Original subtitles

- [narrator] previously on "the cars that built the world."

ferdinand porsche makes a bdangerous deal with hitler.S,

- you wanna fill the streets of germany with cars?

Let me design them for you.

- It's easy to see why ferdinand porsche,

would like this idea.

He was a brilliant engineer and a bit of an egomaniac.

- [narrator] in japan,

the quest to modernize pushes kiichiro toyoda

into the unknown.

- Cars? I know nothing about cars.

- [narrator] while soichiro honda,

pursues his car making dream by powering bicycles.

- He attached a generator to a bicycle,

that prototype became the first honda motorcycle.

- [narrator] now in the aftermath of world war ii,

these visionary inventors must innovate

and take on america's big three car makers to survive,

as benz,

daimler,

maybach,

rolls and royce,

ford,

bentley,

porsche,

honda,

and toyoda create, "the cars that made the wilt the "

(car engine revving)

(upbeat music)

- [soldier] papers.

This is a french pass, sir.

- Yes, I know but I was told that I could-

- you need an american pass,

you gonna have to turn around.

- Please look at the pass again.

- I've seen the pass. Look I've got strict orders not

to let anyone through without an american pass.

- Please let me through.

- Turn the car around or I'm gonna have to arrest you.

- [narrator] one year after world war ii ends,

ferry porsche is released from prison,

where he's been held as a nazi collaborator,

but the world he finds outside has changed.

- After the war, germany was literally divided into zones.

There were very strict barriers about who could move where

and who was allowed in which part of germany.

- [narrator] cut off from his home base in stuttgart,

his company's future is in jeopardy.

With nowhere else to go, ferry returns to austria where he

and his father retreated during the war

to continue supplying the nazi war effort.

A few months later, ferry porsche,

one of germany's premier car makers, is designing tractors.

He knows it will take much more to bring porsche back,

but building a car could be impossible.

- The whole situation was very difficult

because there were no parts available

and no material all.

- [narrator] but the parts he needs for his dream car,

could be right here,

on the volkswagen.

- Ferry porsche always wanted to make a sports car

with his name on it.

But in the years after world war ii,

he couldn't really get his hands on specialty parts

or produce new parts for this sports car project.

- [narrator] with no other options,

he realizes the only way forward is to turn to the past.

Half a world away, in japan,

the postwar outlook is just as bleak

with a third of its factories destroyed

and the rest lacking fuel and supplies.

Japan's industry is stagnant.

While allied bombs have left almost 9 million homeless.

- Postwar japan was a tough place.

I mean, the country was devastated by the war.

So much was bombed, there was not a lot of money.

There are material shortages.

The restrictions were very strict.

(liquid pouring)

- [narrator] in the devastation,

the market for soichiro honda's motorized bicycle grows.

But with gas strictly rationed,

honda turns to the black market,

a risky move.

In the seven years of occupation after the war,

1.2 million japanese are arrested for illicit trading.

(police officer knocking on the door)

- how can I help you, sir?

- Just doing the rounds.

What's your name?

- Honda, soichiro honda.

This is my bike shop.

I fix motorcycles,

bikes, a bit of a mechanic.

(upbeat music)

- what's this?

- [narrator] to mask the smell and avoid arrest,

honda mixes his gas with turpentine.

- It's turpentine it's made from pine sap.

- All right mr. Honda,

stay out of trouble.

- Will do, sir. Thank you so much.

- [narrator] honda's deceptive fuel mix has done its job.

- He's clean.

- [narrator] but it's only a short term solution.

The american occupation force not only acts as enforcers

of the law, but as ambassadors for democracy.

- American leaders decided that they needed

to help rebuild the japanese economy.

China had gone communist and japan was seen

as a counterweight to china.

Macarthur handled a very difficult job brilliantly

and essentially remade japan in the image

of a peace loving democracy,

something it had not been before the war.

- [narrator] as the u.S. Helps reinvent japan,

honda tries the same with his motor bikes.

- Honda kept evolving his bikes.

And one of his main philosophies was that he wanted everyone

to be able to use them.

What he realized was that women had trouble using them,

when they were wearing dresses because

of the way that the bars were positioned.

So he decided,

I want to create something that would be user friendly

for young men and women.

- [narrator] but removing the crossbar,

creates a new problem.

There's nowhere to mount the engine.

- Honda just always knew that,

there was an engineering solution

to any problem he encountered.

And he would come up with a way to solve those problems.

