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1895 - The Duryea brothers established the Duryea Motor Wagon Company
which was the first firm in America organized to make gas cars
commercially.
Charles R. Black had a Benz-type auto in Indianapolis and John
Lambert had operated a gas-mobile in Ohio. Ransom E. Olds had
also constructed a workable gas-burning automobile.
Lancaster introduced a propeller shaft transmission.
Mors and Daimler built a multi-cylinder (V4) engine (four in
line).
1896 - Henry J. Ford built an internal combustion engine from plans
he read in a magazine. He mounted it to a bicycle-wheeled,
tiller-steered two-seater, which had neither brakes nor reverse
gear and was so noisy it was condemned as a public nuisance.
Alexander Winton, a bicycle builder in Cleveland, Ohio, pro-
duced his first experimental car. Years later, he formed the
Winton Motor Carriage Company, and started to sell two-seaters
(one seat faced frontwards and the other faced the back).
In England, the "Red Flag Act" was repealed. This was cele-
brated by the first Emancipation Run from London to Brighton,
about 60 miles (96 km), which is still held annually as a
reliability trial for Veteran cars. (Veteran cars are those
built before 1918; "Vintage" cars were built between 1918 and
1930.)
1897 - Thomas B. Jeffery built his first experimental Rambler in a
machine shop of his Chicago bicycle factory.
1898 - Ford built a second motorcar which was a vast improvement over
his first. He persuaded a few people to back him in producing
it commercially, but the enterprise failed after only one
year.
Pioneer designers experimented with seating arrangements as
they did with all other details on the first cars. One of the
most impractical was a two-seater in which lady passengers sat
in the front seat to serve as windbreakers (and presumably
bugcatchers as well), while the gentlemen steered from the rear.
The ladies didn't help the driver's vision much either.
1899 - Camille Jenatzy, of France, drove a Jeantaud electric a record
of sixty miles an hour on April 29. The high speeds, however,
burned out both the specially fabricated batteries and French
interest in electric cars.
The Studebaker name had been applied to vehicles as early as
1852 when the products were wagons, buggies, and carriages. In
1899, the firm entered the auto industry as a body-maker. Three
years later, it produced its first car, an electric runabout.
The first Baker Electric was manufactured by the Baker Motor
Vehicle Company of Cleveland, Ohio.
The Akron Police Department acquired a brand-new motorized
wagon to speed up the business of hauling lawbreakers off to
jail.
B. F. Goodrich pioneered pneumatic tires for automobiles.
Freelan O. Stanley demonstrated the power of the Stanley Steamer
by driving one up Mr. Washington in New Hampshire. The following
year, John Brisben Walker drove another to the top of Pikes
Peak.
The U.S. Post Office Department bought its first motor vehicle
on an experimental basis. In Milwaukee, the Johnson Service
Company built 8 custom steamers to fulfill postal contracts
there.
Other innovations in 1899 were the honeycomb radiator, gate
gearchange, and floor-mounted accelerator (Daimler); and the
universal joint for shaft drive to sprung rear axles (Renault).
1901 - Ransom E. Olds became the first mass-producer of gasoline
automobiles with the completion of 425 curved-dash Oldsmobiles
in a single year. Olds instituted a system of contracting with
several machine shops to make required parts for him to his
design specifications - transmissions from one shop, steering
gear from another shop, carburetors from another, etc.
The first changes from tillers to steering wheels were made at
about the turn of the century.
By the early 1900s, induction coils were being used to produce
electrical discharges in low pressure gases, leading to the
discovery of x-rays and cathode rays.
1902 - The American Automobile Association was organized in Chicago
on March 4, symbolizing the broad interest in the new mode of
transportation.
The one-cylinder, 3-hp, tiller-steered model Olds with bicycle
type wheels and a curved dashboard sold 2,500 automobiles by
introducing quantity production to the industry.
Thomas B. Jeffery and his son, Charles T., began manufacturing
one-cylinder Ramblers for public sale in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The first horseless carriage in Minnesota was an electric six-
seater (three rows of seats) with high wheels and friction
brakes applied to the surface of the rear tires. It had an
unusual bare bulb headlight.
David Dunbar Buick, a successful manufacturer of enamel bath-
tubs and other plumbing fixtures, ventured into the automobile
business. He produced his first car with the help of Walter L.
Marr, but his company was not successful until William Durant
bought it and reorganized it.
The disc brake was invented by Frederick Lanchester.
1903 - The Ford Motor Company was established in Detroit with the
Model A, a small, light-weight, powered by a 2-cylinder, 8-hp
engine which sold for $850.
