Early Production
In the early motoring days, when series production did not yet exist, the process of acquiring a new vehicle needed two major decisions. Already accustomed to ordering carriages from a coachbuilder the buyer would select an automobile manufacturer to provide only the rolling chassis, comprising: chassis, drivetrain (engine, gearbox, differential, axles, wheels), suspension, steering system and the radiator - the radiator, usually its shell, soon became the only visual element identifying the rolling chassis brand. The customer would also approach a coachbuilder, requesting a personal body design to be fitted on the new chassis. Initially, the long-established and refined skills used to build the wooden and metal bodies of vehicles were so specialized, (such as the English wheel), that most manufacturers procured contracts with existing coachbuilders to produce bodies for their chassis. For example, Fisher Body built all of Cadillac's closed bodies in the 1910s.
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Famous quotes containing the words early and/or production:
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