METALLURGY AND WHEELS - The Story of Men, Metals and Motors (History of the Automobile)

“…Iron and steel have made the automobile possible. Without a widely available material capable of being easily formed and treated to obtain the special properties necessary, the automobile would still be only a curiosity.
Over four-fifths of the weight of the automobile is iron and steel. This means that the average passenger car contains about a ton and a half of iron parts. The complete car costs the owner only about 50 cents a pound for the low-priced cars and about 75 cents for the high-priced ones. A pound of sirloin steak or a pound of butter costs more than a pound of most automobiles. To accomplish this result has taken thousands of men in many kinds of work, years of patient effort. Cooperation between trained technical men and skilled workmen have produced the outstanding mechanical device of the present time: the automobile….”
(1944 - Staff GENERAL MOTORS)