As car technology evolves, the number of its components or parts tends to increase, which are classified into two types: the essential ones for its operation and the additional ones that provide comfort or ease of use of its accessories.
Among the first are those that make the car work and move such as the engine, brakes, steering wheel, wheels, transmission, etc.
And there are the additional ones, which are not essential for operation, but for comfort, such as air conditioning, door and window handles or buttons, spoilers, grilles and, in general, all decorative elements.
The most complex components are the engine and transmission, since their mechanisms can have between 500 and 700 pieces each.
Currently a mid-range car has between 70,000 and 90,000 parts. But it was not always like this. The first vehicles manufactured in the world had fewer than 50 parts. Instead, Formula cars, despite their high technology, have fewer parts than a road car. There are only about 60,000 because they need to be lighter.
The Ford Model T, the first mass-market car (1908), was built with only 43 parts, including a 20-horsepower CID engine, two headlights, a horn, band brakes, and wooden wheels. It was very basic.
Almost 40 years passed before the pieces began to multiply as a result of the advances in the industry that brought more modern and efficient mechanisms. That is why in the middle of the last century the cars already had about 8,000 parts.
And already in modern times electronics burst in with its computers and chips that facilitated things and the functionality of cars. For example, a mid-range car uses an average of 3,000 microprocessors.
For these reasons, assembling a vehicle is much more difficult than it seems, not only because of the number of parts that guarantee its proper functioning, but also because of the importance of each one of them, no matter how small it may be, if it is badly located or is faulty, the car could not move.
Just imagine the role that little piece plays, the tire valve, helping not only to keep the air in, but also to support the entire weight of the vehicle.
