Abstract
The early development of the car appears to have been a period of uncertainty, with a selection of component layouts being developed before manufacturers hit on a particular embodiment that became a definitive ‘car’. This paper investigates how car form and layout became what is termed a ‘Design Paradigm’ (Dowlen 1999) for the car, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Layout and form variables are investigated from 453 colour-slide examples over the whole period of the existence of the car. The results show that the layout is significant to the concept of a car, and shows that a tightly constrained design layout paradigm develops around 1904, developing from a broad range of layout concepts. Form is less significant, but shows an appreciable change to a relatively stable condition over a period of about five years from 1904. The tightly constrained layout consists of a front-mounted longitudinal engine and drive by shaft to the rear wheels. There are a significant number of other layout variables that describe the layout. Before this date designers had many different ways of laying the components out, and there are some clusters of layouts, particularly with the US cars. In terms of their form, early cars are generally taller and with shorter bonnets than later cars, and tend to have a squarer form.
Citation
Dowlen, C. (2002) Early car history – investigation of the establishment of a ‘design paradigm’, in Durling, D. and Shackleton, J. (eds.), Common Ground - DRS International Conference 2002, 5-7 September, London, United Kingdom. https://dl.designresearchsociety.org/drs-conference-papers/drs2002/researchpapers/23
Early car history – investigation of the establishment of a ‘design paradigm’
The early development of the car appears to have been a period of uncertainty, with a selection of component layouts being developed before manufacturers hit on a particular embodiment that became a definitive ‘car’. This paper investigates how car form and layout became what is termed a ‘Design Paradigm’ (Dowlen 1999) for the car, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Layout and form variables are investigated from 453 colour-slide examples over the whole period of the existence of the car. The results show that the layout is significant to the concept of a car, and shows that a tightly constrained design layout paradigm develops around 1904, developing from a broad range of layout concepts. Form is less significant, but shows an appreciable change to a relatively stable condition over a period of about five years from 1904. The tightly constrained layout consists of a front-mounted longitudinal engine and drive by shaft to the rear wheels. There are a significant number of other layout variables that describe the layout. Before this date designers had many different ways of laying the components out, and there are some clusters of layouts, particularly with the US cars. In terms of their form, early cars are generally taller and with shorter bonnets than later cars, and tend to have a squarer form.