From the twenties to the fifties - 30 years of automotive progress

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From the twenties to the fifties - 30 years of automotive progress

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Created on January 1, 1958

Text:

Helmut Werner Bönsch VDI

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

2

Archiv Daimler AG

3

Bruno von Rotz

1

GM Corporation / Opel

1

Alfa Romeo / Werk

1

Archiv

19

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Steyr 50 "Baby" (1938) - Transparent drawing

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Maybach of the 1920s, Chrysler Flight Sweep II of the 1950s

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S.S. One Sixteen (1931) - View through the first "Jaguar"

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Mercedes Benz SSK (1928) - equipped with two spare wheels for long-distance journeys

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Horch (1930) - eight-cylinder engine with overhead camshaft

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Rolls-Royce Phantom I Ascot Tourer (1930) - 7.7-liter displacement and a particularly long stroke

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Rolls-Royce Phantom I Ascot Tourer (1930) - this Rolls could still be crank-started

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Hanomag 2/10 PS (1925) - popularly known as "Komissbrot" - early pontoon body - Classic-Gala Schwetzingen 2017

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Opel Kadett (1936) - The Opel Kadett's recipe for success was its ornes design, excellent space and innovative technology such as the self-supporting body

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Fiat 508 C / 1100 Balilla (1937) - Transparent drawing shows the interior of the four-cylinder engine

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ZF (1951) - Media gearbox and steering wheel

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Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint (1954) - Transparency drawing

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Goggomobil T 250 (1958) - a comparison of the manually shiftable four-speed gearbox and the electromagnetically shiftable semi-automatic gearbox from Getrag

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Saxomat (1957) - automated clutch in 1957, as installed at DKW

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Edsel Corsair (1957) - Steering wheel with push-button automatic gearshift, at the IAA Frankfurt 1957

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DKW 3=6 (1956) - see-through drawing - the later 1000 S and 1000 SP were based on the same technology

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DKW F102 (1965) - still with three-cylinder two-stroke engine - Geneva Motor Show 1965

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DKW 3=6 (1957) - the water-cooled three-cylinder two-stroke engine - powerful and compact

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Mercedes Benz 300 SL (1954) - W 198 - the M 198 engine with Bosch six-stroke pump and fuel injection

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MG EX 181 (1957) - See-through drawing of the MG Twin-Cam record engine

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Jaguar XK 120 (1953) - the twin-camshaft engine in the see-through drawing

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Porsche 356 (1955) - see-through drawing shows the technology

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Mercedes Benz 300 SL (1952) - W 194 - View drawing of the racing sports car

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Ford Taunus 12M (1959) - classic pontoon body, globe on the nose

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Chrysler Flight Sweep II (1955) - elegantly presented silhouette

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Kaiser Manhattan (1952) - for more safety there were even more extensive bumpers and the largest plastic rear lights in the US range

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images seen in high resolution

S.S. One Sixteen (1931) - Durchsichtszeichnung durch den ersten "Jaguar"

Mercedes Benz SSK (1928) - für Langstreckenfahrten mit zwei Ersatzrädern gerüstet

Horch (1930) - Achtzylinder-Motor mit obenliegender Nockenwelle

Rolls-Royce Phantom I Ascot Tourer (1930) - 7,7Liter Hubraum und ein besonders langer Hub

Rolls-Royce Phantom I Ascot Tourer (1930) - diesen Rolls konnte man auch noch per Kurbel anwerfen

Hanomag 2/10 PS (1925) - im Volksmund "Komissbrot" genannt - frühe Ponton-Karosserie - Classic-Gala Schwetzingen 2017

Summary

Many Zwischengas readers regard the 1950s as the decade in which the automobile made the greatest progress. The magazine "Krafthand" celebrated its thirtieth anniversary at the end of the fifties and took this as an opportunity to look back three decades and critically examine the innovations in the automotive industry. This report reproduces the wording used at the time and illustrates the examples with a large number of photographs from the period to show the changes that have taken place in 30 years of automobile construction and maintenance.

This article contains the following chapters

Optimization of the engines
Late improvement in transmission and drive
Major advances in the chassis
More operational safety and uniformity in the brakes
Lower air resistance and self-supporting bodies

Estimated reading time: 16min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Around 500 BC, Heraclitus coined his famous "Panta rhei" (everything flows). Two and a half millennia later, Max Planck recognized that every process in nature takes place in leaps and bounds. Progress in technology, too, does not take place steadily, but in leaps that grow progressively with advancing knowledge, but it is hardly possible for the technical historiographer, even in the short period of 30 years, to distinguish precisely in the case of a product such as the motor vehicle, which was created under the influence of a passionately interested public, which improvements are the result of a technical development following logical laws, and which other changes are due to the emotional influences of the constantly demanding, pressing and fashionable whispers of the buyer. It is therefore inevitable that when looking at the development of motor vehicles over the last 30 years, a question mark must be raised here and there as to whether real technical progress has actually been achieved.

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Images of this article

S.S. One Sixteen (1931) - Durchsichtszeichnung durch den ersten "Jaguar"

Mercedes Benz SSK (1928) - für Langstreckenfahrten mit zwei Ersatzrädern gerüstet

Horch (1930) - Achtzylinder-Motor mit obenliegender Nockenwelle

Rolls-Royce Phantom I Ascot Tourer (1930) - 7,7Liter Hubraum und ein besonders langer Hub

Rolls-Royce Phantom I Ascot Tourer (1930) - diesen Rolls konnte man auch noch per Kurbel anwerfen

Hanomag 2/10 PS (1925) - im Volksmund "Komissbrot" genannt - frühe Ponton-Karosserie - Classic-Gala Schwetzingen 2017

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