Bicycle makers Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea of Springfield, Massachusetts became interested in gas engines and motor cars, leading the brothers to produce the first American car, powered by a 4-horsepower single-cylinder engine.
1893 Duryea Motor Carriage
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After a fire decimates his factory and everything in it, with the exception of this car, Ransom E. Olds puts the Curved Dash Olds into production, whereupon it becomes the bestselling car in America from 1902 through 1905. America’s first mass-produced car, it’s built with interchangeable parts, which is novel for the time.
Curved Dash Oldsmobile
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Ford has a 50% market share selling a single model. Ford produces 15 million Model Ts by the time production ends in 1927, having put the world on wheels.
The 1912 Cadillac debuted with the first electric starter in the industry, and sales of electric cars fell.
1912 Cadillac
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While its 35-hp 4-cylinder engine provided good performance for the time, it was the car’s closed coachwork for an affordable $975 that changed the course of automotive engineering. The age of the enclosed car had arrived.
1922 Essex Coach
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In an effort to fill the price gap below Cadillac, Alfred Sloan Jr., president of General Motors, created a new brand, LaSalle, honoring a French explorer, much as Cadillac did.
1927 LaSalle
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The Cord L-29 was the first American car to be produced in considerable quantities with front-wheel drive, which is today the most common drivetrain in cars. The company used front-wheel drive because it lent the car a low, rakish appearance.
Cord L-29
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The 1932 Ford Model B is important due to its flathead V8, the first V-8 offered in an inexpensive, mainstream car.
Ford Model B
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In a market where most Americans drive SUVs, it’s important to remember they didn’t exist until the arrival of the Jeep MA, produced for the U.S. Army in the wake of the outbreak of World War II.
Jeep CJ
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Now a four-seater, sales exploded, and the personal luxury car was born, a vehicle that would lead to the creation of the same idea but smaller: the 1964 Ford Mustang.