Why is a car made out of steel?

Answer 1

Strong, cheap and abundant. Steel is the most plentiful and least expensive metal available to us. Besides cost, it is also near the very top of all metals in the strength category. The one major downside to steel is corrosion, especially noticeable in thin sheet metal body panels. This is very much less a factor when steel is used in major structural ways such as frame rails and crossmembers. These components are made of very thick steel and generally don't show the ravages of corrosion until many years down the road. One exception, stainless steel, is very corrosion resistant but is extremely expensive in comparison. Due to safety concerns however, some of us have spent years pushing for legislation suggesting that all automotive steel brake lines be made of stainless steel. Countless tragic car crashes have occured since the invention of the hydraulic brake due to the rapid rusting out of standard steel brake lines. You may notice the multitude of early collector Corvettes around the country and the comparitively low number of early Thunderbirds that survived. The Corvette with it's strong steel frame and full fiberglass body proved to be a great combination for long life and corrosion resistance. The T-bird was steel from one end to the other. The bulk of them [especially in the northern "road salt" states] simply rotted away the body panels. You will notice that anyone who owns an original, pristine, early, two-seater T-bird today has indeed a VERY valuable possesion. Over the last one to two decades many auto makers have introduced plastic and fiberglass body panels and components as well as some very advanced methods of anti-corrosion coatings to steel sheet metal panels. This has increased the life of these vehicles tremendously. Now if we could just get this stainless steel brake line thing to happen!! bestalucktoyou Mike