WHERE DOES THE WORD "AUTOMOBILE" COME FROM?
The word automobile is not English. It consists of two words: autos and mobilis. Autos is a Greek word meaning ‘self’, mobilis — a Latin word meaning ‘movable’. The two words taken together mean ‘self-moving’. Thus, an automobile means a ‘self-moving vehicle’. The synonyms of automobile are: auto, car, auto-car, motor car.
The role and importance of an automobile arise from the fact that it can move along roads not provided with rails. In this respect, it substantially differs from a street car (tram) and a railway car (train). In fact, it often replaces street cars, railway cars, and other agencies of transportation and communication. In short, the automobile is a vehicle well adapted for ordinary road conditions.
The automobile has long since ceased to be a matter of luxury or sport and has become a decisive factor in the economic development of many countries. This accounts for the fact that the world at large uses a great number of automobiles.
In some countries where automobiles are found in millions they are playing the most important part in the solution of many problems of transport. The development of automobiles is also accountable to a large extent for the progress in road maintenance, improvement and construction.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Have you ever thought about car names? Do they mean anything? For example, you may think “Rover” is just a name, in marketing. A rover is a wanderer – someone who likes to travel around. So, the name suggests mobility, freedom, having fun and going wherever you want. These were important qualities when Rover cars first came on the market.
Marketing departments of car companies spend a lot of time and money thinking up names for cars. The names should be a reflection of the brand, product and target group. The car you drive tells the world about your status, how much money you have and the socio-economic group you belong to. Good car names are catchy and fit the product, such as the “Beetle” or the “Mini”. The name should also appeal to a global audience. At the very least, the name should not mean anything bad in another language. (This was why Rolls-Royce decided not to use the name “Silver Mist” for one model: ‘mist’ means animal manure in German.)
American car makers like to give their SUVs names that remind people of the Wild West, full of adventure and danger. Did you know that “Wrangler” is another word for cowboy? Or that “Maverick” means an unbranded cow that has strayed from the herd? People who own SUVs seldom drive them off-road, but they enjoy the feeling of excitement that the name creates.
Answer these questions:
Have you ever thought about car names?
Should the name appeal to a global audience?
How important is the name of a car to you?
Can you think about other interesting car names?
Are the following statements true or false?
The word “automobile” means a vehicle that moves by itself.
Rover is a traveler.
The car you drive can tell a lot about you.
Only manufactures should like the name of the car.
American manufactures like to name their cars as “cowboys”.
CAR BODY STYLE AND WORK
Cars can come in a large variety of different body styles. Some are still in production, while others are of historical interest only. These styles are largely independent of a car’s classification in terms of price, size and intended broad market; the same car model might be available in multiple body styles (model ranges). For some of the following terms, especially relating to four-wheel drive / SUV models and minivan / MPV models, the distinction between body style and classification is particularly narrow.
In automotive engineering, the bodywork of an automobile is the structure which protects: the occupants, any other payload, and the mechanical components. In vehicles with a separate frame or chassis, the term bodywork is normally applied to only the non-structural panels, including doors and other movable panels, but it may also be used more generally to include the structural components which support the mechanical components.
The first automobiles were designs adapted in large part from horse-drawn carriages and had body-on-frame construction with a wooden frame and wooden or metal body panels. Wooden-framed motor vehicles remained in production until the middle of the 20th century. A steel chassis or ladder frame replaced the wooden one. This form of body-on-frame construction is still common for commercial vehicles.
Monocoque or unibody is a construction, in which the chassis is part of an integrated with the metal body. It provides support to all the mechanical components, as well as protection for the vehicle occupants. Although there is no separate complete frame or chassis, many monocoque/unibody designs now often include sub frames. Steel monocoque construction is the most common form of car bodywork, although aluminum and carbon fiber may also be used. Modern cars may also use polycarbonates.
