Buckle Up for This Quiz on the History of the Automobile

The Paris Police Ordinance was passed on August 14, 1893, requiring drivers to add registration plates to their vehicles. The United States didn't require identification plates until 1901. New York was the first state to order drivers to put their initials on a unique tag, and other states slowly adopted the idea.

Company founder Sakichi Toyoda was a crafty inventor at an early age: He studied weaving intensely during his youth, receiving his first patent for a wooden hand loom in 1891 at 24 years old. Over the next few decades, he grew the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works into a major producer of industrial textile machines. The company’s automotive department was established in 1933 by Toyoda’s son.

Despite the popularity of American muscle cars throughout the 1950s and ‘60s, none could eclipse the reach of Ford’s pioneering Model T. But thanks to its unique design, durability, and a famous 1959 campaign by legendary ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach, Germany’s Volkswagen Beetle became a smash hit in America. It broke the Model T’s record and became an icon of late ‘60s counterculture.

Many believe them to be a product of the 21st century, but engineers have been experimenting with electric vehicles since the mid-1800s. Scottish inventor Robert Anderson introduced the first crude electric vehicle back in 1832. Decades later, an American named William Morrison unveiled the first working electric car, though it was little more than an electrified wagon.

When German automotive engineer Karl Benz patented the first gas-powered vehicle in 1886, the car was actually designed with three wheels instead of the four that would soon become industry standard. In 1926, Benz merged his namesake company with the Daimler Motor Company to form Daimler-Benz AG, which is still the parent company of popular vehicle brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Smart.

American companies such as Ford and General Motors dominated the auto industry in the early part of the 20th century, but U.S. autos saw a decline in safety and efficiency after the 1960s. Innovation at companies such as Toyota and Nissan allowed Japan to rapidly gain market share. By 1982, almost one-third of cars on the road in the U.S. were made in Japan.

William Durant, a successful entrepreneur of horse-drawn carriages, was at first reluctant to enter the automobile business. After his partner James Whiting convinced him otherwise, General Motors was founded in 1908, the same year the Ford Model T was released. Durant went on to acquire companies that would become staples of the American auto industry, including Buick, Pontiac, and Cadillac.

The U.S. has produced powerful cars since before WWII, but it wasn’t until the 1960s that they became widely accessible. Spearheaded by the pioneering 1964 Pontiac GTO, manufacturers such as Buick, Chevrolet, and Oldsmobile released competing muscle cars. With a thriving economy and relatively low gas prices, these powerful rides were popular among American teens in the late ‘60s.

Released in 1908, the Model T was one of the first mass-produced cars in the world, fulfilling Henry Ford’s vision to make vehicle ownership accessible to the average household. The "Tin Lizzie" moniker originates from a 1922 car race in which a contestant entered his Model T named "Old Liz." Though the inexpensive car was compared to a tin can, it ended up winning the race thanks to its durability.

Known as “Motor City,” Detroit, Michigan was home to the country’s three biggest car companies in the mid-20th century: General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Spurred on by Franklin D. Roosevelt’s famous speech proclaiming America would become an “arsenal of democracy,” the “Big Three” executed one of the most impressive pivots in manufacturing history, helping the U.S. rapidly equip itself for WWII.