Early History--The Industrial Motor--The Motor ’Bus and Motor Cab--Steam Lorries and Tractors--Petrol-Electric Vehicles--Daily Mileages and Fuel Consumption.
When we remember that the motor vehicle as we know it to-day is the result of a development not more than a quarter of a century old, its enormous influence upon the character of modern warfare must indeed be regarded as remarkable. Especially is this so in view of the fact that progress has not in the main been dictated by military considerations, but almost entirely by the requirements of private individuals and of peaceful trading concerns. The case is very different from that of the aeroplane and the airship, which from the very moment that they began to appear as practical possibilities, were recognised as having far greater potentialities in connection with warfare than in any other sphere. The whole science of flight has been studied to a great extent from this point of view, and the Government Departments concerned, in all civilised countries, have recognised the necessity of keeping in touch with and encouraging the movement, and have realised all along the nature of the work to be done by the flying corps.
On the other hand, the use of the motor vehicle was extended in the first instance mainly as a sport, and as a new occupation for well-to-do individuals of a mechanical turn of mind. There is an attraction about speed in all forms, and consequently, it was on this point that attention was for many years concentrated. Furthermore, developments were influenced to no slight extent by changes of fashion, and the need of satisfying the requirements of people who were not necessarily qualified to direct progress into the best possible channels. The motor vehicle was used as a luxury, and exploited as a means of bringing into being new forms of sport, for many years before it acquired sufficient reliability or worked with sufficient economy to justify its employment on economic grounds. The industrial motor industry is, in fact, at the present day only about ten years old. In the first instance, one of the principal factors in securing the occasional use of motor vans was the advertisement value of a rather unusual type of vehicle, which naturally attracted considerable attention wherever it went. A little later mechanical transport was adopted by a limited number of firms, not on account of any superiority in economy or reliability over old systems of delivery, but rather with a view to extending the area embraced, and so gaining an advantage over competing concerns more than sufficient to balance the increased cost involved by the employment of vehicles by no means cheap either as regards first cost or operating expenses. Once the industry was established, however, its rapid growth was inevitable, since it was found possible to construct vehicles the employment of which was more than justified on purely economic grounds. The line of least resistance was found in connection with public services and hackney carriages for the conveyance of passengers, while in the carriage of goods the new means of transport had to compete with cheap if slow systems of delivery by horsed vehicle, and with the railways which, if not offering a direct method, at least offered a very cheap one when a large volume of traffic had to be handled.