This is a general interest trade book that describes the development of automotive technology and engineering from the start of the industry before 1900 to the present day. It explains how various systems and elements in the automobile work in layman's terms, without resorting to mathematics, and highlights the keymilestones in the historical development of automotive technology. All photos and illustrations are in full color. The intended audience is older teens to adults of any age who are interested in the subject and may be involved in it as a hobby. Sometimes referred to as "gearheads" or "motorheads", they form a huge market. Over the years many of the author's engineering students were in this category, and he often would meet with on-campus car clubs to explain the way things automotive worked, being careful to damp down or eliminate any complicated mathematics, as he does in this book. An Internet search found only titles that are either "hard-engineering oriented" -- such as publications from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) -- or mere compendiums of dates. Books in the latter category note the milestones but without hardly any explanation at all of how these developments actually work in a technical sense - which is the aim of this book.

Motive Power: External Combustion Engines. Internal Combustion Engines. Electric Vehicles. Chassis Layouts and Drivelines: The First Production Automobiles. Other Early European Makes. Engine Configurations: Cylinder Arrangements. Floating Power. Summary. Valve Trains, Inductions, and Supercharging: Valve Actuation. Valve Cam Functions. Valve Arrangements. Variable Valve Timing (VVT). Cylinder Deactivation. Fuel Control. Summary. Transmissions and Differentials: Gearboxes. Friction Drive. Planetary Transmissions. Overdrive Transmissions. Semi-Automatic Gearboxes. Preselector Gearboxes. Dry-Clutched, Semi-Automatic. Automatic Transmission. Differentials. Summary. Suspension and Steering: Sprung versus Unsprung Weight. Rear Suspension. Front Suspension. Dampers. Steering. Brakes: Mechanical. Hydraulic. Air. Power. Parking. Body: Body on Frame. Streamlined. Unibody. Monocoque. NVH. Summary.