Welcome to the 166th insertion of DEMUR®, an analytical series highlighting the intricacies of the artistic world and the minutiae lying within. In this episode, we exhaust a brief history of luxury automobiles, breaking down the one percent’s ties to sports cars and the obsession with absurdity.
If there’s one thing that binds obscure sums of cash, attracts collectors from around the world and somehow almost exclusively depreciates in value, it’s the subject of cars. Through a contemporary lens, there’s undoubtedly no shortage of Bugattis, Lamborghinis or Ferraris, but this concept was foreign back in the 18th century. In fact, back then, cars were entirely alien to most of the Western hemisphere - that is, excluding the elite.
To truly grasp the insane relationship we associate with cars, we must first take a look at the industry’s history. Before the 1910s automobiles were far from commonplace in occidental culture, seeing as German engineer Gottlieb Daimler had only created the first functional vehicle, the ‘Mercedes’ (named after his daughter), three decades prior. It wouldn’t be until the roaring 20s that we’d begin to see a mere 3% of the US population register vehicles, and another three decades before reaching 10% total.
Despite seemingly menial statistics, these $525 Ford-built Model T’s were all the rage at the time. While a great option for the middle class, the car lacked such power found in Mercedes sportscars, which preceded Ford by 5 years. The ‘Simplex 60 hp’ would ignite a fury of opulent transportation methods, exciting manufacturers like Ettore Bugatti and Ferdinand Porsche. Around this time, racing would become increasingly popular, pushing engineers to further develop their niche.
Following the Second World War, both manufacturing and finite technologies would advance rapidly, garnering mass interest in supercars. Spawning the likes of Porsche 9/11’s and Lamborghini Miura’s, the foundation for the genre of ‘hyper’cars had been set. Fast forwarding, we endure an age in which a Buggati Chiron Super Sport attained half the cruising speed of a commercial airliner, clocking 489 km/h.
Comments