Starting	Romania has been one of the first countries in the world to introduce the automobile into traffic, since the very beginning of its construction. Two steam cars for goods transport built by the French company Gardner Serpollet had been driving through Bucharest since 1885. *First registered in the Golden Book opened by Romanian Automobile Club is an automobile-carriage made by Peugeot, with a 4 HP power engine. That car had been imported in 1889 by Barbu Bellu from Bucharest. The same source shows that, in 1895, three men from Craiova brought into the country three automobile-carriages Benz type, with 12 HP engines. One year later, other three auto-carriages were brought in different towns: one Peugeot in Bucharest, one Rochet-Schneider in Tecuci, and one tricycle Bollee in Falticeni. One of the first American Oldsmobile cars made its appearance on the streets of Bucharest in 1898. It was built in E.R.Olds' workshop, which had begun producing cars just one year earlier. *In 1900, no traffic office existed in Romania, and the formal registrations of cars were made at the Cityhall. Then it was registered at number one an automobile bought by Gheorghe Basil Assan. It was a Panhard with a 15 HP engine, made at Liege, Belgium. *At the beginning of the century, the first car to be registered into traffic at the Prefect's office of Bucharest was that of Basil Assan, which received the number plate 1-B. Two or three years later, Prince Valentin Bibescu came from Paris with his private car. He was a very self-conceited man who ordered the prefect to convey him the number plate 1-B, as he had proved with documents that his car had been registered in Paris earlier than the date number 1-B was given. But Basil Assan on no account agreed to give up the priority of his car registration. The prefect found the solution: he offered Bibescu number plate 0-B. He accepted, and so, unlike other worldwide cities, number 0-B ran for some 30 years in the Romanian capital. *During five years, until March 1,1906, 150 automobiles were imported to Romania. Among the most wide-spread trade-marks: De Dion Bouton, Berliet, Mercedes and Panhard. Subsequently, the number of cars begun rising, in 1907 at 233, in 1909 at 447, in 1912 at 850.
Inter-War Era	At the beginning of WW I, the Romanian car park was over 1,000. Romania Ford Plant from Bucharest, owned by a joint public company, begun assembling in 1935 the Ford car 1935 brand, equipped with a V8, 60 HP engine. Subsequently, other types of Ford motor-cars were also produced. The imported cars were: Ford T; Chevrolet Superior - popular car built in 1921; Nash Four - built starting 1922; Renault 12CV (in picture, the Renault Garage in Bucharest) - built in 1921; Morris Cowley -built in 1920, assembled in England with american engines Continental; Austin Baby - made in 1924; Fiat 501 - made in 1919 and type Torpedo built in 1924; Opel made in 1911; Chrysler 50 - made in 1927; Overland Four from USA, built in 1926; Studebacker Erskine made in 1927; Packard Super Eight made in 1928; Mercedes 770 made in 1930; Graham Streak made in 1932; La Salle - 1932; Auburn SC - 1935; Citroen 7A - 1934; Fiat Balilla - popular car - 1932; DKW F1 500 - 1931; Lincoln Zephyr, made in 1936, with V12 engine - 110HP; Buick 40 V8 - 3,8 l; Mercedes 170 V and 170 D - with Diesel engine; Ford-Anglia Ten - 1,2 l; Lancia Aprilia - V4 engine, 1,35 l.
