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E. R. Thomas Motor Company was a manufacturer of automobile
Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
s in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York

Buffalo , is the second largest city in the state of New York. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the county seat of Erie County, New York....
 between 1902 and 1919.

Road Cars
The 1904 Thomas was a touring car
Touring car

A touring car was a popular car body style in the early 20th century, being a larger alternative to the runabout and the roadster. They were open cars, often fitted with convertible tops....
 model. Equipped with a tonneau
Tonneau

Tonneau in modern use describes a bed cover for a pickup truck. It can be hard or soft. Hard covers optionally hinge or fold.Its original use was for an open rear passenger compartment on an automobile and, by extension, a car body style incorporating such a compartment....
, it could seat 5 passengers and sold for US$2500. The vertically-mounted water-cooled straight-3
Straight-3

A straight-3 or inline-3 is an internal combustion engine with three cylinder s arranged in a straight line side by side.Most straight-3 engines employ a crank angle of 120? and are thus rotationally balanced; however, since the three cylinders are offset from each other, the firing of the end cylinders induces a rocking motion from e...
, situated at the front of the car, produced 24 hp (17.9 kW). A 2-speed planetary transmission was fitted. The steel-framed car weighed 1900 lb (862 kg).






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Encyclopedia


E. R. Thomas Motor Company was a manufacturer of automobile
Automobile

An automobile or motor car is a wheeled motor vehicle for transportation passengers, which also carries its own car engine or motor. Most definitions of the term specify that automobiles are designed to run primarily on roads, to have seating for one to eight people, to typically have four wheels, and to be constructed principally f...
s in Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York

Buffalo , is the second largest city in the state of New York. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River, Buffalo is the principal city of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the county seat of Erie County, New York....
 between 1902 and 1919.

Road Cars


The 1904 Thomas was a touring car
Touring car

A touring car was a popular car body style in the early 20th century, being a larger alternative to the runabout and the roadster. They were open cars, often fitted with convertible tops....
 model. Equipped with a tonneau
Tonneau

Tonneau in modern use describes a bed cover for a pickup truck. It can be hard or soft. Hard covers optionally hinge or fold.Its original use was for an open rear passenger compartment on an automobile and, by extension, a car body style incorporating such a compartment....
, it could seat 5 passengers and sold for US$2500. The vertically-mounted water-cooled straight-3
Straight-3

A straight-3 or inline-3 is an internal combustion engine with three cylinder s arranged in a straight line side by side.Most straight-3 engines employ a crank angle of 120? and are thus rotationally balanced; however, since the three cylinders are offset from each other, the firing of the end cylinders induces a rocking motion from e...
, situated at the front of the car, produced 24 hp (17.9 kW). A 2-speed planetary transmission was fitted. The steel-framed car weighed 1900 lb (862 kg). A modern cellular radiator was used for cooling. An 8 hp (6 kW) tonneau
Tonneau

Tonneau in modern use describes a bed cover for a pickup truck. It can be hard or soft. Hard covers optionally hinge or fold.Its original use was for an open rear passenger compartment on an automobile and, by extension, a car body style incorporating such a compartment....
 model sold for US$1250.

New York to Paris Race


A 1907 Model 35 with 4 cylinders and 60 horsepower, dubbed Thomas Flyer, won the 1908 New York to Paris Race
1908 New York to Paris Race

The 1908 New York to Paris Race was an automobile competition consisting of drivers attempting to travel from New York City to Paris. This was a notable challenge given the state of automobile technology and road infrastructure at the time....
, the first and only around-the-world automobile race ever held. The race began in Times Square, New York, on February 12 and covered some , finishing in Paris on July 30, 1908. Six teams started the race (one Italian, one German, three French, and the Flyer). Only three of the cars finished, the Thomas Flyer which won, the German Protos
Protos

Protos may refer to:* Protos , a monastic office at the eastern orthodox monastic state of Mount Athos* Protos , a former racing car constructor...
, and the Italian Züst. The original intent was to drive the full distance. In the course of the race, the Flyer was the first car to cross the United States, and the first to do so in the winter, with George Schuster
George Schuster

George N. Schuster was the driver of the American built Thomas Flyer and winner of the 1908 New York to Paris Race The ?Great Auto Race? was an International competition comprised of teams representing Germany , Italy , France and the United States ....
 the first driver to ever make the transcontinental winter crossing of the US. Finishing in 169 days was a remarkable feat, considering the lack of roads and services in 1908. Schuster, the driver, was the only member of the Thomas crew to go the full distance.

The Flyer survived and was restored to the exact condition it entered Paris on that day by William F. Harrah
William F. Harrah

William Fisk Harrah was an United States businessman and the founder of Harrah's Hotel and Casinos....
. It is now on exhibit at the in Reno
Reno, Nevada

Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, Nevada, United States. A 2006 estimate indicated that the city's population had increased to 214,853, but ranked Reno as the third largest city in the state following Las Vegas, Nevada, and Henderson, Nevada....
, Nevada
Nevada

Nevada is a U.S. state located in the Western United States of the United States of America. The capital is Carson City and the largest city is Las Vegas, Nevada....
. Additional details with numerous photos and videos on the 1908 New York to Paris Race are available at

See also


  • Brass Era car
    Brass Era car

    The automotive Brass Era is the first period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiator s....
  • List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers