June 1, 1997
The History of the Automobile
No one with any assurance can pinpoint with accuracy who really built the first car in the U.S. Long before the first true car in America, that is, a privately owned passenger-carrying vehicle, was built, several people had built self-propelled vehicles run by steam. It was around 1859 that Sylvester Hayward Roper of Roxbury, Massachusetts built a spindly, steam powered buggy. Roper�s car weighed 650 pounds and went 25 miles an hour. There were at least a dozen others at that time working toward the same end. In 1877 Nicholas Otto, working at Deutz in Germany, patented the first Otto-cycle (four-stroke) engine in general use today. In 1879, George Selden, a patent attorney in Rochester, New York, who knew a good thing, applied for a patent on the automobile. It took until 1895 for the patent to be granted, and even though Selden never built an automobile, it had a profound effect on the future. In 1893, the Duryea brothers first drove their motor buggy. In 1894, Henry Ford finished his first (very) crude car.
In 1896 the Duryea brothers built 13 identical cars for customers (The first "production run"). Also in 1896, Ransom Eli Olds drove his first car onto the streets of Flint, Michigan. Five years later, he would give the world what came to be known as the Curved Dash Oldsmobile, the first truly successful car to be built in America.
Henry Ford, the most well know automobile engineer failed in two automotive companies before Ford Motor Company made him a billionaire. His early cars were undistinguished. But his Model T would change the world. It was Ford who broke the earlier mentioned Selden patent. In 1906, Ford challenged the patent that was now owned by a group of bankers and Wall Street investors who formed The Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM). ALAM collected royalties from everyone building cars powered by internal-combustion engines. In 1909, the courts decided against Ford, but he persevered and in 1911 won an appeal, ending Selden/ALAM forever.
Ford�s glory was the Rouge plant where raw iron ore was shoveled in one end and cars came out the other. When the Model T was introduced in 1908, it was the largest produced. Although the Model T was not the least expensive or most durable car, the mass production of the vehicle made it the most popular.
In 1902, Henry Leland had the idea to do something with the modified 10-horsepower engine he had built for Olds. Thus the company Cadillac was founded. The Model M Cadillac was a simple car, extremely well built and reliable. In 1908, Cadillac was awarded the Dewar Trophy, the highest award for automotive achievement. Cadillac had become the Standard of the World.
Next month: Henry�s revolution
|
Classic Car Source
Your best finds online! Hundreds of car links including: vendors of parts, suppliers, services, trade organizations, clubs, hobbyists, museums, technical infor, automobilia, motorcycle sites & vehicle publications.
Auto Site
Auto Site provides timely facts, interactive tools and expert resources you need to make informed automotive decisions.
Auto Town
Fun Car Place! Search for used cars in the Cinema - get a free auto quote on the car of your dreams. Visit your favorite automotive magazine site. Order car parts and much more!
Harris Semiconductor
Great links to individual car pages, automobile photos, automotive news, reviews & guides and a long list of miscellaneous links.
The Car.net
Everything you need to know about new and used cars.
|
Cars
