
weigh a lot but Charlie, played by Mark Wahlberg, and his team needed small quick cars.
In order to do this they changed the suspensions and modified the engines to get the job
done.
Vehicles are created on a drawing board and then put to life in an assembly line.
Different manufacturers have their own style of cars, but overall they are extremely similar so they can make more, in a short amount of time, for the smallest amount of money
possible. For different jobs or personalities these every day cars are not good enough,
something needs to change in these situations. When automobiles first started coming
into the picture only a select amount of people knew how they worked, so there were not

many variations. But eventually cars were becoming a common thing, after World War II
one in every seven persons had their own car. Different companies were arising and different models were being made. But still people wanted to be different from others driving around, they wanted to be louder and faster, they wanted to assert a sort of dominance
on the road and in their town. This paper discuses how modern day vehicles have evolved
from the motorized bicycle to the 1500 horsepower machines we have created.
In order to give the reader a better understanding of the topic and maybe some
things that may seem biased, I should explain my relationship to the topic. I myself am a
modification junky. I do not like most stocks cars because I think they are too basic, and I
do not like to pass someone with the same vehicle as mine. I am currently driving a 2000
Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo, and although it is majority stock, I have done what I can do
at the moment to make it mine. I will continue to work on it as expenses come in and one
day I will pass it down to my first son. This upcoming summer I will be lifting my Jeep
six and a half inches with thirty-three inch mud tires. The outside and inside will also be
equipped with other toys and lights to add to its dominance. When I graduate from college I plan to have many vehicles, ranging from lifted Chevy Duramaxes and Jeeps to
BMWs and hopefully a sports car. But besides all of my dreams and opinions, I do want
to give a type of history to this, now more than ever, growing fascination with aftermarket modifications and the history of where cars originated.
Literature Review
The automobile started when the bicycle was first invented. Before this time all
travel was done on a horse or something pulled by a horse. The bicycle came into play
and shortly after, thanks to the creative mind of humans always wanting to move forward,

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the first engine-powered vehicle was created. This was in Germany, and it was a threewheeled engine-powered bicycle, it resembled a type of rickshaw. The automotive industry would soon become the biggest industry because it would affect everyone in the world
daily, this was an invention that changed the course of the world. The impact would not
just change the way that the world would function but it would also peak the human
minds interest and it led to even more inventions. The car is seen as the most romantic
machine built, because it was personal, or an expression of someone (Changing Architecture of the Motor Car, 2013). Tinkering became a quick hobby for most middle-class
white males in this time.(Morris, 2014) It lead to many inventions and it did not just start
on the exterior. Adding audio to a car was more or less a luxury but it would soon become a regular in the automotive industry.
As we learned more about motors and how to make different architectures in the
body of cars people liked having different cars and looking different then others. This
was usually a male hobby to have, and there are multiple reasons this could be, the two
common reasons were that they wanted to create a dominance or they wanted to impress
females. Customization did a good job with these two things. The majority of customization started after World War II, men came home started working on cars and making it
their own (Walden, 2014). The next step is showing off your hot-rod. Showing off your
souped-up car was done by basically driving around. It was called cruising the strip. It
was done mainly on the weekends but some people drove their modified cars on a daily
basis, although this was rare because modified cars are more expensive to drive around.
The movie American Graffiti by George Lucas shows the attitude of cruising and the
competition between the drivers. The whole reason of doing it was to be better than the

others on the road. Modifying cars is what made people want to start to learn things
themselves, and not only do we now do car mechanics by ourselves but people are learning to modify everything now. (Weightman & McDonagh, 2003)
The only difference between then and now is the performance. Being faster, louder, and more different is easier than ever. Although American Graffiti did bring the spark
back to cruising it is no longer that popular. Now people just drive around or go to car
shows to show off their cars. They do everything from modeling old cars to showing off
new lowered and lifted cars. People also will join car clubs like Drive 4 Change who
drive exotic cars on tours to raise money for causes.
Annotated Bibliography
S. Andrew Dahl (2014), Assignment One Observation, [Homework]
This is my own work that I completed a month ago. I observed the television show Top
Gear, specifically three different modifications that they did to every day cars. They were
modifying for the show and had some comedy in their show but they were doing it for a
reason and modification is always done for a reason.
David Z. Morris (2014), Cars with the Boom: Identity and Territory in American Postwar
Automobile Sound, [Article] The Johns Hopkins University Press
In this article Morris discuses the audio side of modification. Modification does not have
to do solely with the exterior of the vehicle but also the interior. He discuses when audio
started in the car and where it is now. He talks about the uses of loud audio systems and
the complaints that have been growing as the loudness is growing.
David Weightman & Deana McDonagh (2003), People are doing it for themselves, [Article]

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This article in not only about cars but it also discuses different things and ways that people make their own. It talks about vehicles for a good amount of the time although. One
thing it does mention is how the car manufacturers changed the assembly line and designs
by a little bit to accommodate the changing desire to be different on the road.
Robert C. Post (1998), Hot Rods and Customs: The Men and Machines of Californias
Car Culture, At the Oakland Museum of California, [Article] The Johns Hopkins University Press
This is a short article on the beginning of hot-roding, which originated in California after
World War II. It mentions the movie American Graffiti and how that captures a glimpse
of the origins. It is mainly about the Kustom Kulture exhibits in the Oakland Museum of
California.
Larry Abramson (2011), On Location: Cruising With American Graffiti [Radio Series
Episode] Morning Edition. NPR
This radio episode looks through the George Lucas movie American Graffiti to talk about
cruising. Cruising is not as popular now but still does occur. It is just driving your vehicle around to show it off, and you would only show off your car if it were different or
in someway impressive.
F. Gary Gray (2003) The Italian Job, [Movie]
This movie uses three modified Mini Cooper Ss to do job. The movie does talk about
what needs to be done to the Minis and why. Modification is always done for a reason,
whether that is a desire or a need, and the movie gives a good example of that, even if it
is for an illegal activity.