(upbeat music)

- [narrator] as honda searches for a solution,

kiichiro toyoda is limited to making u.S. Military vehicles,

but he's desperate to find a way to produce civilian cars.

- So at this time passenger car production,

was restricted and the u.S. Military put in an order

of 50 vehicles to be built by toyoda.

Toyoda was so committed to building a passenger car,

that they kind of bent the rules

and snuck in four prototypes,

which would become the toyoda sa

and added them to the order.

- Please.

- [narrator] he's built the four prototypes at a huge risk.

Exhausting the last of his company's resources.

- So let's get to it.

- General, those four cars,

in no way affected the work we were contracted to do.

It was on our own time.

We used our own money.

- Your car, the top brass.

They love it.

- I see.

- [narrator] the gamble pays off.

- The u.S. Military loved them so much,

that they gave toyoda the green light to go ahead

with production cars.

- Thank you, general.

- You're welcome.

- [narrator] toyoda is clear to begin full production

of the model sa,

a four cylinder two-door,

modeled after the volkswagen beetle.

But ramping up will require massive investment.

In the midst of a postwar recession,

the company needs a loan.

To get it, the bank of japan demands toyoda cut 40%

of its labor force,

something kiichiro's cousin

and fellow executive eiji toyoda, find shocking.

- Kiichiro, you're putting hundreds of people out of work.

- This isn't what anybody wants.

Sometimes there is no choice.

- Kiichiro toyoda's obligation was also to his people.

It was almost like one big family.

It was almost like you or I firing our children.

- I failed,

and it's time for me to go.

- [narrator] convinced he's let down his country,

his family and his workers,

kiichiro resigns.

- I'm stepping down.

- [narrator] hopeful of fresh start,

gives eiji a shot at realizing his dream.

- Kiichiro toyoda's vision was to make passenger cars

and after he resigned,

he asked,

"please help me with my vision make passenger cars."

(somber music)

- [narrator] as kiichiro toyoda walks away

the u.S. Economy booms raising household incomes

by some 20%.

In europe, the marshall plan pumps the modern equivalent

of $130 billion into postwar recovery.

The investment helps bring germany's auto industry back

from the brink,

creating an opening for ferry porsche's new sports car,

built almost entirely from volkswagen parts.

- Ferry porsche understood how to make the most out

of the limitations that he was given.

So what he ended up doing was really revolutionary.

(bright upbeat music)

- [narrator] ferry spends two years building his first car.

Finishing in 1948

and paying the french for his father's release

from prison, for suspicion of war crimes.

- Something I wanna show you.

- He revamped this design into the porsche 356,

the quintessential sports car.

(ferry's father laughing)

- the engine?

- It's flat four but 35 horsepower

touches 85 miles an hour.

- From the volkswagen?

- Same gear box and suspension too.

- Porsche overbuilt the volkswagen engine,

which gave his son a really easy way

to open the breathing of that engine up with a pair

of carburetors and then you get all of a sudden,

a much more powerful engine.

- Let me show you how it sounds.

(car engine revving)

- [narrator] to make room,

ferry removes the volkswagen's backseat,

creating the first in a long line

of iconic porsche roadsters.

- Let's take it for a ride.

Yeah?

- It's lightweight and it makes the most of a small engine.

It's a joy to drive.

It has that classic silhouette,

that we see in every modern porsche out there.

- It's extraordinary, like what ferry did,

basically just working on the foundation

of a volkswagen, a bug.

And he took that and he transformed it into the 356,

the most iconic sports car of its era.

- [narrator] while porsche finds a way forward

with his 356,

in japan...

- I call that the cub type f.

- [narrator] soichiro honda is in trouble.

His designs are revolutionary,

but his company is still losing money.

- Soichiro honda was not a great businessman.

He was out of his element.

He eventually had to get a partner

to handle the business side of things.

- All I needed to do was move the engine to the back wheel.

You see?

- How many of these have you made?

- [narrator] to save his business,

he looks to takeo fujisawa, a top salesman

for one of japan's largest steel companies.

- This is what's next. - Mr. Honda.

- So I'm thinking we could probably put a rack

at the back- - mr honda!

I know nothing about engines.

I know business.

- Of course.

- And yours...

- Fujisawa saw in honda a brilliant inventor,

a brilliant creator of machines.

- There was just not a solid business.

- [ ben] and he saw that the products,

are making lives better.

- Let me handle that.

The only thing you need to focus on,

is this.

- He became like the go to guy for dealing with suppliers,

dealing with dealers,

anything financial to help honda expand his business.

