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    An Automobile Odyssey
    An Automobile Odyssey
    An Automobile Odyssey
    Ebook99 pages1 hour

    An Automobile Odyssey

    By John Dalessio

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    About this ebook

    You are about to read a story of a man who started out in life with next to nothing and was able to achieve the American dream with notable successes in the automobile industry. The automobile was not invented in a single day or by a single inventor. Who exactly invented the automobile is just a matter of opinion. The history of the automobile reflects a worldwide evolution that took place over 130 years. Over time cars have had an enormous impact on our society and changed the way people lived, worked and enjoyed their leisure time.Much has been written about America’s love affair with the automobile. My love affair with the automobile was a lasting one. It was easy to fall in love with my first car, savoring the freedom that it would bring to my teen life. The exhilaration of traveling to distant places and discovering what life was about in my youth would be something that I will remember always.
    My story began when I was born the son of Italian immigrants who achieved citizenship and was the youngest of five siblings by fifteen years. I was raised in a comfortable but modest environment in a small town in southern New Jersey and the only one of five to graduate high school.
    My father, was a tough old country Italian who taught me something very valuable – the work ethic. I became aware of the moral benefit and importance of hard work and its ability to strengthen one’s character. Little did I realize back then as a teenager how far the work ethic would take me going forward.
    Not having attended college, I recognized early on that the automobile industry offered unprecedented opportunities for someone with the drive and ambition to succeed, particularly in an automobile dealership. The automobile industry is one of the world’s most important economic sectors by revenue.
    When I look back on my forty-seven years in the auto industry, I can recall my humble start as a parts counterman in a NAPA Auto Parts store. I was later hired as a Parts Manager for a local Lincoln-Mercury dealership. The job was a beginning that helped me to launch a highly successful career in the automobile industry. After managing the parts department for a year, I became an automobile Salesman, later was promoted to Sales Manager, then moved up to General Manager. The wealth of experience I had successfully accumulated in six years with a new car dealer operation had prepared me to go out on my own and establish a new business.
    Through the years I would build my first dealership, purchase a second dealership, then retire early at age 55. After a short retirement, I built a third dealership and continued on for many more years until my second and final retirement.
    The automobile industry has come a long way from its humble origins of horse and buggy conversion. The first gasoline powered production vehicle was credited to Karl Benz in 1886. The drivers of the day were adventurous, going out on dirt roads in every weather condition unprotected by an enclosed body.
    In 1913 Henry Ford built the first moving chassis assembly line producing an affordable car for the masses. Fast forward to 2017 and the automobile has evolved into a powerful stylish comfortable vehicle powered by turbo-charged engines, hybrid power, electrics and hydrogen power.
    We are soon entering an era of new technology with autonomous or self-driving cars What will the future hold for automobiles?
    Let me tell you about an Automobile Odyssey . . . .

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Dalessio
    Release dateJun 24, 2017
    ISBN9781370738335
    An Automobile Odyssey
    Author

    John Dalessio

    John Dalessio, a Brigantine, NJ resident, has always had a desire to be a writer. John was formerly a successful new car dealer with three dealerships and eight franchises during his 47 years in the automobile industry. Currently retired and at age 77, he has fulfilled his desire to write by having authored and published his first book, a Science Fiction adventure novel, “The Seeker.” He completed and published his second novel, a sequel, "The Universe Revisited." Currently John recently completed writing and publishing his third book, an autobiography, "An Automobile Odyssey". When John isn't writing, he can be found in Brigantine, NJ with his wife, riding his Harley, playing men's tennis doubles or boating.

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      Book preview

      An Automobile Odyssey - John Dalessio

      Prologue

      You are about to read a story of a man who started out in life with next to nothing and was able to achieve the American dream with notable success in the automobile industry. This is an industry with a history that goes back one hundred and thirty years.

      I have always loved automobiles. Much has been written about America’s love affair with the automobile. Americans have come to prefer cars to other forms of transportation.

      Early on, cities and streets had to be reconstructed for motor vehicle traffic. American communities have been largely rebuilt to accommodate this love of cars, reconfiguring cities and bulldozing old buildings so that cars could be parked. New communities were constructed where it’s not possible to get around without a car.

      The allure for many people is driving on scenic highways, road trips or weekend drives through the country. The marvel of sports cars and collector cars reflect a love for automobiles.

      When I look back on my forty-seven years in the auto industry, I recall my humble beginnings working a part time job after school and weekends as a counterman in a NAPA Auto Parts store.

      I was born the son of Italian immigrants who achieved citizenship and was the youngest of five siblings by fifteen years. I was raised in a comfortable but modest environment in a small town in New Jersey and the only one in our family to graduate high school.