The invention of demountable rims helped the tire situation
somewhat. It was no longer necessary to change tires at the
scene of a flat tire; mounted spares made it possible to make a
reasonably fast switch-over, but road conditions made it common
practice for a driver to limp home on flats or a bare rim even
after using a couple of spare ties.
Two Frenchmen, Georges Bouton and Count Albert de Dion, led to
the development of lightweight, high speed engines. Their 1903
"Polulaire" produced 8 hp at 1500 rpm, with a cubic capacity of
846 cm3 (52 in3) and a weight of only 40 lb (18 kg). To handle
the requirements of this high speed air cooled engine, Bouton
designed an ignition system that bore many similarities to the
modern contact breaker ignition.
The Mercedes Company (formerly Daimler) made a braking system
with internally-expanding shoes inside a brake drum.
1904 - Ford added the Model B, a 4-cylinder, selling for $2,000.
Carl Graham Fisher and James A. Allison organized the Prest-O-
Lite Company and introduced a new system of acetylene gas
head-lights.
Automatic transmissions were also innovated.
1905 - Electric cars and trucks were efficient for in-city driving,
but drivers had to be alert to get back to garages before the
batteries ran down.
1906 - The Stanley Steamer, nicknamed the "Flying Teapot," clocked a
remarkable 127.6 miles per hour in Ormand Beach, Florida.
Ford added the Model K, which made that year and that car model
important milestones in automotive history. Ford's Model K had
a 40-horsepower engine and could push its 2,000-pound weight
up to 60 mph. It was a dismal failure to the company at $2,800
per car, but turned out to be the making of the Ford Company.
In this year, cars began to abandon their carriage look and to
assume a motor-age appearance.
The "Coyote," produced in California, introduced a power plant
very different from those of the past: a V-8 engine.
A very frail front bumper was the beginning of many important
safety devices.
The first driver's license was issued in Denver, Colorado, for
a cost of $1.00. Other cities required engineers' permits to
operate steamers which were classed as mobile boilers.
The Waltham (Mass.) Manufacturing Company introduced the Orient
buckboard for postal delivery. It had a mail case with pigeon-
hole compartments directly in front of the driver.
1907 - In Seattle, Washington, John McLean, a representative of the
Standard Oil Company of California, opened what is claimed to
be the first service station in America. It consisted of an
old hot-water tank and a hose under a rough wooden canopy. The
gas was delivered into the tank by gravity.
The Automobile Gasoline Company and the Oriental Oil Company
opened stations in St. Louis, Missouri, and Dallas, Texas. The
former is credited with the first chain of automobile service
stations.
Within five years, Memphis, Tennessee, could boast a thirteen-
pump outlet, complete with a ladies' restroom and a maid who
served ice water to the customers. The pumps, however, were in
the backyard, not on the street, and the super-service was
ahead of its time.
1908 - The Ford Model T was unveiled for the first time. It was
powered by a 4-cylinder, 20 hp engine, had two forward speeds
and a reverse controlled by pedals. It was also equipped with
a throttle mounted on the steering column, and got about thirty
miles to a gallon of gasoline. If the purchaser requested it,
he could have extra-cost options of headlights, speedometer,
and a spare tire. Buyers could choose their cars in red, green,
or baby blue. Later, it could be purchased in any color the
buyer desired, "as-long-as-it's-black."
The automobiles of this year had air-cooled motors, since
there were no water-filled radiators to freeze in the winter
time; the passengers were usually air-cooled as well because
there were usually no roofs over them.
C. Harold Wills developed the use of vanadium steel for Ford.
Charles Y. Knight was perfecting his sleeve-valve engine.
The Fisher brothers founded a company which gained rapid fame
as a producer of closed auto bodies. The Fisher Body Company
was established by brothers Fred and Charles (there were five
other brothers).
Charles Frank Kettering of the Dayton Engineering Laboratories
Company helped bring about innovations in the electric starter
and ethyl gasoline.
Harvey S. Firestone, B. F. Goodrich, Arthur W. Grant, and many
others struggled to overcome tire deficiencies.
The first brakes were based on those used on the horse-drawn
vehicles and on bicycles. A solid block of wood, leather or
metal was forced against the wheel rims by a hand-operated
lever, or a contracting band of friction material acted upon
the propeller shaft in conjunction with externally-contracting
brakes fitted to drums on the rear wheels. In 1908, Herbert
Frood patented the asbestos brake linings in England. These
were much more effective than the cotton based linings then in
use.
The coil and distributor ignition was introduced, comprised of
a battery, contact breaker, induction coil and spark plugs.
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