- You got yourself a partner. (laughs)

come on, there's something else I wanted to show you.

- [narrator] with fujisawa bringing order to the business,

honda is free to focus on innovation.

(upbeat music)

as japan continues to struggle, in postwar america,

the boom accelerates.

The middle class is growing with good jobs

and plenty of money to spend.

Between 1945 and 1949, americans buy over 4 million tv sets,

5 million stoves and over 20 million refrigerators.

But there's no industry rigging it in faster than cars.

- America had no economic competitors

and the price of oil was at $3 and 50 cents a barrel.

And it looked like it was gonna be blue skies for decades

to come.

- [narrator] by 1950, led by the big three

of ford, general motors and chrysler,

the u.S. Is manufacturing over 5 million cars a year.

No other country is even close.

Ford alone turns out 8,000 a day.

Toyoda on the other hand has made only 2,500 cars,

in 13 years.

Eiji toyoda sees only one way to save his family's company,

make cars that can compete in the u.S.

- Eiji toyoda was serious about kiichiro toyoda's mission

of creating a global car company as kiichiro toyoda was.

He had the baton handed to him and now it's his job,

his lifelong mission

to make toyota a successful company.

- [narrator] to learn from the best, eiji travels to detroit

and studies the operations at some of ford's largest plants.

- After the second world war,

the idea that japan would be any sort of a threat to detroit

was absolute fantasy.

- [narrator] underestimated,

eiji toyoda takes full advantage,

spending over a month learning all he can

from the americans.

- With ford being the pioneer of mass production,

it was, turning out cars at an unbelievable rate,

but eiji toyoda also noticed,

that there were many inefficiencies in the plant.

- [narrator] he returns from detroit with a plan.

- This ruler is the assembly line.

These erasers, are workers.

- [narrator] his mission,

maximize productivity on the assembly line

by re-imagining it.

- It's productive, but it takes so many people.

What if we did this,

reshape the line, in a u shape.

- He came up with this revolutionary new way

of running the assembly line.

Instead of each assembly line worker,

only installing one component over and over on every car,

individual workers had more responsibilities and more tasks.

- One person in the middle, eliminates two people.

We can build our cars with one third the men.

- This made production more efficient,

which made it cheaper to build each car.

- [narrator] eiji toyoda's five year plan aims

to completely reinvent the car making process.

- Efficiency, that's how we take them on.

- [narrator] and start making cars.

- Any questions?

- [narrator] the toyoda way.

(upbeat music)

- [narrator] in 1949,

u.S. Car makers crank out over 5 million new cars,

competing with america's big three, isn't easy,

but ferry porsche has broken through

with his beetle inspired sports car.

Still, getting the porsche 356 into mass production,

is a problem.

- 80% of the components in the porsche 356,

came from volkswagen.

It's hard to explain just how limiting this was.

- [narrator] to build his new sports car brand,

ferry needs a break.

- We need access to vw's infrastructure.

- [narrator] he finds one

with volkswagen's new president, heinrich nordhoff,

who's after porsche's engineering expertise.

- We'll share the patent of the volkswagen with you,

but a percentage of every beetle sold goes to us.

- [narrator] the deal would give porsche access

to volkswagen's parts, service and distribution,

while providing volkswagen cutting edge design.

- Volkswagen had the industrial might.

They could produce huge quantities

of pretty much anything that would be needed.

And porsche had engineering and design chops,

that potentially could help volkswagen in the future.

- Your father should be proud.

- Porsche became like the think tank of volkswagen

and they inspired volkswagen with many new ideas.

- Our success will become your success.

(upbeat music)

- [narrator] but just two years into the partnership,

ferdinand porsche passes away at the age of 75.

Now on his own, ferry turns to racing

to bring attention to the 356,

taking a page from a car making legends like w.O bentley

and entering the 24 hours of le mans.

- The big deal about le mans is that it's a 24 hour race.

It's an endurance race.

- [narrator] though half of the cars failed to finish,

the 356 shocks the world,

taking the 1.1 leader championship.

(crowd cheering)

- which is incredible because most manufacturers,

end up failing for years before they finally succeed.

And he really established the porsche brand.

And they'd been winning at le mans ever since.

- [narrator] for toyoda,

success is coming slower,

but eiji's revolutionary production process,

is now delivering their most advanced car ever,

the toyopet crown.

- It was a huge accomplishment that toyoda finally had made,

their own car that they designed and they could deliver

to the japanese people.

