In one word - Ferrari

When we think of Italians in America, New York City’s failed Mayor Blassio pops up, or the present Speaker of the House but not of men in the shadows like Filippo Mazzei who shared his ideas with his closes friend Thomas Jefferson and is credited for the line, ‘all men or created equal’. Or we may think of famed Hollywood directors, or of the black market controlled by the Mafioso but it is when we think automobiles, the Grand Prix, the Formula 1 cars; then a different picture comes through.

You see the Italians have a history not only in politics and arts but on science and invention from the days of Galileo and Leonardo da Vinci. LV sketched among many things a flying machine with retractable landing gear so it should be of no surprise that some of the subtler engineering talents are in Italy and therefore in the automobile industry, the Italian Ferrari followed by the Lamborghini. These companies with their racing cars not only contributed to innovations in the automotive industry but also to the American psyche and a love for fast cars. Suddenly, the automobile turned from a transportation cart to an experience of ‘near flight’ for the common man. In US, if you want to date, you need a car. (Archie’s comics became famous for teens because it carried subtle messages on dating – like avoiding a jalopy).

Now guys may say, ‘okay’ but remained unconvinced since ESPN covers NASCAR and not Formula 1. It's also true that NASCAR drivers use 'cars of tomorrow' and therefore are proofs of technology that contributes in any big way to one of the largest manufacturing sector in US (and in the world GDP).

In my opinion, it's the F1 cars, lighter vehicles that contribute to 'concept cars' and direction technology may take.

https://www.thethings.com/major-differences-between-formula-1-and-nascar/

The defining criterion, from above article, in my not-so-humble opinion is that participating racing teams have to build or construct (assemble) their own cars - for speed / safety. NASCAR teams drive from stock models.


https://montrealgrandprix.com/news/top-manufacturers-formula-1-cars/

Here’s another article to muse over.

Mercedes surprises with innovative Dual Axis Steering system

https://www.f1technical.net/development/22329/mercedes-surprises-with-innovative-dual-axis-steering-system

It talks about the steering wheel which slightly retracts forward and backward while approaching a curve or coming out of one – an example of tech thriving where competition is – in the racing world.

The competition for US market share has always been between GM and Ford (Chevrolet, Chrysler, Cadillac are divisions in GM) - till Honda entered strongly in the 90s.


The competition in F1 racing has been between Mercedes-Benz (Germany), Ferrari, Jaguar (UK), Lamborghini (Italy), till Honda entered in 60s, abandoned and re-entered as Red Bull in 90s(?).

Formula 1 racing cars are expensive and their financing is by consortiums that include American car manufacturers - so in this sense, new technology is shared

Ferrari: About 25% of Ferrari shares were held by Chrysler Automobiles and FIAT till recently when they sold these shares to individual shareholders

Red Bull: has a deal with Ford, is owned by Honda and manufactured by Jaguar (UK)

Special note for Tom - 'what do you think?'
and thanks in advance

Think you may be over thinking things, yes most things have been created from different places and the ideas are brought into something new. Sure we could go back to the inventor of the wheel, iron, horse n buggy. But the true credit for the car starts with Benz, Diamler, and Maybach and developed from there. Formula 1 is almost as bad as Soccer as a sport, these are grown men driving gocarts, US manufacturers are getting away from making "cars" and pushing us into SUV's and trucks. Ferrari and Lamborghini are still hand building their cars, you ever hear of Henry Ford and the assembly line? De Tomaso is another Italian car manufacturer and he used Ford V8's in some of his most popular cars. Japan and Germany have done much more for cars than Italy ever will. Italy does design and build many machines used to automate manufacturing so I can give them that along with pasta and pizza, however even much of that has been tweaked to fit what we want. I'm more likely to give the Swiss credit for clocks and watches in changing the way we live, but in the long run the United States has invented, or come up with more life changing inventions than all the other countries combined, including farming and agriculture, milling, mining, and manufacturing.

But...
Isn't Jaguar currently owned by TaTa of India?

Makes good sense.

Didn't want to touch pizza, politics (Roman Senate model), art & architecture.

Just economics

What was puzzling was that while Italians were once ahead in light engineering products - after WWII - their scooters, Vespa was well received in Asian markets and the first propeller planes were designed by Italian engineers (built in French firm Bleriot) - I could not find inventions that directly elevated US economics. Maybe because these inventions, like Bleriot's car headlights (French) were peripherals.

Also skipped Marconi's wireless telegraph mainly because of his company's false claim for radio which goes to Tesla and his oscillator.

https://www.pbs.org/tesla/ll/ll_whoradio.html

It's a short, tragic read that ends with ...


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F.y.i, France was next in my list, but aside from politics - the Revolutionary War; - there weren't any (!?!), except for California wines. As you say, most milestone inventions have been in US, and England before that - so giving up this series.

It's a relatively recent acquisition. I can't see a market share in India justifying this acquisition. In my opinion, given the tendency of previous government to nationalize companies, businesses here aspire to be MNCs.

This series reminds me a little of the documentary "How Booze built America". At every point in American history Alcohol has been involved although some of it was really a stretch.

There are many countries with great engineering abilities like Germany and Japan and even the Soviet Union and Italy. But there has been so much of little parts of this, and little parts of that, that have evolved into what we know today. Much like the food we eat has history in many places but has evolved differently for different regions. Europe has the biggest effect on the United States becoming what it is, but with out Africa things would have evolved much differently. Now China has also became a big part of what goes on in the US similar to Japan effect in the 1980's only more dramatic mostly due to technology. The world has become a much smaller place with effects coming and going from all places. The world used to be huge and much was found out while looking to track down routes to get spices, some worth more than their weight in gold. Nothing is constant and it will continue to change, Africa may soon become the new manufacturing frontier, or maybe South America? Who knows life could change over night for better or worse.

Jaguar was with Ford for awhile and now they are with Range Rover and I do believe India has a part in all that, car companies tend to become a part of something for awhile and then it changes again. I believe one of the biggest reasons the US car is what it is today is mostly due to Japan. In the 1980's Chrysler was about to go bankrupt and the US government loaned them money to save them. Chrysler brought over Mitsubishi cars and parts and started selling them with their brand on them, they also created the minivan and built some cheap cars that pulled them back up. Fuel economy is far from where it should be by now but that has much to do with strict emissions standards and the weight of safety measures and putting more standard equipment on cars such as AC, power windows, and electronics. The transition to electric cars comes with some major issues too but thing will continue to evolve for better or worse.

Interesting, how clips from Booze leads on to the Prohibition era and Al Capone. Taking a similar license one may stretch to Mussolini's contribution to the American News Media - Fox News.


https://forward.com/culture/film-tv/396746/mussolinis-peculiar-history-with-fox-news-and-the-jews/