1792 Ross Chariot - The Henry Ford Museum
In ancient times, the term "chariot" referred to two-wheel vehicles used for war, racing, and ceremony. After 1650, the name was applied to elegant half-coaches, cut in two just in front of the door, characterized by an elevated body and high wheels. Lighter and less expensive than full coaches, chariots were popular luxury vehicles in the 18th and 19th centuries. First found in America about 1700, the chariot was used only by persons of high rank or considerable wealth.
This chariot was constructed by William Ross, coachmaker of 208 Broadway in New York City. The carriage was built for Angelica Bratt Campbell who was the wife of Daniel Campbell, an Irish immigrant who made a vast fortune as a trader and merchant in America.
- Location: The Henry Ford Museum - Dearbord, MI
1900 Eckhart Carriage - Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum
1891 Abbot Downing Stagecoach - The Henry Ford Museum
Henry Nadig builds what he claims in the first horseless carriage in America.
Charles Lambert claims to have built the first internal-combustion engine powered car in America.
An improved Olds steamer earns a mention in Scientific American magazine.
Frenchmen Rene Panhard and Emile Levassor build a sliding-gear transmission; it foretells modern stick-shift gearboxes
1886 Benz Patent Motorwagon Replica
1879 Selden Motor Buggy - The Henry Ford Museum
1865 Roper Steam Carriage - The Henry Ford Museum
1870 Westinghouse Portable Combined Thresher-Separator
1872 Amoskeag Fire Engine
1875 Jones Streetcar - The Henry Ford Museum
1881 Westinghouse Steam Engine
1884 Edouard Delamare-Deboutteville
1887 Olds Steam Car Replica
1889 Daimler
1892 Philion Steam Carriage - National Automobile Museum
1892 Panhard et Levassor Voiturette - National Automobile Museum
1893 Automotive History
- Charles and Frank Duryea drove their motorized phaeton on September 21, 1893.
- Young Henry Ford began construction of his first automobile in a brick shed behind his home in Michigan.
- The U.S. Office of Road Inquiry is established in 1893, a result of the "good roads" movement initiated by cycling fans.
- The first brick-surfaced rural road in America is laid on Wooster Pike, Ohio in the Fall of 1893.
1894 Black - Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum
1894 Automotive History
- Elmer and Edgar Apperson and Jonathan Maxwell build a motorcar for Elwood P. Haynes in Kokomo, Indiana.
- Henry G. Morris and Pedro G. Salom apply for a patent on the Electrobat electric motorcar in early 1894.
- Early gearboxes are "progressive"; the driver must move a shifting lever forward at a time time to go between gears, not unlike a motorcycle transmission.
- Rather than adopt the noisy sliding-gear unit, some American manufacturers will turn to the planetary transmission with constant-mesh gears and clutches to change gears.
1894 Benz Velo
1895 Chicago Benton Harbor Motocycle
This car is a rare survivor from the pioneer period of American automobile development. It was designed and built to compete in the 1895 Chicago Times-Herald Race. With a top speed of 23 miles per hour, the Benton Harbor may have been a viable competitor but production delays kept it out of the race. This is one of the earliest vehicles in America built from scratch as an automobile as opposed to construction on a modified horse-drawn carriage.
1896 Henry Ford Quadricycle
1896 Automobile History
In March 1896, Charles King drove his car in Detroit, three months before Henry Ford drove his Quadricycle. Before the year was ended, Ransom Olds and Alexander Winton had cars ready for production. The auto industry was was in full bloom.
1896 Duryea Runabout - The Henry Ford Museum
- Maker: Duryea Motor Wagon Company, Springfield, Massachusetts
- Engine: Inline 2-Cylinder, F-Head Valves, 138 cid, 6 hp
- Transmission: 3-Speed Manual
- Weight: 700 Lbs
- Wheelbase: 60"
- Length: 94"
- Width: 56"
- Height: 59"
- Price: $1,500 (Estimate)
1896 Riker Electric - The Henry Ford Museum
The Riker two-passenger tricycle was built and used by Andrew L. Riker at Stamford, Connecticut, from 1896 to 1898. Its tubular steel frame, wire wheels, and pneumatic tires reflect the standard construction for bicycles of that period. It is powered by a series of lead-sulfuric acid batteries located under the seat and is driven by a Riker electric motor mounted at the rear. Drivetrain is by direct reduction gearing in an 8-to-1 ratio to the single rear wheel.
