This is kind of a loaded question, which could warrant a much longer answer. OK, The key being “motor car”. Asking, what type of motor do you mean? An ICE [internal combustion engine], such as the type of engines used since the turn of the century? Steam cars, which were developed in the late 1700’s. This may come as a shock [no pun intended] to you, but the first electric motor car was introduced according to my studies in 1881.
So, who invented the motor car as we know it? You can see that in the beginning, inventors were willing to use what was available to patch together what they called the “horseless carriage”. Some of the inventors went on to invent some very ingenuous ideas and helped the motor car industry become what it is today. We owe those people a lot.
I am going to focus on cars with ICE’s. Gasoline, diesel and liquid propane. When I tell you who is considered responsible for the first “modern automobile” you may be surprised. Karl Benz. The year 1979 Benz patented the first engine. Of Daimler Benz/Mercedes Benz.
The first motor car was from Benz, and was called Motorwagen, built in 1885. The first American auto with an ICE was made in 1877 by George Sheldon of NY. However it never made it into production and was dropped. Then in 1883 the Duryea Brothers brought out the Duryea MotorWagon. It used a 4 horsepower single cylinder gasoline engine.
About the turn of the 20th century was when BIG brand cars names, you may recognize started to be developed. In 1902 production was started on the Oldsmobile using semi mass production techniques which would be refined and expanded by Henry Ford in 1914. Thus the beginning of the modern day assembly line assembled car.
Since the 1920s, nearly all cars have been mass-produced to meet market needs, so marketing plans often have heavily influenced automobile design. It was Alfred P. Sloan who established the idea of different makes of cars produced by one company, so buyers could “move up” as their fortunes improved.
From that point on the major Brands of cars were developed and production was implemented in methods similar to Henry Ford. For instance, a car could be fully assembled on an assembly line in the Ford factory in about 15 minutes. The techniques became standardized all over the world in practically no time.
Always in a state of development and improvement, the auto industry goes on today in super hi tech, computerized mass production facilities. I hope this provides a reasonable answer to the Title question. If you need more engine information, or are actually looking for a replacement engine, call GotEngines.com @ 1-941-269-8284. We have plenty of free advise and information, so call now.