What is the most significant vehicle ever?

"JR1" (type35bugatti) 04/04/2016 at 13:55 • Filed to: History

0

53

Patent-Motorwagen

We are a little slow around here today boys and girls so I ask you this what vehicle is the most historically significant vehicle ever made? Perhaps the Motorwagen, maybe the Wright flyer, or even the Moonrover. Which one or what other vehicle is most significant to the development of mankind?

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > JR1 04/04/2016 at 13:58

0

Achilles’ chariot, behind which he dragged Hector. Okay, probably not.

crowmolly > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:03

0

I am thinking the steam engine/train, but it will be hard to answer this. There are a lot of choices.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:05

0

This,

This,

Or this

. . > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:06

1

Chrysler PT Cruiser. It’s a car that showed us that our civilisation has gone too far.

bob and john > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:09

1

model T. the concept of the production line.

and, at one point in time, 50% of the worlds cars were model T’s

LongbowMkII > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:10

1

It’s hard to argue against the model T. Being available to the masses transformed everything in the US. Roads went from cart paths to highways during its life. Hell, it made suburbs possible for better or for worse. Cars and trucks went from novelties to necessary tools. Yes other cars did it in other countries (mini, beetle, 2cv) but the model T was the first.

djmt1 > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:10

0

The Penydarren.

The first machine that truly made the world smaller.

TheRealBicycleBuck > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:11

0

The wheel.

crowmolly > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/04/2016 at 14:11

0

If we are going with individual cars, I’d submit this:

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/04/2016 at 14:12

2

Did nazi that coming

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > crowmolly 04/04/2016 at 14:14

0

I don’t know what it is

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 04/04/2016 at 14:15

0

All of the cars I posted have Nazi connections. Well shit.

Liam Farrell > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:17

0

The Tucker 48, it was a complete depart from traditional thinking and turning it towards safety.

just-a-scratch > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:17

1

Due to the advantages for peoples who had beasts of burden early, those peoples gained economic and technological advances others would not have for millennia. Consequently, I say the most significant vehicle is the horse. If you insist that a vehicle is a machine, not an animal, I'll revise that to a cart or sled pulled by an animal.

JR1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 04/04/2016 at 14:20

0

Hey you never know. We might all be speaking a different langue today if it wasn’t for that Achilles dude

X37.9XXS > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:21

0

No question

JR1 > crowmolly 04/04/2016 at 14:22

0

A vast amount of choices really but the steam engine is a good pick

DrJohannVegas > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:23

1

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/04/2016 at 14:23

0

Maybe I’m interpreting this wrong, but if you are angry, I just was making a joke which popped into my head.

JR1 > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/04/2016 at 14:23

1

I fail to see the significance of the VW. The Model T has already created the peoples car and if the VW wouldn’t have been produced that market space would have just been filled by someone else.

JR1 > bob and john 04/04/2016 at 14:24

1

It did bring transportation and the ability to travel anywhere at a relatively fast pace to the masses.

JR1 > djmt1 04/04/2016 at 14:25

1

I am not sure I agree. I think the first vehicle that really made the world smaller would be a boat of some sort. Maybe...

JR1 > LongbowMkII 04/04/2016 at 14:26

1

The Model T is a hard car to argue against. That vehicle did manage to change the world

Jonee > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:26

1

Starsky & Hutch’s car

JR1 > TheRealBicycleBuck 04/04/2016 at 14:27

1

Can’t really say it is a vehicle. Can we?

JR1 > Liam Farrell 04/04/2016 at 14:27

1

I like the Tucker but in the grand scheme of transportation I think their are a lot more notable vehicles. Trains. Model Ts. etc.

f86sabre > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:27

1

Air...

The Flyer opened up the skies and beyond.

Land...Ancient wagons. They allowed easier transport of massed goods.

Sea...old ships. Like wagons they opened up commerce and allowed for the exploration of the world.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 04/04/2016 at 14:28

1

No. I wasn’t angry. I was just pointing out that all my cars accidentally had Nazi connections.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > X37.9XXS 04/04/2016 at 14:28

1

Conestoga is actually a really good answer, at least for the US.

JR1 > just-a-scratch 04/04/2016 at 14:29

0

I think those can be included into the conversation but when saying vehicle specifically it needs to be built by a man. So you could argue a cart is the most significant I think.

JR1 > X37.9XXS 04/04/2016 at 14:29

1

Even over a ship?

JR1 > DrJohannVegas 04/04/2016 at 14:30

0

Wasn’t expecting this answer but I think you have a point

JR1 > f86sabre 04/04/2016 at 14:31

0

Okay now pick one of the three for the most important vehicle ever.

djmt1 > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:32

1

I disagree. Boats made the world seem bigger since they allowed the discovery of places unknown. Trains on the other hand made it so the next town over was a day away as opposed to a week.

