The gasoline powered
Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited as being the first mass-produced
automobileAn automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
, meaning that it was built on an
assembly lineAn assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods...
using
interchangeable partsInterchangeable parts are parts that are, for practical purposes, identical. They are made to specifications that ensure that they are so nearly identical that they will fit into any device of the same type. One such part can freely replace another, without any custom fitting...
. It was introduced by the
OldsmobileOldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
company in 1901 and produced through 1907. 425 examples were produced the first year, 2,500 in 1902, with over 19,000 built in all.
It was a
runaboutRunabouts were a popular car body style at the beginning of the 20th Century. They were small, inexpensive, open cars. Most runabouts had just a single row of seats, providing seating for two passengers. Many also had a tonneau at the rear to provide optional seating for four or five...
model, could seat two passengers, and sold for US$650. While competitive, due to high volume, and below the Ford US$850 "Doctor's Car",
WesternWestern Tool Works was a pioneering brass era automobile manufacturer in Galesburg, Illinois.Western in 1905 produced the Gale Model A, an open roadster, for sale at US$500, which was less than high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout, at US$650, the Ford "Doctor's Car" at US$850, or the Holsman high...
in 1905 produced the Gale Model A roadster at US$500, the
BlackThe Black was a brass era United States automobile, built at 124 East Ohio Street, Chicago, Illinois, in 1906.It was a high wheeler buggy priced at a surprisingly low US$375-$450, when Gale's Model A was US$500, the high-volume Oldsmobile Runabout went for US$650, and the Ford "Doctor's Car" was...
went as low as $375, and the
SuccessSuccess was a brass era United States automobile, built at 532 De Ballviere Avenue, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1906.It was a high wheeler buggy priced at an exceedingly low US$250...
hit the amazingly low US$250.
The flat-mounted water-cooled single-cylinder engine, situated at the center of the car, produced 5 hp, relying on a brass
gravity feedGravity feed is the use of earth's gravity to move something from one place to another. It is a simple means of moving a liquid without the use of a pump. A common application is the supply of fuel to an internal combustion engine by placing the fuel tank above the engine, e.g. in motorcycles,...
carburetorA carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....
. The transmission was a semi-automatic design with two forward speeds and one reverse. The low-speed forward and reverse gear system are a planetary type (epicyclic). The car weighed 850 lb (385.6 kg) and used Concord springs. It had a top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h).
The car’s success was partially by accident - in 1901 a fire destroyed a number of other models before they were approved for production, leaving the Curved Dash the only one intact.
Sources
- Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925. New York: Bonanza Books, 1950.
- Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly (January, 1904)
- Georgano, G. N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930. London: Grange-Universal, 1985.
External links