- Most of the streets in tokyo were pretty narrow and rough

to say nothing of the countryside,

but because of its more robust axles

and frame the toyoda crown,

could handle japan's infrastructure better.

- [narrator] eiji toyoda

believes they could soon be ready

to sell cars in the u.S.

But there's a problem.

- They're trying to push us out of the market.

- The american government was starting to see a threat

of too many overseas imports and was starting

to develop legislation for protectionism.

- [narrator] without access

to the world's largest car market,

toyoda's potential is severely limited,

leaving only one option.

- If we don't respond now, we lose.

Get the team together.

We're going to launch in america.

- It was an incredibly risky move and toyoda wanted

to get a foothold into the u.S. Market before any

of these laws would close them out.

- [narrator] in 1957,

toyota sets up sales offices in california,

taking a chance as the first japanese car company,

in the united states.

Meanwhile,

soichiro honda is working on something new.

A breakthrough product for his new business partner,

fujisawa.

- Fujisawa wanted to sell a motorcycle that

would mobilize japan in a dramatic way.

He wanted something that would be easy to use,

no matter what your riding skill was.

- [narrator] honda's game-changing answer,

the super cub.

- Do you like it?

- It's very impressive.

- The super cub is an amazing vehicle

because it's kind of a hybrid between scooters

and actual motorcycles.

It has full-size wheels like a motorcycle,

but it's also a step through design

with a fairing on the front.

So he just made up this whole new category.

- We could sell 30,000 of these, a month.

(honda and fujisawa laughing)

- [narrator] with the super cub,

honda has more than a breakthrough.

He creates a revolutionary new mode of transportation,

a motorcycle for everyone.

(upbeat music)

- with the super cub,

the motorcycle became less of a big and scary thing

and more of a little friendly device that anyone could ride.

- It became the single most popular motor vehicle

of any kind in the world ever.

Over a hundred million have been sold over the years.

- [narrator] the super cub's worldwide success,

convinces honda, he can soon build cars.

But for eiji toyoda,

(telephone ringing)

who's raced into the u.S. Market

with the domestically successful crown,

international expansion is proving more difficult.

U.S. Buyers are not impressed.

- How did this happen?

This is an embarrassment.

- It really wasn't suited for the kinds of terrain

and distances and scales that you saw in america.

- The crown couldn't keep up with traffic.

It often overheated and the ride wasn't that smooth.

- And frankly,

it just wasn't the kind of car that american buyers wanted.

- It was pretty humiliating for toyoda.

- [narrator] as toyoda fights

- [narrator] by 1959,

porsche is making some of the world's greatest sports cars,

and dominating le mans.

With ferry at the helm,

and his son butzi joining the family of designers,

porsche summands its legacy with an iconic new car,

the 911.

Released in 1963 and built on the air cooled

foundation of the volkswagen n356,

the 911 has eight times the horsepower

of the original beetle.

- The 911 was certainly a bigger, more modern sports car.

It had six cylinders instead of four,

but it was very, very clearly an evolution,

of that 356 design.

- If you take a look at the 356,

then you take a look at the 911

and the 935 behind me,

they all have that porsche dna.

- [narrator] but it's another car designed by the porsche's,

that's leading the german resurgence,

the volkswagen.

The beetle is selling in the millions abroad,

and is now taking off in the u.S.

- When the baby boomers started coming of age

during the 1960s,

they had to distinguish themselves,

by rejecting their parents' values.

Now, the volkswagen beetle was so different

from anything that you could see coming out of detroit,

that it made a statement right there.

(soft music) (air whooshing)

- [narrator] thanks in part to it's iconic,

counterculture image,

the people's car breaks through the u.S market in 1961,

selling over 150,000 beetles to american buyers.

It's success opens the door for smaller imports

to take on the u.S market.

But as the beetle succeeds,

japanese cars haven't yet made a mark.

- We've all failed.

(clanking)

- [narrator] the failure of the toyopet crown

has cost toyota millions, and severely damaged its brand.

- Toyota learned the hard way about

what the american market demanded.

- We gave him chrome.

Curved glass, top of the line upholstery.

But the dealers are complaining about the power and ride.

- [narrator] in the u.S,

gas guzzling muscle cars made by america's big three

are what buyers want.

Not small underpowered imports.

- There's no doubt the toyopet crown was a failure,

but in toyota's philosophy,

they believe that there's no such thing as failure,

it's just learning opportunities.