This is the first vehicle of its type to be manufactured in the United States at a time when electric, steam,and gasoline-powered automobiles were all in the experimental stage. Also credited to Mr. Riker in the same year, 1896, is an electric phaeton that became the first electric automobile ever to win a prize on a racetrack in the U.S. on September 22, 1896 at the Narragansett State Fairgrounds at Providence, Rhode Island.
- Range: 25 miles
- Motor: 3/4 kw, 40 volt
- Drive: Direct gearing
- Speeds: 3 forward, 2 reverse
- Wheelbase: 48 inches
1897 Anthony Electric Car - Petersen Automotive Museum
1897 Acme Stormer Bicycle
Manufacturer: Acme Manufacturing Company
Location: Reading, PA
1897 Leon Bollee - National Automobile Museum
1898 Winton Stanhope Phaeton - Crawford Auto Aviation Museum
1899 Winton Phaeton - Crawford Auto Aviation Museum
1899 Knox Porcupine Car - Tupelo Automobile Museum
1899 Locomobile Steam Runabout
Maker: Locomobile Company of America, Watertown, Massachusetts
Engine: 2-cylinder steam, double acting, 2.5" bore x 3.5" stroke, 4-horsepower @ 150 psi
Weight: 700 lbs
Wheelbase: 58"
Length: 114.5"
Width: 63"
Height: 72"
Price: $600
1900 Autocar Runabout
1900 Wood Electric Truck
Manufacturer: Frederick R. Wood & Son, New Yor, New York
Motor type: Two 2-hp DC
Batteries: Lead-acid, 44 cells
Horsepower: 4
Weight: 7500 lbs
Range: 20 to 30 miles
Top Speed: 10 mph
Wheelbase: 121"
Length: 171.5"
Width: 94"
Height: 119"
1901 Henry Ford Sweepstakes Race Car
1901 Breer Steam Automobile
Engine: 2-Cylinder Steam
- Horsepower: 5
Carl Breer made the steam engine and boiler, the crankshaft and
connecting rods, the levers and other controls, and the wooden body. He
bought the chassis and gauges and hired local carriage workers to paint
the car and upholster the seats. The 2-cylinder double-acting steam
engine generated about 5 horsepower. The car had two gears - forward and
reverse.
Breer restored the car in his later years when he
worked at Chrysler in Detroit. Louis Breer, Carl's father, moved from
his native Germany to the United States in 1854. He settled in Los
Angeles and set up a small blacksmith shop next door to the family's
home on what became San Pedro Street.
With the help of his sons
and hired hands, Breer repaired wagons and carriages, tools and
machinery, and horse-drawn street cars. Determined tinkerers, working in
small shops like Breer's, shaped the automobile in its early years.
Even after the industry outgrew its modest beginnings, the urge to
tinker continued to create new visions of the car.
Louis Breer's
son, Carl, learned to work metal and wood by helping his father.
Fascinated by the few cars he had seen, during the summer of 1900 the
17-year old Carl started to build one in the blacksmith shop. He powered
the car with a small steam engine and boiler based on designs in a
magazine.
The steam car, completed in 1901, convinced the faculty
of Throop Polytechnic Institute (later California Institute of
Technology) to waive the normal admission requirements for Breer. He
went on to study at Stanford before entering the auto industry as a
mechanical engineer.
Early car makers applied common tools and
processes, but the automobile demanded a wider range of skills than most
other jobs. To build his simple car, Carl Breer had to cast engine
parts from wooden patterns, machine the metal castings on a foot-powered
lathe, and forge the crankshaft at an anvil. Hand skills included
filing and finishing the metal parts and carving and cutting precise
shapes from wood.
