Curved Dash Oldsmobile

The Curved Dash Oldsmobile is flat-mounted water-cooled single-cylinder engine, situated at the center of the car, produced 4 hp (3 kW), relying on a brass gravity feed carburetor. 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 (386 kg) and used Concord springs.

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.[5]

Ransom Eli Olds created the Curved Dash Oldsmobile in 1901. It was the first mass produced automobile. In 1901 a total of 425 were produced. Production increased in 1902 and 2,500 were made. Once again production was increased and 4,000 were assembled in 1903. In 1904 Oldsmobile made 5,508 of them. The Curved Dash Olds was very dependable. To demonstrate this fact, in 1903, a curved dash Olds was driven from San Francisco to New York, Boston and Portland, Maine by Lester Whitman and Eugene Hammond. Traveling all the way across the United States of America was quite a feat in that day!