Romanian Constructors	Dimitrie Vasescu - in 1880, when he was 20 and a student in Ecole Central in Paris, through his own material efforts, and based on his own conception he completed a steam car which was showing the best performances for that time. The car succeeded to pass the traffic tests, and had been seen for a long time running on the streets in Paris. George Constantinescu - is the creator of a new scientific discipline within the Mechanics of continuum media, concerning power transmission through vibrations, sonicity. One of his remarkable inventions is the Mechanical Couple Converser, based on which the power of an engine or other power generator can be automatically transferred to a secondary shaft, which can be used in machine-tools, locomotives, automobiles, etc. The couple converser also secures a permanent and automatic adjustment of the car running to the difference in resistance to advance. Aurel Persu - has the merit to be among the first experts who have studied the use of aerodynamic shape of bodies in move to automobiles, issue that concerned him since 1920. The conclusion reached by the young diplomat from Tehnische Hoch Schule in Berlin-Charlottenburg (after studies and research), recommended a shaping of the car coachwork aiming at the profile of half of a falling water drop, with wheels inside the coachwork (at the time when his invention was patented, all cars had the wheels outside the coachwork, and strongly set off wings). Aurel Persu makes in 1923 the first automobile with a proper aerodynamic shape for which he received on September 19, 1924 in Germany the inventor patent No.402683. Justin Capra - built a lot of unique cars and patented the flying bag(jet pack) before the Americans, he also built lots of mini motorcycles, and minicars. Some of them having a very low fuel consumption. He even made a anti-gravity machine which reduced the weight with 30%! Everybody in Bucharest knows his famous minicar, the Soleta, which he drove from Bucharest to Iasi, a distance of 409km, using just 3 litres of fuel.
Transportation	No steam vehicles were used in Romania for passengers transport. Since the beginning, omnibuses equipped with gasoline engines were used. They appeared for the first time in the summer of 1911, when private investors staged passenger transports with Fiat inter-city buses, between Bucharest-Predeal and Bucharest - Calimanesti. Public transportation with buses was not known in Bucharest before WW I, as the horse and electrical driven streetcars were fulfilling the people needs. *In 1936, the Bucharest Transport Company purchased 100 Renault chassis, 100 Chevrolet chassis, and 20 Henschel chassis coachworked at Leonida & Co. workshops. The busses were running on the routes where were no tramways. *The first Romanian bus was made in 1965, at the Central ITB Workshops. The bus had a 70 passengers capacity, and was coachworked on the chassis of SR-101 truck. Afterwards, busses TV-2, and trolley busses TV-20 E were produced at Tudor Vladimirescu plant. In the same plant, light-trucks TV-41 (vans, isotherms, ambulances, tanks, minibuses) were also produced. Subsequently, the endowment with domestic(Roman and DAC) and socialist (Ikarus, Skoda) made buses begun. *The first cabs, Popeda, imported from the USSR, begun to run in September 6, 1954, and had three parking stations: University Square, North Railway station, and Romanian Athenaeum. The structure of the cabs park diversified starting from 1960, when Volga, Moskvich and Warszawa cars were introduced into traffic. Eventually, only Dacia type cars continued to be used. *The number of lorries was 8,050 in 1939. The main trade-marks were: Bussing-Nag, Mercedes, Ford, MAN, Citroen, Morris Comercial, Krupp, Magirus, Henschel. The first Romanian lorry was SR-101, built on the basis of the Soviet documentation at Red Flag plant in Brasov (former Astra enterprises). The lorry had a 6 cylinders engine, on gasoline, 5.55 liters, and its characteristics were at the level of the years 1935-1938, with a maximum speed of 65 km/h, and a maximum load of 4 tons. Then, new types SR-131 Carpati, SR-113 Bucegi, DAC and Roman (in cooperation with MAN company) were built in different versions: pick-up, long vehicle, van, etc.
