The Duryea Motor Wagon was among the first standardized automobiles and among the first powered by gasoline. Fifteen Motor Wagons were built by the Duryea Motor Wagon Company company of Chicopee, Massachusetts, between 1893 and 1896.
Before this time, all automobiles were one-off individual models, The first commercially available automobile was patented by Karl Benz on January 29, 1886 and put into production in 1888.
It is not clear whether the Benz Velo or this vehicle was standardized first. The Duryea Motor Wagon remained in production until 1917.
The Duryea brothers entered their horseless carriage in many shows and races. The Duryea Motor Wagon carriage won the first prize in the first ever American automobile race Times-Herald race, a 54-mile course, in 1896. Duryeas also won first and second place in the Cosmopolitan Race on Decoration Day, 1896 in New York City. On November 14, 1896 they joined the Procession/Race from London to Brighton England.
The First Duryea
| Year | Engine | HP | Wheel size |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1893 | 1-cylinder | 4 | 54 |
Famous quotes containing the words motor and/or wagon:
“What shall we do with country quiet now?
A motor drones insanely in the blue
Like a bad bird in a dream.”
—Babette Deutsch (1895–1982)
“The man who is rich in fancy thinks that his wagon is already built; poor fool, he does not know that there are a hundred timbers to a wagon.”
—Hesiod (c. 8th century B.C.)