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 In England, the "Red Flag Act" was repealed.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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