Oldsmobile Curved Dash

The Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited as the first high-volume mass-produced automobile. It was introduced by the Oldsmobile company in 1901 and produced through 1907. 425 examples were produced the first year, 2500 in 1902, with over 19000 built in all.

It was a runabout 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", Western in 1905 produced the Gale Model A, an open roadster, for sale at US$500, the Black went as low as $375, and the Success hit the amazingly low US$250.

The 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.

Gallery

Notes

Sources

• Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950).
• Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly (January, 1904)

External links

• Oldsmobile Club of America
• 1905 Oldsmobile Image (Suffolk County(NY) Historical Society Museum)