Less common types include tube frame and space frame designs used for high-performance cars. There have also been various hybrids (Volkswagen Beetle had a chassis, consisting of the floor pan, door sills and central tunnel). Non-structural body panels have been made of wood, steel, aluminum, fiberglass and several more exotic materials. There are several common car body styles:
ENCLOSED: |
OPEN or PARTLY ENCLOSED: |
Sedan, known as a Saloon |
Roadster |
Hardtop |
Convertible |
Coupe |
Cabriolet |
Limousine |
|
REAR DOOR DESIGNS: |
OTHER: |
Station wagon or Estate car |
Sport utility vehicle (SUV), Coupe Utility or Ute |
Hatchback |
|
Lift back |
|
Types of bodies: shell, forming the exterior of a car.
Hatchback: two-door passenger compartment with a door at the back.
Sports car: small, two-seated automobile.
Four-door sedan: passenger compartment with four doors and four side windows.
Limousine: large, six-seated passenger compartment.
Convertible: car with a removable roof.
Hardtop: two-door passenger compartment.
Van: small vehicle used to carry baggage; a small van.
Pick-up truck: a small truck.
Translate and study the following information:
STYLES IN CURRENT USE
4x4 or 4WD (‘four-by-four’ or ‘four-wheel drive’). A four-wheeled vehicle with a drivetrain that allows all four wheels to receive power from the engine simultaneously. The terms are usually used in Europe to describe what is referred to in North America as a sport utility vehicle or SUV.
Cabrio coach or Semi-convertible. A form of car roof, where a retractable textile cover amounts to a large sunroof. It is fundamental to various older designs, sometimes an option on modern cars.
Cabriolet. A term for a convertible car. A body style with a flexible textile folding roof or rigid retracting roof – of highly variable design detail – to allow driving in open or enclosed models.
Coupe. A 2-door, 2- or 4-seat car with a fixed roof. Its doors are often longer than those of an equivalent sedan and the rear passenger area smaller; the roof may also be low. In cases where the rear seats are very small and not intended for regular use it is called a 2+2. Originally, a coupe was required to have only one side window per side, but this consideration has not been used for many years.
Coupe utility (Ute). It is a passenger car derived light truck with coupe passenger cabin lines and an integral cargo bed.
Fastback. A design where the roof slopes at a smooth angle to the tail of the car, but the rear window does not open as a separate ‘door’.
Estate car (station wagon).
Hardtop. A style of car roof. Originally referred to a removable solid roof on a convertible; later, also a fixed-roof car whose doors have no fixed window frames, which is designed to resemble such a convertible.
Hatchback. Identified by a rear door including the back window that opens vertically to access a storage area not separated from the rest of the passenger compartment. May be 3- or 5-door and 2 to 5 seats, but generally in the USA the tailgate isn’t counted making it a 2-door and 4-door.
Hearse. A converted luxury car usually used to transport the dead. Often longer and heavier than the vehicle on which they are usually based.
Leisure activity vehicle. A small van, generally related to a supermini, with a second or even third seat row and a large, tall boot.
Liftback. A style of coupe with a hatchback; this name is generally used when the opening area is very sloped and is lifted up to open.
Limousine. A chauffeur-driven car with a normally glass-windowed division between the front and rear seats.
Minibus. Designed to carry fewer people than a full-size bus, generally up to 16 people in multiple rows for seats. Passenger access in normally via a sliding door on one side of the vehicle.
Minivan (people carrier or people mover). A boxy wagon-type of a car usually containing 3 or 4 rows of seats, with a capacity of 6 or more passengers. Often with extra luggage space also. It was primarily developed as a passenger vehicle.
MPV. Multi-purpose vehicle, a large car or small bus designed to be used on or off-road and easily convertible to facilitate loading of goods from facilitating carrying people.
Notchback. A cross between the smooth fastback and angled sedan look. It is a sedan type with a separate trunk compartment.
Pickup truck. A small, medium or large-sized truck, though smaller than a Semi tractor truck. The passenger cabin is separated from the cargo bed.