DailyDrivenExotics (2013), 50+ Exotic Cars Cruise, Childrens Hospital Fundraiser

Drive 4 Change & SR Auto Group [YouTube Video]
This video is about a cruise that happened in Canada. It is with a group of exotic, foreign,
cars. They do cruises and shows to raise money for organizations. This time it is for the
Childrens Hospital.
King Rose Archives (2013), Changing Architecture of the Motor Car the History,
[YouTube Video]
This video was made by General Motors, one of the most heard of companies in America. The video runs through the start of vehicles, their origins and how their shape came to
be. It all starts from the bicycle and then comes all the way to the modern family car.
Entering the Conversation
The automotive world is full of many variables. There are many different manufacturers and models for one to make a choice. There are also many different types of
people to choose the car. The type of car that someone drives is often a reflection of his
or her personality or even a reflection of where they are from. This is looking at the majority of people, there are select amounts of people who are just happy to drive what gets
them from point A to point B, and I cannot understand those people. I myself am from a
very rural area where nine out of ten families, that is an estimation, had at least one fourwheel drive SUV or truck. It is the nature of the area and what is used for work around
there. But you could look at the other hand, people who live in a city or a more metropolitan area would lean more towards a safe and fuel-efficient car.
Your vehicle is an expression of who you are. When modifying first started after
World War II it was basically the performance that was paid attention too. The body style

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that came from the manufacturer was usually not tampered with because it was risky. It
was not easy to find a replacement for your vehicle when you made a mistake while
messing around. The body style to each car is unique, but engines are not as hard to build.
Engines can be taken apart, added to and put back together, but once you cut some sheet
metal that is on your car, it is not as easy to turn back. But that soon started to change as
the automobile became more common.
The next faze of car modification was that in the work industry. As I mentioned
before four-wheel drive vehicles are of common use in jobs, usually those pertaining to
manual labor. Those types of vehicles started when the truck was first created. The car
started with the shape and it slowly morphed into variations. Once the truck came around
it grew into what we now use as Cargo trucks. And that was the first classification for
what a type of car should be used for. In the show Top Gear they often make their own
cars for certain tasks. I did a few observations of the show about a month ago and one
thing they do is make cars for a specific task instead of a basic car for multiple functions.
Car companies build cars for every day use or basic needs to save cost but what modifiers
are doing now is making the vehicle their own and doing to them specific things to make
it unique much like is done in Top Gear when they make and everyday drivable hover car
for places that flood (Dahl, 2014), or make a van that suites old people and their desires.
Overall the point of modification has not changed much over the years. The whole
reason people do it, mostly those of the male gender, is to be louder or to look better.
There is nothing wrong with this mindset, as I mentioned in the beginning I do not like
stock cars, although it can cause a problem to safety because some people try to go to fast
to show off. These victims are often teenage males. Another problem caused is the incon-

sideration of others. Being loud and sounding good is understandable, it is enjoyable and
it is different, but it can be annoying to those around it. Those people I mentioned that I
cannot understand, I can understand this aspect of it.
The art of modification has changed because of the technologies that increase every day. Technology is not something that stands still. People have jobs to create sturdier
suspensions, longer-lasting tires, and better sounding speakers. With the increase also
goes up cost but to those who love to change stock things, it is worth the money. We can
now lower a car to almost touch the ground, but has hydraulics to raise it up over speed
bumps. We can also lift a vehicle to put huge rims on it or tires bigger than those on tractors so you can cut right through mud. These type of things were only dreams back when
cruising first started but now it has come a reality.
Cruising started to die out once the 1970s and 1980s came around. But this was
not all by choice. Yes it was not the new thing to do so by natural processes it was becoming boring but also the law enforcement was starting to stand up against it. They
thought it was dangerous and although they did not make it illegal they would watch
those who do it and bust them for almost any small infraction. My friends and I often go
cruising in Hickory, NC. It is still a pretty small city but there is one road with some restaurants that some people with souped-up cars go out and drive up and down. But there
are cops everywhere and that takes the joy out of it. Now people will do car shows to
show off their cars, and this is not just for old cars that have been rebuilt. There are car
shows for modern cars in their specific area, lowered, riced, or vehicles for off-roading.
Off-roading shows though are often on trails and you just go out with some friends.
Conclusion

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In this paper I have gone through the history of car modification, the origin of the
automobile and its changes. In the present day we have more advanced technologies that
have allowed us to make more extreme changes to vehicles. Not just lifts and engine
modifications but also crazy changes like are done in the BBC television show Top Gear.
The car is a personal machine that has evolved and will always be evolving. Having a car
is an expression of your personality, even if all you do is change your air freshener. Make
your car you, make it what you want it to be. What can you do to make it different? What
can you do to make it better? There are always ideas for individuals and that is where the
new big idea comes from.