MTFCA Forum

Back in the day of Automobile Agencies, Automobiles were sometimes referred to as "motorcars"... or was it "motor cars"?

Is it one word or two?

Keith, not very scientific, but when I put “motorcar” in a newspaper search engine, 1905-1915, there were 250,000 hits. It looked like more than half were hyphenated.

“Motor car” resulted in 1.4 million matches.
Rob

You can eliminate the confusion by calling it an "automobile".
Norm

Try “Motorwagen” 1886 Benz. “Oruktor amphibolos!” Oliver Evans applied for a U.S. patent in Philadelphia in 1792 on a steam land carriage. “Road machine” in 1879 George B. Selden. "Autometon, motor-vique, oleo locomotive, autokenetic, buggyaut, motor carriage, autobaine, automotor horse, diamote, motorig, mocole, and, of course, the horseless carriage."

It appears that the most common spelling is motorcar, followed by motor car and the motor-car.
Note that motor car may have a different meaning in context of a sentence
No different than motorhome or motormouth, But it not for motor scooter and its only motorcycle, motorcade, motorboat, motorman, motorway
To avoid criticism the most popular is the best choice These spellings are American English

For what it's worth, Packard, (est. 1899) called their concern "Packard Motor Car Company" for 58 years. On the other hand, "Motorcar" was a make of truck from early on, revived in recent years.

Not to add confusion Keith, but an interesting point may be that the word "motorcycle" seems to be universally used (even by Harley-Davidson) and nobody seems to question it! (???)

KWTownsend wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 30, 2022 11:57 am

Back in the day of Automobile Agencies, Automobiles were sometimes referred to as "motorcars"... or was it "motor cars"?

Is it one word or two?

I reread the question and it appears that "back in the day" it was two words, if fact till the late 60's. Interesting enough is that I couldn't find the single word usage in old ads and only found the one usage either one or two words in a current ad. They may be out there but.....

Paging: Mr. Toad, of Toad Hall/ (An early automobilist)

An aside. Motorcycle originally, back in the 1890s, didn't necessarily mean a two wheeled motorized conveyance. It was accepted as three or four wheel vehicles also.
The word "automobile" originated mostly in France, early in the development of horseless carriages. It wasn't until nearly 1900 when it was seriously proposed to adopt that French word universally. Some apparently believed it had more class than the more common English terms being used at the time.
"Motor car" was of course one of those English terms. It was also a colloquialism. A term in common usage in some areas, practically unknown in many other areas. "Motor car" was also used for railroad cars, large or small, that had their own motor, and could be run down the rails without the aid of a railroad engine. They were often service vehicles to transport workers to places in need of maintenance or repair. They were also rail busses transporting workers for lumber mills or their kids to school. They were in fact railroad "cars" with a "motor". For a lot of people, "motor car" should be used only for railroad cars!
However, in some areas of the country, "motor car" was commonly used in place of "automobile".

As I have lamented so many times in the past? "Colloquialisms. Why is it always colloquialisms?"

In Emily Post's "Complete Book of Etiquett", she refers to an automobile as "a motor". Detailed instructions are provided outlining the correct way for a lady of refinement to "enter a motor". If you can find a copy of this book, take a look through it. It's utterly amazing.

The obvious answer to the initial question is 'yes'.
Allan from down under.

Not sure the question has been answered ref "motorcar", or "motor car". Maybe the more broad term "vehicle" might be used, or, to be more specific, maybe "motor vehicle". Hmm,....now then, that begs the question, is it just the one word, "vehicle", or perhaps more correctly it might be two words pronounced,...."Vee Hickle". But then that might be more of a geographical thing involving the Mason-Dixon Line. Well, maybe I should just stick with discussions involving valve lifters, tappets or cam followers, or, as Henry Ford called them,..."pushrods",...or,...is it "push rods",...??? Oh,....it's all so confusing!!!

I'm thinking about creating some signage, while taking some artistic liberties...

[attachment=0]Townsend Motor Cars Jpeg blue.jpg[/attachment

: ^ )

After 20 years as a emergency vehicle Technician I'm still not sure if it's Firetruck or Fire truck just don't misspell Apparatus.
Craig.

Craig, you should be more careful about a Spoonerism on Fire Truck!

Allan from down under.

If you cross the Mason Dixon line southbound, your motor car becomes a car, typically referred to as a Ford, a Chevy, a Caddy, or One Of Them Furn Things. When you reach 'Lanta, it becomes a ride.

In New York I thought it twas a kawr.
Craig.

In Bahst'n, it's a kah.

Huh, I can go one better than that (AND it's a Ford), in Europe & New Zealand it's just 'Ka', and I have three of them:

That's WICKED Pat
Craig.