Ohio played a big role in the development of cars. Join Mary as she drives through the history of the automotive industry, starting with some of the first cars that were invented in Ohio. Buckle up, and enjoy the ride!
Class Discussion Questions:
1) How does Ohio's geography help the auto industry?
2) What features of early Ohio vehicles are still prominent today?
Read the Script:
[Mary] I bet you didn't know that Ohio played a big role in the development of cars, get ready to rev your engines 'cause I'm gonna race through Ohio's long car history.
While the car itself wasn't invented in Ohio, we certainly helped shape it into the vehicle we know today. This includes the invention of the first gas-powered American car. In 1891, John William Lambert of Ohio city built a vehicle in secret.
Decades before, his father had brought him to see a gas-powdered engine and that invention stuck in his mind. So when he heard about cars being built in Germany, he put the two together.
Here's his first car or horseless carriage as they were called at the time. You can see the gas engine beneath the seat. It might look pretty simple compared to what we have today but at the time, Lambert's invention was almost too modern. He wasn't even able to find any buyers for his car.
This first model had two forward speeds and no reverse. It could reach top speeds of up to a brisk five miles per hour. Okay, not so fast but still, the car had two big wheels in the back and one small one in the front. This wasn't the most stable design so his next model included two front tires.
Over the years, Lambert's invention developed more and more. Of course, with cars, come accidents and unfortunately, Lambert is also credited with the first automobile accident in America. In the same year that he invented his three-wheeled car, he crashed it.
While out in a drive with a friend, Lambert hit a tree root and his vehicle went out of control and it crashed into a hitching post. Luckily, there were no major injuries.
This leads us to our next Ohio involvement with the automobile, insurance. Another early car inventor, Gilbert Loomis, here's one of his vehicles, purchased the very first automobile insurance.
In 1897, he bought a $1,000 policy from Traveler's Insurance Company in Dayton. This would cover the cost of any damage caused by him getting in an accident. He was well ahead of his time because nowadays, auto insurance is required by law for every driver.
By the early 1900s, cars had caught on and that is much to the credit of Clevelander, Alexander Winton. Winton started a bicycle company in Cleveland in 1891. But by 1897, he had switched to motor carriages. His company was the first to sell vehicles to the public starting with the Winton Six. This vehicle was as advanced as they came and it was able to drive all the way across the country.
The more popular cars became the more competition there was among inventors and manufacturers. Other Ohio companies set out to best Winton. For example, the Packard Motor Car Company was founded in Warren, Ohio in 1899 by brothers James and William Packard.
Here's their very first car, the Model A. For a few years, they built their luxury cars right in their hometown before moving operations to Detroit. Packards were so swanky that they were owned by the rulers of several countries including Japan, Switzerland and China. Here is the Packard of His Highness, the Maharaja of Gwalior in India.
Other early car companies found great success at Ohio including the Peerless Motor Company, with their huge manufacturing plant in Cleveland. Like Packard, they too produced mainly high end vehicles.
Also in Ohio was the Baker Motor Vehicle Company, which sold Thomas Edison his first car. In the 1910s, they made a car that could reach speeds of 75 miles per hour and included the first seat belts.
While these companies are long gone, you can see that the futures they developed paved the way for the cars we have today. Oh and Ohio is still one of the top spots in the nation for automobile manufacturing and assembly. So yeah, Ohio is definitely car country.