Tramways in Bucharest	1871 - This is the year when the Romanian Society for Tramways was founded and, soon after that, trams - driven by horses - could be seen on the streets of Bucharest. 1884 - The first line of electrically driven trams is put into operation, on the route Obor - Cotroceni. 1909 - The law that enforces the foundation of the Communal Society for Building and Implementing Tramways in Bucharest (S.T.B.) is adopted. 1921 - Was the beginning of a developing period for S.T.B., which became the most important public transport society over the country. 1923 - Was buying "THOMPSON - HOUSTON" tramcars and 2 converters of 1000kW/unit from "SIEMENS - SCHUCKERT". 1924 - Was founded the first romanian experimental psychology laboratory. 1929 - Starting from this year, the trams driven by horses are given up for good. 1936 - The society acquires the exclusiveness in public transport performed by trams and buses, both in Bucharest and in the suburbs. 1937 - Was founded the S.T.B. Polyclinic 1948 - The Communal Society for Tramways becomes the Bucharest Transport Company - I.T.B. At that time there were 27 tram routes and 24 bus routes. 1949 - The first line for troleybuses buses is inaugurated. The route: Piata Victoriei - Hipodromul Baneasa. 1951 - The large capacity tramcar, on 4 axles - manufactured in the workshops of I.T.B. - is brought into use. 1963 - The Central Dispatching Office for the public transport vehicles is founded. 1965 - The energetical system I.T.B. is developed and the first stations provided with a rectifier with silicon are set up. 1971 - The double jointed tramcars V3A, manufactured in the I.T.B. workshops are brought into operation. 1974 - The Data Processing Office is founded. 1977 - A new type of ways on which trams were to roll is accomplished: the concrete plates (floors) with buried rails. 1983 - The first tram line on Grant Bridge that crosses over the railway network is inaugurated. On this line, the tramcar provided with two driving desks and with doors on both sides is introduced in traffic. 1984 - A line for 30 buses is put into operation, this line being the first one that benefited from a computerised system of controlling the traffic. 1985 - The I.T.B. starts manufacturing tramcars for other cities than Bucharest. The first batch of tramcars was for Constanta. 1990 - I.T.B. becomes the Bucharest Autonomous Transport Authority - R.A.T.B. , according to the Decision of the Municipality of Bucharest. 1991 - The Romanian Public Transport Association is created and R.A.T.B is one of the most important founding members of this organisation. - 150 new buses, decorated with "CAMEL" advertisement, point out the transit advertising in Romania. 1992 - R.A.T.B. benefits by technical assistance through a PHARE Program. 1993 - World Bank auction regarding the management of the. As a result, TRANSURB Co. from Brussels elaborated a study concerning the Bucharest public transport reorganizing. 1994 - First lot of DAF buses purchased by RATB 1996 - General Manager position contest, first management contract signed. - RATB became is involved in the CAPTURE Project, financed by the European Commission , a research project concerning the impact of a set of physical measures designed to promote the public transport. RATB is starting to run the ticketing electronic system, using magnetic cards. Starting the building of the new headquarters 1997 - January - the beginning of the partnership at DANTE Project, financed by the European Commission. The project objective is to study strategies of reducing the need of travel.
First motorcars	The French branch of Westinghouse company, in Le Havre, offered to build a plant in Arad, in 1908. Thus, Marta (Magyar Automobil Reszveny Tarsasag Arad) company was born. It produced engines for railway means, busses, lorries. Starting from 1910, motor cars Marta with different coachworks were made: double-phaeton, Landolet, taxi and trucks. The engines supplied some 30 HP. Until its bankruptcy, the company had built some 150 Marta motor cars. After its bankruptcy, the company was overtaken by Austro-Daimler, which re-organized the production and introduced new types, under Austro-Daimler license. The basic engine had a 4 x 2,5 l cylinders engine which supplied 18-22 HP. That was used especially as cab in Central European countries. *After WW II, no motor cars were produced until Dacia cars made their appearance. However, some prototypes, and even small serial production existed. Thus, in 1945, engineer Radu Manicatide completed, at the IAR plant, a miniautomobile named M.R.. type 1945. Equipped with a modified two-cylinders motor cycle engine, it supplied 11.5 HP at 4,000 rpm. The construction type was all in the back. It had an aerodynamic coachwork. Its maximum speed was 100 km/h, and gasoline consumption 4.5 l. *In 1946, a group of engineers and technicians from A.S.A.M. and Malaxa of Bucharest, and IAR of Brasov, led by Eng. Petre Carp, built the prototype of a popular car named Malaxa. The car was equipped with a star three-cylinder, forced air-cooled 30 HP engine, and was based on the formula "all in the back". Between the ceiling and the roof, a space was left for the sewerage of the air needed to cool the engine. The car had 6 places, and reached a speed of 120 km/h, at an gasoline consumption of 10 l/100 km. *In 1965, people owned some 9,216 motor cars, all imported: Moskwich 408, Volga, Skoda 1000MB and 110L, Warszawa, Wartburg, Trabant, Fiat 1300 and 124, Renault 16 and Dauphine. The lack of currency needed for parts import brought about an orientation towards manufacturing a Romanian motor car. Thus, on August 20, 1968, the Colibasi Plant was inaugurated and the serial production of the first Dacia 1100 cars begun.