The United States’ economy had already gone through a few little hiccups in the decades following the nation’s founding, but the Panic of 1819 was the first broad-scale financial crisis Americans would weather. Given that the overall function of a car is so basic (it just needs to provide rotary motion to wheels), it seems a little strange that almost all cars have the same collection of complex devices crammed under the hood and the same general mass of mechanical and hydraulic linkages running throughout. Still, with worldwide support and cooperation, the goal to have a viable fuel cell-based energy system may be a reality in a couple of decades. The “Hy” in Hy-wire stands for hydrogen, the standard fuel for a fuel cell system. Instead of an engine, it has a fuel cell stack, which powers an electric motor connected to the wheels. Why do cars necessarily need a steering column, brake and acceleration pedals, a combustion engine, a catalytic convertor and the rest of it?

The steering system tilts the wheels side to side to turn the car, and brake and acceleration systems control the speed of the wheels. The basic idea of this system is that the driver maneuvers the various actuators in the car (the wheels, brakes, etc.) more or less directly, by manipulating driving controls connected to those actuators by shafts, gears and hydraulics. To give you an idea of just how many people that is, Idaho, the 39th most populous state, is home to 1.4 million people. The floor of the fiberglass-and-steel passenger compartment can be totally flat, and it’s easy to give every seat lots of leg room. Fuel cells give off no pollution, and in fact, produce pure water as a byproduct. In fact, uninvited guests have been showing up to ceremonies and receptions long before the flick ever hit the silver screen, and they’ll still be doing it after the movie has faded into a barely-remembered piece of Hollywood history. In fact, every piece of equipment that actually moves the car along the road is housed in an 11-inch-thick (28 cm) aluminum chassis — also known as the skateboard — at the base of the car.

Most of the complex stuff in a car is dedicated to turning wheels, which grip the road to pull the car body and passengers along. Instead, the Hy-wire has a huge front windshield, which gives everybody a clear view of the road. In a rack-and-pinion steering system, for example, turning the steering wheel rotates a shaft connected to a pinion gear, which moves a rack gear connected to the car’s front wheels. A spa, for example, could send daily e-mails to clients who have signed up for its loyalty program. No matter what else they do with a car, designers always have to make room for this equipment. If you want to switch from a van to a sports car, you don’t need an entirely new car; you just need a new body (which is a lot cheaper). This service allows those guests who nap later in the day and want a clean room before bed. If you’re someone who has at least a basic understanding of one or more computer languages and you always have the very latest in smartphone technology at your fingertips, a potentially lucrative degree in computer science might be just what you’re looking for.

The roughly 1 million Americans who in 2013 received letters from their private health insurance companies detailing the changes to or cancellation of their insurance policies, though, found out that the statement from the White House is not true. And truly fancy places will go all out with hot breakfast offerings and things like sausage, bacon and omelet bars. Up top were a pair of Turbo-Fire 327-cubic-inch V-8s that churned out 250 or 300 horses. It has top safety ratings across the board and is known for standing the test of time. Anyone can talk to their family or friends at any time and from anywhere in the world. When it came time to name the actual drivable version, the design team recruited a group of kids, ranging from six to 15 years old, to come up with interesting possibilities. But the coolest thing about this design is that it lets you remove the entire passenger compartment and replace it with a different one. Silverado shares a design with the GMC Sierra.