As part of my "It's in the History" series, I came by this area and felt some interesting history could be told.
The history of the automobile actually dates back to 1769 when steam power was used. Since then many variations came about and around in the 1800's a form of an internal combustion engine was invented. From the early days from the 1900's the use of the "Horseless Carriages" became more prevelant, and helped fuel the industrial revolution and propelled the United States to a world class county.
Please see the link : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_automobile