From Karl Benz to photochemical smog, here’s an entertaining and insightful history of the auto industry from The Secret Life of Machines.  

As Americans, we have to accept the fact that the British are better than we are at a number of things, and one of them is television documentaries. Take for example The Secret Life of Machines, a series presented by Tim Hunkin and Rex Garrod for Channel 4 Television from 1988 to 1993. Each episode tackled the history and technology of a common everyday machine, from the vacuum cleaner to the telephone, using Hunkin’s unique animations as the linchpin. And for its first episode of the 1991 season, the program turned to the automobile.

Hardcore car people like ourselves have learned not to expect too much when historical generalists take on the automobile, but we were pleasantly surprised with the Secret Life approach. From McG’s perspective, they hit the important points correctly and still managed to hand us some fresh and intriguing insights. The segments on Budd and its contributions to the industry were especially spot on. At 25 minutes the video is rather long by web viewing standards, but it’s worth it, we assure you. Video below.