      I recognized early on that the automobile industry offered unprecedented opportunities for someone with the drive and ambition to succeed, particularly in an automobile dealership. Most are unaware of the many careers available in a new car dealership with its numerous departments and management structure. One could take an entry level job at a dealership and go through several levels of employment and management all the way to the top and become an owner of a new car dealership or a multi-dealership owner as I had.

      Perhaps job and career opportunities were greater in the 1960’s than they are now. It may account today for the trend of college graduates living at home with their parents and the delay in launching their careers.

      The automobile industry is one of the world’s most important economic sectors by revenue. It is now responsible for 7.25 million private sector jobs according to the CAR report. The automobile is the primary mode of transportation for many developed economies. In 2010 according to U.S. Publisher Ward’s, around the world, there were approximately 1.015 billion cars and light trucks on the road. The automobile industry has come a long way from its humble origins of horse and buggy conversion. The first gasoline powered production vehicle was credited to Karl Benz in 1886. He developed a compact one cylinder two-stroke design stationary gasoline engine. The engine was installed horizontally at the rear of an open tubular framed three wheeled vehicle. The drivers of the day were adventurous, going out on dirt roads in every weather condition unprotected by an enclosed body.

      In 1913 Henry Ford built the first moving chassis assembly line producing an affordable car for the masses. Ford also started to modernize and began producing enclosed and more comfortable vehicles.

      Fast forward to 2017 and the automobile has evolved into a powerful stylish comfortable vehicle powered by turbo-charged engines, hybrid power, all-electric and hydrogen power.

      We are soon entering the era of autonomous or self-driving cars. What will the future hold for automobiles?

      Let me tell you about an Automobile Odyessy. . .

      -John Dalessio

      1

      THE BEGINNING

      An automobile by definition is a four wheeled vehicle that has a motor and transports passengers. The automobile was not invented in a single day or by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects a worldwide evolution that took place over 130 years. Over time cars have had an enormous impact on our society and changed the way people lived, worked and enjoyed their leisure time. Who exactly invented the automobile is just a matter of opinion.

      I think the real beginning of the story goes back to 1807. Francois Issac de Rivaz of Paris was an inventor and a politician. He is believed to have invented a primitive internal combustion engine fueled by a mixture of hydrogen and oxygen contained in a balloon and ignited manually by an electric spark. In 1808 Rivaz installed the experimental engine in a carriage and propelled it a short distance. Although Rivaz’s work is credited as the first use of an internal combustion engine, development and mass production of the automobile didn’t really begin until the late 19th century.

      In 1864 Siegfried Marcus of Vienna, was a German inventor of Jewish descent and is often referred to as the direct predecessor of the modern automobile. Marcus built the first gasoline combustion engine which he placed on a pushcart. In circa 1875 (a more specific date is being investigated by historians), Marcus built a second car that is believed to be the first petrol-powered road vehicle. It was powered by a four-cycle gasoline engine, featuring the first carburetor for a gasoline engine and the first magneto ignition. This car is still operable and is now on display at the Vienna Technical Museum. 1886 is the year that is regarded as the birth year of the modern automobile. In that year, a German inventor, Karl Benz built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the world’s first practical automobile, a three wheeler, to be powered with an internal combustion engine. The original cost was $1000.00 (equivalent to over $26,000.00 today). About 25 Patent Motorwagens were built between 1886 and 1893. This is considered to be the first production vehicle as Benz made several other identical copies.

      In January 1886, Benz applied for a patent for his vehicle powered by a gas engine. The engine had horizontally opposed pistons commonly referred to as a boxer engine. This design is still used by Porsche, Subaru and some engines used in racing cars. That patent, number 37435 may be regarded as the birth certificate of the production automobile. Karl Benz is generally recognized as the inventor of the modern car.

      Other first manufacturers in the world were French companies Panhard & Levassor (1889) and Peugeot (1891). René Panhard and Émile Levassor of France, originally called Panhard et Levassor was established as a car manufacturing concern in 1887. Their first automobile in 1890 was based on a Daimler engine license. In 1891, the company built its first all-Levassor design consisting of four wheels with a front mounted engine and rear wheel drive.

      The same year, Panhard et Levassor shared their Daimler license with Armand Peugeot, a French industrialist and pioneer of the automobile industry who later formed his own car company. Peugeot in 1896 founded the  Société des Automobiles Peugeot.

      The first American firm to build gasoline automobiles was the Duryea Motor Wagon Company established in 1895 in Springfield, Massachusetts. Founded by the brothers Charles and Frank Duryea, they demonstrated the Duryea Motor Wagon in 1893, considered the first successful gas engine vehicle built in the United States. The four-wheeled vehicle had metal tires with a buggy body and top. The four cycle, four-horsepower, water cooled one-cylinder gasoline engine lied almost horizontally beneath the body. The hand starting crank was in the rear.

      In 1895 the brothers began production, selling thirteen identical cars by the end of 1896 making them the first American company to make multiple copies of an automobile for sale. Those vehicles they produced were

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