There is no doubt that the styling of early motor cars owed a great deal to the experience of the builders of the horse-drawn coach. Initially, these were the only people with the experience or skill to construct motor-car bodywork. At this time, motor-car designers, builders and the general public were not quite sure what to make of the new motor-car concept. Many early vehicles consisted of nothing more than an assembly of mechanical' parts that together propelled themselves by their own power. Robert Trevithick's Steam Road Locomotive, which he built in 1801, is a good example of the unlikely way in which parts could be assembled at this time. This was a steam-driven vehicle with cart-type wheels which were twice the height of a man, with a coach-built body mounted above the machinery; the passengers rode twelve feet above the ground.
From haphazard beginnings such as these, it took almost one hundred years for motor vehicles to evolve sufficiently for their form to be regarded as conventional or otherwise. During this time, neither the comfort of the passengers or the appearance of the vehicle were major considerations. In fact, for many it was a considerable feat of engineering to construct a machine that could propel itself. On such basic vehicles, often the only 'body' was a seat for the driver, and this without any form of upholstery. The more sophisticated horseless carriages incorporated many of the refinements of the true carriage.
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