1901 Columbia Victoria Electric
Manufacturer: Electric Vehicle Company, Hartford, Connecticut
Motor type: 80-volt DC
Batteries: Lead-acid, 44 cells
Horsepower: 6
Weight: 3250 lbs
Length: 133.5"
Width: 64.5"
Height: 84" Original price: $3,500
1901 Haynes-Apperson Model A Motor Carriage - Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum
1902 Flint Roadster
1902 Winton Race Car
1903 Ford Model A - Henry Ford Museum
Engine: 2-cylinder, opposed, cast-iron block, 100.4 cid, 8 hp, mechanical valve lifters
Technical: Planetary transmission, 2 forward, 1 reverse, floor controls, chain drive, differential, band brakes, wooden spoke wheels
Wheelbase: 72"
Top Speed: 30 mph
Weight: 1250 lbs
Total Built: 670
The 1903 Ford Model A, also known as the "Fordmobile", was the first production automobile of the Ford Motor Company, which was incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company was nearly broke, having only $223.65 left of the $28,000 invested, when the first Model A was sold. The Model A was a two-seater runabout with an available detachable tonneau to provide seating for two additional passengers. The two-cylinder motor was located under the seat and had chain drive to the rear wheels.
Price/Value
2011: $47,0001903: $850 - tonneau $100 extra
1903 Searchmont Touring Type VII - Forney Museum of Transportation
1903 Cameron Runabout
1904 Ford Model A
Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MichiganEngine: 2-cylinder, opposed, cast-iron block, 100.4 cid, 8 hp, mechanical valve lifters
Technical: Planetary transmission, 2 forward, 1 reverse, floor controls, chain drive, differential band brakes, wooden spoke wheels
Wheelbase: 72"
Top Speed: 30 mph
Weight: 1250 lbs
The Model A was continued, unchanged, from 1903 and was a two-seater runabout with an available detachable tonneau to provide seating for two additional passengers. The two-cylinder motor was located under the seat and had chain drive to the rear wheels.
Price/Value
2011: $1,800 (parts car) $47,000 (excellent condition)
1903: $850 - tonneau $100 extra
1904 Ford Model AC
Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MichiganEngine: 2-cylinder, opposed, cast-iron block, 120.5 cid, 10 hp, mechanical valve lifters
Technical: Planetary transmission, 2 forward, 1 reverse, floor controls, chain drive, differential, band brakes, wooden spoke wheels
Wheelbase: 78"
Top Speed: 38 mph
Weight: 1250 lbs
The Model AC was basically the Model A with a longer wheelbase and larger engine and replaced the Model A in late 1904.
Price/Value
2011: $1,800 (parts car) $47,000 (excellent condition)
1904: $850 - tonneau $100 extra
1904 Ford Model B
Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MichiganEngine: 4-cylinder, 318 cid, 24 hp
Wheelbase: 92"
Top Speed: 40 mph
Weight: 1700 lbs
The historical Model B was a 4-passenger touring car designed for the high-end market. With its 24 horsepower, 4-cylinder engine, the Model B could reach a speed of 40 miles per hour. It features included storage batteries instead of dry-cells, had a 15 gallon fuel tank, rear drum brakes, drive shaft, water pump cooling system and right-hand drive. With its $2,000 price tag, not many were ordered and production of the Ford Model B ended in 1905 after only 750 cars had been manufactured. Today, there are only 5 known existing Model B cars.
Price/Value
1904: $2,000
1904 Ford Model C
Manufacturer: Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MichiganEngine: 2-cylinder, opposed, cast-iron block, 120.5 cid, 10 hp, mechanical valve lifters
Technical: Planetary transmission, 2 forward, 1 reverse, floor controls, chain drive, differential band brakes, wooden spoke wheels
Wheelbase: 78"
Top Speed: 38 mph
Weight: 1250 lbs
The Model C was similar to the Model AC but had its gas tank under the hood instead of the seat.