- [narrator] for eiji toyoda, the solution is simple.

Listen to the customer.

(upbeat music)

- they just went back to the drawing board,

and they reworked the kind of car they were gonna make.

- This time we're getting it right.

Let's get to work!

- [narrator] meanwhile honda,

who sold millions of motorcycles,

still hasn't made a car.

Now concerned that too many domestic car companies

are making low quality vehicles,

the japanese government acts,

threatening to close the market to any company

yet to make a viable car.

Companies like honda.

- Honda is really

facing an existential crisis.

If they can't be

registered as a car maker under the new government rules,

they might never be able to make that leap.

- Honda immediately fast-tracked production

and development of his first cars.

(tense music)

- [narrator] honda spends millions making prototypes,

determined to prove he's a worthy car maker.

(soft clanking) (tense music)

- he said stick to making motorbikes.

- What?

- The cars.

He wouldn't classify them for passengers.

Not a single model.

- [narrator] the problem with honda's prototype cars,

lies with the engines.

- So what honda ended up building,

was tiny cars,

that were powered by motorcycle engines.

And they weren't really successful as automobiles.

- The engines were extremely high revving,

even had chain-driven rear wheels like a motorcycle.

- This wasn't what the japanese government was looking for

in an automaker.

(loud clanking) (tense music)

- [narrator] faced with a roadblock,

honda decides to try something drastic.

- I'm gonna make a race car.

- What?

- If we make a race car that wins,

there's no way they'll stop us from making passenger cars.

- [narrator] but he doesn't want to make just any race car,

he wants to compete in formula one.

- Entering formula one

was a typically ambitious honda idea.

- It's like if I were to decide,

I'm gonna win the decathlon in the olympics next year.

Not going to happen, but you know,

maybe if soichiro honda was re-engineering me it might.

(upbeat music)

- we'll show them.

Consumer car making now rides on success

at the highest level of car racing,

formula one on the 1964 grand prix circuit.

- Mr.Honda really has remarkable courage.

He takes on challenges that most people would only dream of.

I mean, he throws his company into formula one,

against the might of people like ferrari.

- [narrator] powered by a revolutionary

motorcycle-based engine, honda's car is one of a kind .

12 small cylinders revving at an incredible

13,000 rpm producing 230 horsepower.

But in its first full season,

honda's car fails to finish a single race.

(soft clanking)

the next season,

(soft clanking)

it burns out,

as faulty piston rings cause an engine meltdown

at the 1965 british grand prix.

But true to his problem solving style,

honda rebuilds his race car.

And in the next season's final race, shocks the field,

winning the mexican grand prix.

- Honda going from

not producing cars to winning a grand prix race

in under five years is amazing.

- Congratulations!

(crowd clapping)

- [narrator] the victory confirms honda's

car making ability

and the government's threat to lock him out evaporates.

A year later, he debut's his first passenger car,

the honda n360,

- before that honda is known

for motorcycles and scooters,

and after your first grand prix race,

well that is a different animal altogether.

(tense music)

- [narrator] as honda takes home the cup,

eiji toyoda is convinced he's found

the winning formula for success in the united states.

(tense music)

- this.

Let's get this into production straight away.

- Edgerton had figured out that

to penetrate the us market,

toyota needed to be

the best in the world

at creating small fuel-efficient cars.

- [narrator] built with increased efficiency

to control price and maximize quality,

the new car is released in the u.S in 1968.

(engine roaring)

- zero to 60 in 12.6 seconds.

- [narrator] it's called,

the corolla.

(air whooshing)

- by the time toyota started to build the corolla,

they had already almost perfected

the chain of production system.

So they could compete on costs,

and also give additional features

that the americans could not afford to add to their cars.

- Reclining bucket seats.

- Wow, carpeting.

- You are hooked.

- The toyota corolla offered automatic transmission,

power windows, leather interior.

All of these things

that were considered luxury options,

for a very affordable price.

♪ get your hands on a toyota corolla ♪

♪ the plushest basic transportation in the u.S.A ♪

- [narrator] the corolla is an immediate hit.

And by 1972, it pushes toyota to a major milestone.

One million cars sold in the u.S

it's now the second best selling import in america,

behind the volkswagen beetle.

Meanwhile, honda's racing to claim its share

of the compact car market.

And on July 11th that same year,

the first honda civic arrives in the u.S.

- It was a small compact and very practical car,

but it was also fun to drive,

and it was incredibly efficient.

The honda civic quickly became one of the most popular

compact cars sold in america.

