Automobile Club

automobile club, an organization of automobile owners. Begun as social clubs in which persons with an interest in motoring and motor racing could meet, such clubs later also developed into service organizations that provided members with emergency road service, assistance with planning trips and making reservations, auto insurance, and related services. Some clubs also continued to sponsor and organize motor sport competitions.

The first automobile club was the Automobile Club de France, formed in 1895 in Paris. Similar groups soon appeared in Great Britain and Belgium, and reciprocal arrangements between the French and British clubs were established by 1898. National clubs were formed in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland by 1900. The American Automobile Association (AAA) was established in 1902, consolidating nine earlier auto clubs. By the last quarter of the century there were more than 100 national auto clubs and associations affiliated throughout the world, linked by reciprocal agreements.

Many clubs have actively promoted highway construction and safety and lobbied for legislation and programs in the interests of motorists. The Automobile Club of Switzerland, for example, developed a form, the triptyque, that exempted motorists from paying customs duties on their autos when crossing national borders. Britain’s Royal Automobile Club (RAC) and Automobile Association (AA) pioneered nationwide patrols, first by bicycle and later on motorbikes. The first roadside telephone box for motorist assistance was installed by the RAC in 1919. After World War II, insurance companies, oil companies, and national retailers formed auto clubs. Clubs were also formed by owners of types of vehicles and models.