Price/Value
2011: $1,800 (parts car) $48,000 (excellent condition)
1904: $850 - tonneau $100 extra
Production Numbers
Total for all models: 1695 (Calendar Year)
1904 White Model D Touring - Tupelo Automobile Museum
1905 Ford Model B - Henry Ford Museum
1906 Ford Model N - Henry Ford Museum
1906 Adams-Farwell Runabout - National Automobile Museum
- Model: 1906 Adams-Farwell Runabout
- Manufacturer: Adams Company
- Location: National Automobile Museum - Reno, NV
- Photo By: Douglas Wilkinson
After 1908 the company introduced no new models and went out of business in 1913.
Approximately 52 Adams-Farwell cars were made and this 1906 model is the only one known to exist today.
The 1906 Adams-Farwell pictured featured:
Engine: Air-Cooled Rotary 5-Cylinder
Bore: 5"
Stroke: 5"
Displacement: 490.9 cubic-inches
Horsepower: 40-45
Body By: Connolly Carriage and Buggy Company
Price: $2,500
This car featured a unique steering system that could be installed at either the rear or front seat. Installed in the front allowed for more passengers; installed in the rear offered better weather protection for the driver.
1907 Ford Model R - AACA Museum
1907 Westinghouse 40/Demi-Limousine - Nethercutt Collection
- Manufacturer: Ste. des Automobiles Westinghouse, Le Havre, France
- Coachwork: A.T.Demarest & Company, New York, NY
- Engine: 4-cylinder, 381.6-cid, 40-hp
- Cost New: $7,500
- Location: Nethercutt Collection - Sylmar, CA
1907 Baker Electric Roadster
- 1908 ABC Runabout
- 1908 American Underslung
- 1908 Auburn Model G Touring
- 1908 Elmore
- 1908 Firestone Columbus Runabout
- 1908 Ford
- 1908 Frayer-Miller
- 1908 Glide Touring Car
- 1908 Zimmerman Runabout
1908 Ford Model K Roadster - AACA Museum
1909 Ford Model T Touring - AACA Museum
- 1909 Acme
- 1909 Auburn Model G Touring
- 1909 Babcock Electric Car
- 1909 Bailey Electric Phaeton
- 1909 Black Motor Buggy
- 1909 Dewitt
- 1909 Ford
- 1909 Gobron-Brillie
- 1909 McIntyre Autobuggy
- 1909 McIntyre 4-Cylinder Touring Car
- 1909 Packard
- 1909 Unic Taxicab
- 1909 Winton
- 1909 Wolfe Model D Touring
- 1909 Zimmerman Runabout
1917 Ford Model T Touring
1917 Ford with Sears Body
Sears & Roebuck offered a wooden replacement body for your Ford Model T chassis. These bodies were quite attractive and turned your old Ford into a very sporty Speedster.
1917 Ford Model T Depot Hack
1917 Ford Model T Speedster
1917 Ford Model T Peddler's Truck
1917 Ford Model T Tanker Truck
1917 Detroiter 5-Passenger Touring
1919 Auburn Beauty-SIX Roadster - Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum
1919 Ford Model T Touring Car
In 1919, when nearly half of the automobiles built in America were Model T Fords, Henry Ford fitted all his cars, for the first time, with electric starters and demountable rims. Thereafter, women could drive the Model T without hand-cranking the engine, and flat tires could be changed more easily.
For 1919 Ford offered four body styles - runabout, touring, coupe, and sedan. The company also built a 1-ton truck.
In attempting to explain the broad acceptance of the "Universal Car" as the Model T was called, the 1919 sales catalog identified one of Henry Ford's fundamentals in designing a car: "There must be no mysteries in its mechanism calling for interpretation, or the ability of a skilled mechanic."
1919 Ford Depot Hack
1919 Ford Model T Coupe
1919 Ford Model T Middle Door Sedan
1919 Ford Model T Delivery Truck
1919 Locomobile Model 48 Limousine - Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum
1920 Velie Touring Car - Central Texas Museum of Automotive History
1920 Ford Model T Runabout
