To start off this road-heavy newsletter series, let me introduce to you, once again, your majesty, Autohaven!

Autohaven is the digital home for cars. Just like we have digital homes for people, pets and houses, so do we have Autohaven for cars. It's a place for cars to live, to be experienced and to be forever remembered.

As I take the next few weeks and months to deliver Autohaven to you, I want to first thank you for being apart of this and for your support in our early phases! Merci beaucoup.

The economy as we know it today is built on the foundation of engines. These powerful machines have transformed our world in countless ways. They've made long-distance travel a daily reality, allowing us to cross countries in hours instead of weeks. 

Engines power the trucks that stock our stores, the ships that carry global trade, and the machines that build our cities. They've given rise to suburbs, changing where and how we live. Engines have even shaped our entertainment from car racing to road trip movies.

But engines have also brought challenges. Traffic congestion and accidents have become major urban issues. And our dependence on oil has influenced global politics and economics in complex ways.

But have you ever wondered how they came to be? How did we go from horse-drawn carriages to the powerful machines we drive today?

Well, that's where we come in. Here at Autohaven, we are introducing a new series of publications where we will bring you in depth stories of how various car technologies came to be and influenced our daily lives. 

And what other better place do we begin than at the very heart of the machine, the ENGINE?

In this new series, The Heart of the Machine, we will take you on a journey through the history of engines, from early experiments with gunpowder to the latest electric motors. We'll talk about the inventors, innovations, and social forces that have shaped this technology and, in turn, our world.

PS: From the next series, the email from us will read “Autoculars”. Autoculars is the name of the Autohaven account that will be sharing and owning these stories! It is ran and owned by us.

And right away, here is our first submission. Enjoy!

Engines are the unsung heroes of our daily lives. They've transformed not just how we travel, but how we live, work, and interact with the world around us. The impact of engines reaches far beyond the roads we drive on.

Think about how engines have shrunk our world. Before cars, a journey that now takes hours could have taken days or weeks. This speed of travel has connected cities, countries, and continents like never before. Families separated by distance can now reunite more easily. Businesses can operate across vast areas, opening up new markets and opportunities.

The economy as we know it today is built on the foundation of engines. They power the trucks that deliver goods to our stores, the ships that carry products across oceans, and the machines that build our homes and offices. Entire industries have sprung up around engines – from car manufacturing to oil production, from mechanics to race car drivers. Millions of jobs worldwide depend on engines in one way or another.

Engines have also changed where and how we live. The rise of suburbs was made possible by cars, allowing people to live farther from city centers while still commuting to work. This has transformed urban planning and architecture, shaping the very layout of our towns and cities.

In education and science, the quest to improve engines has driven advancements in fields like materials science, fluid dynamics, and thermodynamics. These innovations have applications far beyond the automotive world, influencing everything from power generation to space exploration.

The social impact of engines extends to public health and safety too. While cars have unfortunately brought traffic accidents, they've also improved emergency response times. Ambulances and fire trucks, powered by engines, save countless lives every year by providing rapid assistance.

But have you ever wondered how they came to be? How did we go from horse-drawn carriages to the powerful machines we drive today?

Welcome back, automotive enthusiasts and curious minds!

On the second article of our new series, we bring you Chistiaan Huygens, who is considered by many the grandfather of the automotive engine(above is his actual diagram of the Pneumatic Engine in 1663, ink on paper).

But before we jump in, I just wanted to reiterate to you, why this series :)

I am a big fan of technology and how we as human beings, have always harnessed it to our benefit.

Now, technological advancements usually take years to materialise, often decades and centuries actually.

Yet when we enjoy today's technologies, we rarely think about what they did eons back as they were trying to figure out how to make us the technologies we rely on today.

This series aims to connect us to that past, so we can better understand the present, and prepare for the future (and be part of it!)

So even if you are not an engineer, you stand to benefit from the problem-solving skills you shall learn about in this series, stay close!

Also I am likely to bring these to you more frequently than just weekly, because there's just a lot to share! But if you feel like it's becoming a lot, reply to one of the mails and I shall make a way for you to reduce the cadence(or stop it completely:)).

Now back to gunpowder engines :)

In 1673, a Dutch scientist named Christiaan Huygens had an idea that would change the course of history. He wondered: could the power of gunpowder be harnessed not for destruction, but for useful work?

Huygens' invention - a cylinder and piston powered by small gunpowder explosions - was far from practical. It was dangerous, inefficient, and couldn't power a vehicle. But it proved something revolutionary: controlled explosions could be used to produce mechanical motion.

This simple idea laid the foundation for all internal combustion engines to come. From this explosive beginning, we embarked on a 350-year journey of innovation that led to the efficient, powerful engines in our cars today.

In our latest article, we dive deep into Huygens' groundbreaking work:

 • How did Huygens come up with this explosive idea?

 • How did his engine actually work?

 • What challenges did he face?

 • How did this impractical invention shape the future of transportation?

Today, we dive into a story that goes far beyond a simple mechanical defect.

The recent federal appeals court decision ordering General Motors (GM) to face a class action lawsuit over alleged faulty transmissions is a watershed moment that touches on issues of corporate responsibility, consumer rights, and the very nature of the American automotive industry.

Let's start with the facts: The lawsuit alleges that GM knowingly sold vehicles with defective transmissions affecting some 800,000 units, including popular models like the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Silverado, and GMC Yukon from 2015 to 2019.

The reported issues - shaking in higher gears and erratic lurching in lower ones - aren't just inconveniences; they represent potential safety hazards for drivers, passengers, and others on the road.

To understand the significance of this case, we need to look back at the long and sometimes troubled history of automotive safety in America.