Pillarless. Completely open at the sides when the windows are down, without a central pillar.
Ragtop. Originally an open car, but with a soft top (cloth top) that can be raised or lowered. Unlike a convertible, it has no roll-up side windows.
Retractable Hardtop (Coupe Cabriolet). A type of convertible forgoing a foldable textile roof in favor of a multy-segment rigid roof retracts into the lower bodywork.
Roadster. Originally a 2-seat open car with minimal weather protection – without top or side glass – though possibly with optional hard or soft top and side curtains and without roll-up glass windows. In modern usage, the term means simply a 2-seat sports car convertible, a variation of spider.
Sedan or Saloon. A car seating 4 or more with a fixed roof that is full-height up to the rear window. It can have 2 or 4 doors, fixed window frames, as opposed to the hardtop style. This is the most common body style.
Sport utility vehicle (SUV). Derivative of a pickup truck or 4-wheel-drive vehicle, but with fully-enclosed passenger cabin interior and carlike levels of interior equipment.
Spider. Similar to a roadster but with less weather protection. With its black cloth top and exposed sides for air circulation, the top resembled a spider.
Station wagon. A car with a full-height body all the way to the rear. The load-carrying space created is accessed via a rear door or doors.
T-top. Its fixed-roof design has two removable panels and retains a central narrow roof section along the front to back axis of the car.
Van. A truck-based commercial vehicle of the wagon style, whether used for passenger or commercial use. It usually has no windows at the side rear (panel van), although for passenger use, side windows are included.
EXTERIOR AND INTERIOR DESIGN
The stylist responsible for the design of the vehicle exterior develops the proportions, shape and surfaces of the vehicle. Exterior design is first done by a series of digital or manual drawings. Progressively more detailed drawings are executed and approved. Clay and/or digital models are developed from and along with the drawings. The data from these models are then used to create a full-sized mock-up of the final design (body in white). The clay models is first designed in a computer program and then ‘carved’ using the machine and large amounts of clay. Even in times of high-class software and virtual models on power walls the clay model is still the most important tool to evaluate the design of a car and therefore used throughout the industry.The stylist responsible for the design of the vehicle interior develops the proportions, shape, placement and surfaces for the instrument panel, seats, door trim panels, headliner, pillar trims… Here the emphasis is in ergonomics and the comfort of the passengers. The procedure is the same as with exterior design (sketch, digital model and clay model).
Electronic components and parts of the automobile give more challenges to designers who are required to update on the latest information and knowledge associated with emerging gadgetry, particularly dashboard mobile devices (GPS navigation, satellite and HD radio, mobile TV, MP3 player, video playback and Smartphone interfaces). Though not all the new gadgets are to be designed as factory standard items, but some of them may be integral to determining the future course of any specific models.
Study the following information:
Trunk: place for stowing baggage.
Tail light: rear light.
Back fender: side rear part of the body that covers the wheel.
Quarter window: window pane situated approximately above the rear wheel.
Roof post: vertical structure that supports the top of the car.
Door handle: part of the door used to open it.
Door: opening used to enter the passenger compartment.
Outside mirror: external mirror used for looking backwards.
Door post: vertical structures that encase the windows.
Hub cap: piece of metal covering the hubs.
Wheel: round object that turns around a central axel and allows the car to advance.
Shield: movable apparatus that protects against bumps.
Indicator light: amber light that is used to signal changes in the car's direction.
License plate: piece of metal that carries a number used to identify the automobile.
Bumper: apparatus at the front and rear of a vehicle that protects the body from minor bumps.
Head light: front light of a car.
Grill: plastic or metal decoration over the radiator.
Hood: cover of the engine compartment at the front of a car.
Windshield wiper: movable device made partly of rubber that wipes the windshield of a car.
Outside mirror: external mirror used for looking backwards.
Sun roof: movable part that allows the roof of a car to be partially opened.
