Read Shifting gears: One Family's Journey Through the Automobile Age

Shifting gears: One Family's Journey Through the Automobile Age

William C. Shaffer III

4.9/5 (25290 ratings)

Description:The automobile on the front is a Ford Model T, not the first automobile but the one that dramatically accelerated a new age dominated by the internal combustion engine. For the individual at the wheel, the author’s grandfather, the new machine utterly transformed rural, isolated farm life, replacing horse, steam, and human power while bestowing freedom, independence, and productivity. Shifting Gears covers automotive history as it was experienced by several generations of one family. The story begins in Europe, both for the family and for the automobile. The gasoline engine and the first cars gradually make their way across the Atlantic to America. The bicycle also makes the journey, injecting a first dose of the freedom of independent travel while building up an army of bike mechanics that would soon switch to creating automobiles. Over the next century, through depressions, wars, and consolidation, over 2,000 different automobile brands come and go. The contrast between life before and after the automobile is stark. For early farming communities, the automobile also arrived several years after the internal combustion engine, which had already been put to work to great effect. The small communities of Williamsfield and Elmwood take center stage. We watch as they grow when the steam train arrives, followed by the first gas engines, the first bicycles, the first tractors, and then the first automobiles. It is my grandfather that purchases the first automobile in the family, a Ford Model T. The narrative takes a detour during World War II when car manufacturing stops and the car companies make other internal combustion machines (Hellcat fighter planes, Sherman tanks, and Jeeps) that temporarily replace automobiles. The author’s generation steps in with their first cars, in this case the lowly and un-finned Volkswagen. Now, there’s a backstory, complete with Nazi intrigue. The VW is a short bridge back to Ford and a series of five Mustangs, including a 2005 red convertible that screamed mid-life crisis. The crisis is short-lived and more sensible automobiles ensue, culminating in an electric. Our story ends with the fourth generation, the author’s two sons, who are both living in big cities and sadly, currently without cars. This automotive history delves deeply into the Ford story as well as the stories of the cars that followed - Buick, Chrysler, Studebaker, Jeep, Oldsmobile, and all the way up to Elon Musk and Tesla. As we enter a new century under peril from climate change, another momentous transition, this time to electric automobiles, is underway.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Shifting gears: One Family's Journey Through the Automobile Age. To get started finding Shifting gears: One Family's Journey Through the Automobile Age, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

Pages: 340

Format: PDF, EPUB & Kindle Edition

Publisher: Widsten Press

Release: 2021

ISBN: 173580780X

Description: The automobile on the front is a Ford Model T, not the first automobile but the one that dramatically accelerated a new age dominated by the internal combustion engine. For the individual at the wheel, the author’s grandfather, the new machine utterly transformed rural, isolated farm life, replacing horse, steam, and human power while bestowing freedom, independence, and productivity. Shifting Gears covers automotive history as it was experienced by several generations of one family. The story begins in Europe, both for the family and for the automobile. The gasoline engine and the first cars gradually make their way across the Atlantic to America. The bicycle also makes the journey, injecting a first dose of the freedom of independent travel while building up an army of bike mechanics that would soon switch to creating automobiles. Over the next century, through depressions, wars, and consolidation, over 2,000 different automobile brands come and go. The contrast between life before and after the automobile is stark. For early farming communities, the automobile also arrived several years after the internal combustion engine, which had already been put to work to great effect. The small communities of Williamsfield and Elmwood take center stage. We watch as they grow when the steam train arrives, followed by the first gas engines, the first bicycles, the first tractors, and then the first automobiles. It is my grandfather that purchases the first automobile in the family, a Ford Model T. The narrative takes a detour during World War II when car manufacturing stops and the car companies make other internal combustion machines (Hellcat fighter planes, Sherman tanks, and Jeeps) that temporarily replace automobiles. The author’s generation steps in with their first cars, in this case the lowly and un-finned Volkswagen. Now, there’s a backstory, complete with Nazi intrigue. The VW is a short bridge back to Ford and a series of five Mustangs, including a 2005 red convertible that screamed mid-life crisis. The crisis is short-lived and more sensible automobiles ensue, culminating in an electric. Our story ends with the fourth generation, the author’s two sons, who are both living in big cities and sadly, currently without cars. This automotive history delves deeply into the Ford story as well as the stories of the cars that followed - Buick, Chrysler, Studebaker, Jeep, Oldsmobile, and all the way up to Elon Musk and Tesla. As we enter a new century under peril from climate change, another momentous transition, this time to electric automobiles, is underway.We have made it easy for you to find a PDF Ebooks without any digging. And by having access to our ebooks online or by storing it on your computer, you have convenient answers with Shifting gears: One Family's Journey Through the Automobile Age. To get started finding Shifting gears: One Family's Journey Through the Automobile Age, you are right to find our website which has a comprehensive collection of manuals listed.
Our library is the biggest of these that have literally hundreds of thousands of different products represented.

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Shifting gears: One Family's Journey Through the Automobile Age

Shifting gears: One Family's Journey Through the Automobile Age

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