Oldsmobile Curved Dash

Oldsmobile Runabout

1904 Oldsmobile Curved Dash runabout
Manufacturer	Oldsmobile
Production	1901-1907 about 19000 built
Class	Entry-level car
Body style(s)	runabout
Engine(s)	horizontal one-cylinder
Transmission(s)	planetary

In My Merry Oldsmobile songbook featuring an Oldsmobile Curved Dash automobile

The Curved Dash Oldsmobile is credited as the first high-volume mass-produced gasoline automobile. It was introduced by the Oldsmobile company in 1901 and produced through 1907. 425^{[citation needed]} examples were produced the first year, 2500 in 1902, with over 19000 built in all.^[1]

It was a runabout model, could seat two passengers, and sold for US $650 ($16,000 in 2007). While competitive, due to high volume, and below the Ford US $850 ($20,100 in 2007) "Doctor's Car",^[2] Western in 1905 produced the Gale Model A, an open roadster, for sale at US $500 ($12,300 in 2007), the Black went as low as $375 ($9,230 in 2007),^[3] and the Success hit the amazingly low US $250 ($6,150 in 2007).^[4]

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.

The car’s success was accidental. A fire destroyed a number of other models before they were approved for production, leaving the Curved Dash the only one intact.^[5]

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oldsmobile Curved Dash

Oldsmobile Model R Curved Dash Runabout 1903	Oldsmobile Model R Curved Dash Runabout 1903	Oldsmobile Model 6C Curved Dash Runabout 1904	Oldsmobile Model 6C Curved Dash Runabout 1904
Oldsmobile Model 6C Curved Dash Runabout 1904	Oldsmobile Model B Curved Dash Runabout 1905

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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Oldsmobile Curved Dash

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

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