2006 Scholar's Bookshelf reprint edition. First published in 1917, just as the automobile was taking "its sudden leap into popular use," this was the first publication to trace its mechanical and commercial evolution from the first horseless vehicle on to steam and electric vehicles and their replacement by the gasoline car. The work includes interesting, important, and unique chapters on how the standardized automobile brought the United states to supremacy in the industry, the industry as an investment, and the benefits conferred by the automobile, including "increases social amenities," "emancipates woman from drudgery of domesticity," "uproots bigotry and removes prejudice," and other good things. Also includes a report on the industry in 1917, and prices of contemporary vehicles.