Concept car

A concept car (also known as concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not be mass-produced. General Motors designer Harley Earl is generally credited with inventing the concept car, and did much to popularize it through its traveling Motorama shows of the 1950s.

Concept cars never go into production directly. In modern times all would have to undergo many changes before the design is finalized for the sake of practicality, safety, regulatory compliance, and cost. A "production-intent" vehicle, as opposed to a concept vehicle, serves this purpose. They are also known as prototype cars, but should not be confused with prototype race cars such as the Le Mans Prototype.

Design

Concept cars are often radical in engine or design. Some use non-traditional, exotic, or expensive materials, ranging from paper to carbon fiber to refined alloys. Others have unique layouts, such as gullwing doors, 3 or 5 (or more) wheels, or special abilities not usually found on cars. Because of these often impractical or unprofitable leanings, many concept cars never get past scale models, or even drawings in computer design. Other more traditional concepts can be developed into fully drivable (operational) vehicles with a working drivetrain and accessories. The state of most concept cars lies somewhere in between and does not represent the final product. A very small proportion of concept cars are functional to any useful extent, some cannot move safely at anything above 10 mph.

BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (German pronunciation: [baˈjɛɐ̯ɪʃə mɔˈtɔʁn̩ ˈvɛɐ̯kə]; German for Bavarian Motor Works), usually known under its abbreviation BMW, is a German luxury automobile, motorcycle, and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. Headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, it also owns and produces Mini cars and serves as the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad, and plug-in electric cars under the BMW i sub-brand. It is one of the best-selling luxury automakers in the world. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

History

BMW was established as a business entity following a restructuring of the Rapp Motorenwerke aircraft manufacturing firm in 1917. After the end of World War I in 1918, BMW was forced to cease aircraft-engine production by the terms of the Versailles Armistice Treaty. The company consequently shifted to motorcycle production as the restrictions of the treaty started to be lifted in 1923, followed by automobiles in 1928–29.

Concept

A concept is an abstraction or generalization from experience or the result of a transformation of existing ideas. The concept is instantiated (reified) by all of its actual or potential instances, whether these are things in the real world or other ideas. Concepts are treated in many if not most disciplines both explicitly, such as in psychology, philosophy, etc., and implicitly, such as in mathematics, physics, etc. In informal use the word concept often just means any idea, but formally it involves the abstraction component.

In metaphysics, and especially ontology, a concept is a fundamental category of existence. In contemporary philosophy, there are at least three prevailing ways to understand what a concept is:

Driving

Driving most often refers to the controlled operation and movement of a motorized vehicle, such as a car, truck, or bus.

Etymology

The origin of the term driver, as recorded from the 15th century, refers to the occupation of driving working animals, especially pack horses or draft horses. The verb ' to drive ' in origin means "to force to move, to impel by physical force". It is first recorded of electric railway drivers in 1889 and of a motor-car driver in 1896. Early alternatives were motorneer,motor-man, motor-driver or motorist. French favors "conducteur" (the English equivalent, "conductor", being used —from the 1830s— not of the driver but of the person in charge of passengers and collecting fares), while German influenced areas adopted Fahrer (used of coach-drivers in the 18th century, but shortened about 1900 from the compound Kraftwagenfahrer), and the verbs führen, lenken, steuern —all with a meaning "steer, guide, navigate"— translating to conduire.

Introduction of the automobile

Case IH

Case IH is a brand of agricultural equipment. It was created in 1984 when Tenneco bought selected assets of the agricultural division from International Harvester and merged it into its J.I. Case Company. Today Case IH is owned by CNH Industrial, which in turn is financially controlled by the Italian firm Fiat Industrial.

Products

Case IH offers agricultural equipment, financial services, as well as parts and service support for farmers and commercial operators through a network of dealers and distributors.

Productivity enhancing products include tractors; combines and harvesters; hay and forage equipment; tillage tools; planting and seeding systems; sprayers and applicators; and site-specific farming tools. Case IH has won many AE50 awards from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, ASABE, for their products.

Some of Case IH’s most famous equipment models include Axial-Flow combines, Magnum tractors, Steiger and Farmall.

History

Case IH history began when, in 1842, Jerome Increase Case founded Racine Threshing Machine Works on the strength of his innovative thresher. In 1869 Case expanded into the steam engine business and, by 1886, Case was the world’s largest manufacturer of steam engines. The company's founder died in 1891 at the age of 72.