What were cars made of back in the 1800s?

Automobile weren't a modern convenience until Henry Ford created the assembly line in the early 1900's and incorporated the internal combustion engine that ran on gasoline. Earlier manufacturers built "cars" from steel and wood and they ran on steam like a locomotive would.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile for more info.

Henry Ford improved on the assembly line but he didn't create the assembly line. Ransom E. Olds mass produced his Curved Dash Olds on an assembly line from 1901 to 1907 building over 19000 vehicles. Average price, $650. This was done before Henry's Model "T" came to be.