9781422277102

As early as 1908, companies were modifying Fords and other cars, converting them into hauling vehicles by extending the body, creating a cargo area, or strengthening the chassis and axles. Semitrucks Did you ever wonder why such a large truck is called a “semi”? That sounds like it should be half of something. Where’s the other half? Well, the other half is the trailer. The “semi” refers to the trailer having no front axle and therefore needing a tractor, which is the cab and engine, to hitch onto. It’s a “semi” part of a larger whole. The first semitruck was invented to solve a very serious problem. In 1899, a carmaker in Ohio received twenty orders for its new horseless carriage. The was problem was that instead of coming from around the Cleveland, OH, area, the twenty orders came from all over the country. Alexander Winton was the owner of the newly successful Ohio-based Winton Motor Carriage Company. He didn’t want his new cars driven to their new owners. That would put more wear and tear on them than they would likely see in several years of around town use. At the time, cars and roads were not made for long-distance travel. So, Winton came up with the idea of building a heavy-duty use vehicle that could pull a trailer through various paved and unpaved road conditions. In fact, few roads outside of cities were paved at the time. The cab portion of his truck was made from an existing touring car, with the trailer sitting on top a rear mounted engine. The cars were loaded onto the ramp of the trailer and then lifted in a similar way to today’s flatbed trailers, though the lifting was done by hand and not hydraulics.

Soon he was making his trucks for other carmakers, though he did not make them for long. Winton was more interested in engines and gave up the truck business. But by then many other companies were making semitrucks. An invention that predated the early steam, electric, and gasoline engines would rise from obscurity and the diesel engine would make trucks more durable and fuel efficient. Monster Trucks Get in a time machine and go back to the mid 1970s. On a Saturday night at just about any dirt race track in America, the air would be filled with the sounds of bumpers smashing against headlights at the local demolition derby. Dozens of old cars would get slammed into each other to see which one would be the last car left driving on four wheels as drivers tried to smash the competing cars into steaming piles of stalled metal.

Demolition derby events of the 1970s were the precursor for monster truck competitions

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