Becoming the Motor City: A Timeline of Detroit's Auto Industry

Over a century ago, a cadre of selftrained mechanics, machinists, and other tradesmen started tinkering in the small, cramped machine shops near downtown Detroit. Despite their varied technical ideas, professional ambitions, and personal temperaments, they worked towards a common goal: to revolutionize personal transportation by capitalizing on the recently developed internal combustion engine. None of them “invented” the automobile, but their shared imagination, grit, and persistence were responsible for giving birth to an industry responsible for some of the most profound changes in twentieth-century American life. Join author Paul Vachon as he explores Detroit’s automotive history.