How the car became a star
WGHAt is the future for motor cars in these rapidly changing times? Will they be powered by petrol, diesel or electricity — or perhaps some other elemental force? Will they drive themselves — or even fly? And how should we feel about speed?
these are not just questions for today. they have been asked since the very dawn of the automobile around 130 years ago. indeed, some of the earliest ‘horseless carriages’ ran off batteries.
this is the nub of a fascinating new back-to-thefuture exhibition, Cars: Accelerating the Modern World, supported by the Bosch Group, at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, which looks at ‘the car as the driving force that accelerated the pace of the 20th century’ and beyond.
Centred around 15 historic cars — including the very first one and a prototype flying car — the exhibition examines the multitude of ways the car has changed our lives.
the story begins with the first production car, the Benz Patent-Motorwagen 3, introduced to the public in 1888 following two earlier prototypes. inventor Karl Benz’s wife, Bertha, whose dowry financed his work, put the car on the map by driving it on a publicity trip with her young sons Eugen and Richard on a 65-mile journey in the Black Forest.
As technology advanced, so did the fascination with speed. Streamlining is explored through the sleek curves of the Czech tatra t77, which influenced the VW Beetle.
the exhibition’s Making More zone covers the advent of assembly line mass production, with a Ford Model t from 1925, ushering in the democratisation of the car throughout the last century. the exhibition ends with the first UK display of the Pop.Up Next, the autonomous flying car co- designed by italdesign, Airbus and Audi.
Exhibition co- curator Brendan Cormier said: ‘the car has transformed how we move, as well as our experience of speed, forever changing our cities, environment and economies. it has revolutionised manufacturing around the world, and introduced radical new ways of styling, making and selling.’
THE exhibition runs from November 23 to April 19, 2020. Adult tickets from £18; family of four ticket £34 (vam.ac.uk).