DrJohannVegas > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:33

2

I’m rehashing an old argument here, but:

There’s a lot of em (85 million + and counting)

They’ve put whole countries on wheels, dramatically reshaping their economies

They helped open the door to Japanese vehicles in many countries

They last forever

I have one

So, yea, the Cub’s a pretty big deal, but it would never brag about itself.

TheRealBicycleBuck > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:37

1

He rides it with aplomb.

crowmolly > Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap 04/04/2016 at 14:37

0

Limo that Franz Ferdinand was in.

f86sabre > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:37

1

Party pooper. The boat. Opened up the world for habitation and trade. Hard to argue with that. Also led to this...

Tabacco sponsored, jet powered 200 mph race boat. The near pinnacle of human achievement.

MultiplaOrgasms > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:44

0

When it comes to automobiles, this, the 1891 Panhard et Levassor Type P2D:

P&L probably contributed more to the automobile than any other manufacturer, with the first car to have the engine and radiator mounted up front driving the rear wheels, being the first manufacturer to put their vehicles into series production, the first car with a clutch operated gearbox, the Panhard rod, successfully competing in the very first automobile races, some of the first ICE powered buses and trucks and more.

Panhard et Levassor basically invented the modern automobile all by itself.

BobintheMtns > JR1 04/04/2016 at 14:51

0

Easy.....

X37.9XXS > JR1 04/04/2016 at 15:02

0

I realize that it is splitting hairs, but the definition states

a thing used for transporting people or goods, especially on land , such as a car, truck, or cart.

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > JR1 04/04/2016 at 15:20

1

The trouble with saying “a ship” is that you’re really dealing in a type of hardware, not a specific configuration. You can say “a boat” is how Mediterranean trade opened up northern Europe, settled the New World, bypassed geographic and military barriers to the east, and so on, but in each case the ships in use in each case varied greatly from one another and over time, and were much more about the media of trade (sea) than specific means.

A Conestoga, however - it’s a fixed and iconic construction that became extremely standardized, and was the single means enabling the settling of the American west and taming the frontier - American grain wealth, timber wealth, mineral wealth, Pacific access and more would simply not have happened the same way without a wagon built pretty much exactly that way.

To go into further detail, it often had separate storage for valuable objects that couldn’t just mix in. It enabled carrying of coals to start fires. The wheels were sized for the perfect use of lightly-expanded trails and mobility, with wagons staying balanced in harsh terrain. The draw-string canvas over the top protected people within, and could be opened completely or drawn up tight. Wheels and axles were standardized enough to make spares-keeping possible and cannibalizing wrecks. You could sleep in it. Nothing on it required much upkeep that couldn’t be covered by a settler willing to specialize in it along the trail. It was easy to ford with due to its height and boat-like construction. It could even be turned over to fortify or circled as-is for rudimentary protection. The wagon was quite literally these people’s life.

And, at the end of the trail, the wheels and drawbar could be re-used for harrows or simple carts, the timbers could be used to help make shacks and the like, and the canvas was a ready-made cover material for all kinds of uses.The hoops could be made into chairs, and so on.

In short, a covered wagon is in absolutely every way the perfect vehicle for its role. It’s a mythical Shmoo . And more importantly for this question, it is *a* vehicle. Not a broad category.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > JR1 04/04/2016 at 15:45

1

As much as I like the VW, I’m going to have to agree on that one.

JR1 > f86sabre 04/04/2016 at 16:05

1

I would love to go for a ride in one of those boats!

JR1 > MultiplaOrgasms 04/04/2016 at 16:06

0

I wouldn’t say it invented the modern automobile. It created a platform but that platform was not standardized until Cadillac came around in 1916 with the electric starter, conventional pedals, etc.

JR1 > BobintheMtns 04/04/2016 at 16:06

0

I am struggling to see how or why

JR1 > X37.9XXS 04/04/2016 at 16:07

1

We are indeed splitting hairs at this point.

JR1 > RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht 04/04/2016 at 16:11

1

Well when I said ship I didn’t have in mind a single ship that changed society because frankly I am very undereducated when it comes to that subject but something like a Greek Trireme or a Clipper was what I had in mind when I mentioned ship.

As for your explanation of the Conestoga I can’t argue with that. It was an exceptional piece of equipment. Without it the nation might look a lot different.

MultiplaOrgasms > JR1 04/04/2016 at 17:19

0

Of course in those early years people were still widely experimenting and eventually the control scheme of the Type 53 prevailed, but the point is that the Cadillac didn’t actually change how a car works. It only introduced the three pedal, centrally mounted gear lever controls which we perceive today as “standard”. It’s mechanicals were probably not too different from a 1901 Mercedes.

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > JR1 04/04/2016 at 20:45

1

It showed that cheap shit boxes could be fun.

Brian McKay > JR1 04/05/2016 at 00:24

1

Thank you

pip bip - choose Corrour > JR1 04/05/2016 at 06:40

0

model T?

JR1 > pip bip - choose Corrour 04/05/2016 at 09:22

0

This seems to be a popular answer. It seems to be getting a lot of support and I can definitely see why it changed he shape of transportation across the world