Book: The Complete Book of the Car
Author: Alan Anderson
7-10 Facts That are Relevant:
--There were many different fuels before the alternative fuel of gas which was much more efficient
--The car was a hard idea to grasp in the U.S.
--Jeeps were used in the military as the best utilitarian car for the time
--The Citroen DS was the most revolutionary car in all of time, as it combined many 21st century features in the 1950s
--The 1960s were booming times for the Japanese car industry
--Japanese cars showed the world that someone can wake up, start the car, and have it actually work.
--The Japanese were supposidly copying many European designs
In the first section of this book, Alan Anderson runs us through the beginning history of the automobile.  One fact he explains is that there were several variations of the car before Iarl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler came together and made the first car with the internal combustion engine.  He supports this with the many machines that came before it, such as steam-powered cars, coal-powered cars, and even cars powered by wind.  These ideas are very similar to the innovations of cars today in their technology, emissions, fuel consumption, performance, safety, etc.  This relates because you start with something basic and make it better and better.