The International Federation of Historic Vehicles, FIVA, has designated 2016 as the International Year of Automotive Heritage. In doing so, it not only wants to celebrate our motoring history, it is also drawing attention to a new historic vehicle movement around the world. FIVA is also celebrating its 50th birthday this year.
The environmental crises then and now
Today it is the exhaust fumes from cars that endanger the health of the population in large cities, but 120 years ago it was the horse that threatened human life. That is why the world's first international conference was held in New York in 1898. The main topic of discussion was the prevailing environmental crisis in the big cities - the problem was horse manure.
The big cities are drowning in horse manure...
The Times predicted that London's streets would be buried under nine meters of manure by 1950 if something wasn't done quickly. In Manhattan, experts predicted that horse manure would reach the third floor windows by 1930.
But the dangers were even more serious, as the horse manure led to flies, which then brought diseases such as typhus to the cities. In 1900, 20,000 people a year died in New York alone and horse manure was blamed for these deaths.
How the car saved the world.
A solution to the problem had to be found quickly, but the 1898 conference failed to produce any results and was abandoned after three days instead of the ten planned. The problem then solved itself with the increasing number of automobiles on the roads in the 19th century.
Today, more and more autonomous vehicles with alternative drive concepts are appearing on our roads as an alternative to our vehicles with combustion engines. For FIVA, this is reason enough to honor the heritage of our classic automobiles and it therefore designated 2016 as the International Year of Automotive Heritage.
