AHC: Automobiles remain a privilege of the wealthy into the 1900s

I believe that this will require a pre-1900 POD so that is why I am posting here.

Create a TL in which automobiles remain a commodity affordable only to the wealthy and/or the militaries of the world, and vehicles such as the Model-T, which made automoblies affordable to middle class individuals, are not able to come about until later into the 1900s.

The best way that I can imagine doing this IMHO is to not change the advances in steam or combustion engine technology but to have no Ransom Olds, Henry Ford, or figures akin to them to apply large scale production line techniques to the manufacturing of automobiles.
 

Old Airman

Banned
What you describe is a reality of the world outside of North America. Affordable cars became a reality everywhere in the world but in States (and, to a lesser extent, Canada) past-1940. And the reason for this is (relatively) high wages in the New World, caused by scarcity of labour. The easiest way to apply downward pressure on wages would be to create more immigration in early Steam age.
 
What you describe is a reality of the world outside of North America. Affordable cars became a reality everywhere in the world but in States (and, to a lesser extent, Canada) past-1940. And the reason for this is (relatively) high wages in the New World, caused by scarcity of labour. The easiest way to apply downward pressure on wages would be to create more immigration in early Steam age.

Iirc, Grandad got his first car and his first tractor after wwii.
 
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