From that point on,

there was always this constant battle

in the marketplace between the civic and the toyota corolla.

- [narrator] then just three months later,

honda sees an opportunity to gain an edge.

As most car makers scramble to comply

with the 1970 clean air act,

and major pollution controls going into effect,

he declares publicly that he'll design an entirely new

cleaner burning engine.

Domestic car makers on the other hand, just add a part.

- The solution the most american car companies

were going with,

was the catalytic converter.

But in using these, you lose a lot of power.

So the big three were not happy.

- [narrator] in less than two years, honda delivers.

Introducing the cvcc engine to the world.

- The way it works is you burn a very small amount

of super concentrated fuel,

and that allows your engine to run smoother,

and make more power while reducing the emissions.

It was revolutionary.

- [narrator] desperate to meet emission standards,

ford and chrysler license honda's patented technology.

(click)

- you need to see this.

- But general motors not only refuses,

it's ceo publicly insults honda engineering.

- The head of gm, richard gerstenberg,

he issued a statement when asked about if gm was interested

in licensing the cvcc technology for their cars,

where he basically said,

"that kind of thing is fine for the little toy motorbike

engines they make over at honda,

but for a real car engine like we make at gm,

there's no way it would ever work."

and he said this in like a press conference.

(tense music)

and soichiro is not going to just let that slide.

(tense music)

- get me an american car.

An impala.

- Soichiro honda ranges for a brand new

5.7 liter chevy impala,

to be air freighted all the way to japan.

And he has his engineers re-engineer

the entire intake system of the car,

to incorporate honda's

cvcc technology,

on this massive big gm v8.

- [narrator] when honda ships the impala back to detroit,

it passes the toughened emission test with flying colors.

- I can't think of a bigger smack down mic drop

in all of automotive history,

than soichiro honda, sticking it to gm.

- [narrator] powered by the revolutionary cvcc engine,

the honda civic will go on to become

the sixth best-selling car of all time.

While honda proves his point to the americans,

it's toyota with the corolla,

(crowd clapping) who becomes

the ultimate winner.

- While honda was willing to take more engineering risks,

the cvcc engine for example,

toyota was very methodical when it came

to their improvements.

The corolla was kind of that sweet spot.

- Toyota's production system was so efficient,

they were able

to build the corolla with many more features

than you could for the same price in an american factory.

- Toyota struck gold with the corolla.

- [narrator] in 1974,

the corolla outsells every other car on the planet,

with over 600,000 units sold.

- From eiji toyoda's perspective,

that had to be an incredibly satisfying moment.

If you look back 20 some odd years,

when he was invited to the ford factory

to check everything out,

because they didn't think of him as a threat,

to all of a sudden being one of the biggest new competitors

in the automotive landscape.

- And it really launched toyota as one of the elite players

in the global field.

- [narrator] in 1997,

the corolla reaches over 22 million in sales,

passing the volkswagen beetle,

to become the best selling car of all time.

It goes on to sell almost 50 million worldwide and counting.

Today, toyota is a leading car maker because of its focus

on production efficiency.

But it's the efficiency of the cars themselves,

that's now revolutionary.

- The future is more than likely not going to continue

with combustion engine cars.

Electric vehicles have proven that you can make a car

that drives and performs as well or better

than a combustion car,

with a 10th of the amount of moving parts

and zero pollutions from the car itself.

- I believe the future of cars is electric.

The performance is pretty mind numbing.

- And in a lot of ways, where electric cars now are,

is sort of where gasoline engine cars were

in the early 1900s.

They're just now established.

But if you look deep into the future,

it's clear that's where things are heading.

(soft piano music)

- the car industry

is probably the first truly global industry

that mobilized the world,

and those early pioneers really changed the trajectory

of mankind.

- It's hard to think of another invention

that has had a greater impact on our lives.

I think we're living

in the most exciting era of the automobile

since it was invented more than a hundred years ago.

Today we're sitting at the dawn of all of these

new advanced technologies.

- [narrator] these new innovators,

follow in the footsteps of the cars' first trailblazers.

- 50 years from now,

the internal combustion engine may be dead.

And it's exciting to see what will replace it.

This is the most revolutionary era in car design since

carl benz invented the first car back in 1886.

And it's thrilling to be alive to witness it.

- [narrator] wherever the future leads,

it will be built on the foundation

of a few visionary pioneers,

as the next generation of inventors,

leads us into a new world.

Searching for that spark,

of inspiration.