Power And Wheels

[Music] as you can see Captain the dominant form of life on this planet is not visible until we come in close those moving spots are what I mean so intelligent life does exist on this planet our scientists will be pleased as you see CER what we have here is a strange form of metallic life that travels on Wheels speeding over the trails that were visible at high altitude fascinating but what makes them move you'll see in a moment Captain there we are Captain all of these creatures take nourishment in liquid form a high energy diet that is burned up rapidly the digestive system is amazingly intricate waste matter is expelled as a gas hold it can we go back to where the creature is feeding yes sir Captain do we have a case of symbiotic life here you mean the human and the automobile yes Captain symbiosis the automobile is strongly attached to its host it appears that the entire life cycle of the human is related to the automobile from birth to death the first experience humans have with automobiles is just after they are born they usually are taken from their birthplace in a car sometimes even born in a car and at death the body is usually transported in a car to a burial place in between well Captain there is much more watch and you'll [Music] see it started as a Horseless Carriage built by Carriage makers to look like a carriage right down to the socket for a buggy whip automobile the word means self-propelled vehicle originally conceived as a substitute for the horse and buggy some were powered by steam others by electricity then propelled by the internal combustion engine the automobile in a short span of time came to be something more than just another means of transportation it became Something to Believe In this car takes care of me and I take care of it everything goes on Wheels you can't go anywhere without a car working on cars always give me great satisfaction car is a necessity I couldn't earn my living without it but there are too many big cars for luxury and not for convenience cars are a heck of a lot of fun I enjoy mine tremendous [Applause] L walking's fine but it sure doesn't get you very far the modern car is a demonstration of the technological skill seat belts secured ignition on power door lock affirmative power seat adjustment adjusted power windows check adjustable steering column adjusted remote control mirror check air conditioning adjusted stereo system on [Music] for some a car is a means of transportation for others it is a means of communication an extension of the personality over a ton of Iron and steel glass rubber Plastics petroleum and horsepower designed to carry a man wherever his whim or fancy dictates the automobile has with certainty trans transformed the social and cultural life of America it has shortened not only geographical distance but social distance as well before the automobile the social distance between one man on Wheels and another man on Wheels was often quite apparent the automobile closed this Gap Henry Ford's Tin Lizzy provided cheap transportation for everyone it wasn't long before one man on Wheels had the same distinction as another man on Wheels to this extent the automobile brought concrete expression to democratic ideals but ironically the automobile also appeals to something entirely the opposite the idea that one man after all is more successful than another especially if he drives a faster bigger more expensive car the car a man drives often seems to say for its owner look at my car look who I am because the automobile appeals to something more than the need for transportation it has become an extension of the personality to drive a car today is to come of age the automobile is just about the biggest event in a young person's life toy cars for the young later Automotive gadgets fitted to a bicycle and always that day to look forward to a driver's license the proof of entry into today's adult Society with an automobile and a license to drive it a boy or girl comes of age and coming of age means depending on the car for social advantage today the car has displaced the home as a setting for courtship and social activity but in providing increased mobility and convenience the automobile has at the same time loosened traditional Family [Music] Ties the technology that makes all of this possible is a byword for Consumer Prosperity factories thanks to the assembly line can put a large large volume of cars and other Goods on the market and factories through the vast market for automobiles and through organized labor pay workers enough to buy cars nearly one sixth of the nation's Workforce today serves the automobile in manufacturing maintenance and selling and the final product is desirable enough to cause a man to work long and hard in order to pay for a car or other products that roll off assembly lines the psychological attraction of the automobile is big but in no way more important than the economy that builds around the automobile over 1 half of the world's cars are driven in North America by roughly 12th of the world's population think of the jobs created by the automobile Road building gasoline and oil refining motels the jobbing of parts and supplies the hauling of cars from Factory to showroom parking lots not to mention the car salesman who in his time has become a legend and last but not least there is the vital business of selling to customers on the road an ever expanding source of exotic roadside culture [Applause] side by side with production and sales is maintenance and upkeep an owner of Ford's Tin Lizzy could more often than not take his car apart and repair it himself today's cars require an army of Specialists both for manufacturing and for maintenance in fact many of today's drivers don't know how a car works they rely on [Applause] Specialists some of course do it themselves those gifted Machine Age tinkerers who understand the purr of an engine nowhere does mechanical genius contribute more to the Glamour and excitement of the automobile than in the sport of racing a sport that exaggerates to the Limit the normal functions and upkeep of the automobile most curious of all Automotive sport the demolition derby the vicarious spectacle that eases the average car owner's anxiety over the everyday hazards of the road [Applause] the modern car is a demonstration of practical technology whether to test the limits of speed or safety or determine the efficiency of new fuels man is constantly at play with automotive technology for the automobile is in essence a form of idealized toy practical functional necessary an art form styled in the ultimate preferences of the customer but the Fashions can change rapidly today's glittering Bobble becomes tomorrow's [Music] [Applause] scrap from the beginning the attraction of the automobile was that it allowed a man to go where he pleased it enabled him to escape from the bonds of space and time no longer was he dependent on timetables trains or trolleys no longer was he bound to a destination that was not his own but the car as a means of Escape soon proved to be an illusion The Lure of the open road can be not so alluring when it is shared with thousands of other drivers learning about cars has traditionally been a man's interest so when things go wrong but today along with the boys the woman driver is fast coming into her own regardless of who drives it takes learning and skill to survive in this age of the car and even if you learn the lessons well Mr cook you charge fail to have control of your vehicle how you pleased sir all right sir Sor play guilty Court will find you guilty sir sign you pay fine of $12 the expressive vehicle called the automobile is not without [Music] problems for some entering a car is the name is putting on a mask people don't know who you are so your car speaks for [Applause] you some drivers Express themselves in deadly [Applause] [Music] ways there are now more than 50,000 people killed on North American highways every year we can safely predict that the present Trend in automotive fatalities will not show any significant downtrend in the near future taking into consideration the factor of human psychology and the number of moving vehicles on the road today much of the safety of driving a car rests with the self-control of the driver but not all hazards of driving are his responsibility some follow from the sheer number of cars on the road one man's convenience another man's nuisance multiply that Advantage by millions one car owner can do little about the smog that accumulates from the exhaust of millions of automobiles he cannot control the hazards of heavy traffic or alter the ability of his car to take the shock of collision the driver must also rely in part on the organized protective efforts of others for his safety a half century ago Henry Ford predicted that the automobile would Doom the city cars will take people out of the Cities into the countryside and keep them down on the farm and the big movement has taken place but in the opposite direction today the same highways that lead automobiles away from cities also lead into cities pouring more cars into already congested streets displacing The Pedestrian dividing neighborhoods be fouling the [Applause] air today 30% of urban space is devoted to moving Vehicles if the use of automobiles continues to grow at the present rate cities of the future may well be little more than ribbons of concrete interlaced with parking lots each age has its problems before the automobile there was the horse in 1899 Scientific American predicted that the automobile would solve the problem of Filth in the streets caused by the horse the Improvement in City conditions by the general adoption of the motor car can hardly be overestimated streets clean dustless and odorless with rubber tired vehicles moving swiftly and noiselessly will eliminate a greater part of the nervousness distraction and strain of modern Metropolitan [Music] Life the automobile solve the problems of the horse all right who will solve the problems of the automobile how do you think they'll solve their problem Captain I'm not sure perhaps we'll have to return another time to find out [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause]