1903 Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout
2018.0008.0001, Savoy Collection
Engine: 95 cu. in. (1.6L) Cast-iron block
Cylinders: Horizontal-single
Output: 5 HP @ 600 RPM
Wheelbase: 66 in.
Top Speed: 20 MPH
No. Produced: 3,924
Original Price: $650
Manufacturer: Olds Motor Works
In 1896, Ransom E. Olds produced his first gasoline-powered vehicle. In 1899, the struggling automaker received financing from lumber millionaire Samuel L. Smith, putting his Olds Motor Works on a solid financial footing. Output expanded to eleven different models (some electric), and then the unthinkable happened. A fire destroyed the plant, and the lone survivor was a gasoline-powered runabout, a curved dash Oldsmobile. Producing “one chug per telegraph pole,” the Curved Dash Runabout powered into the hearts of consumers.
The Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout was the first mass-produced automobile and America’s best-selling car from 1902 to 1905. Its success proved to other mechanically minded individuals that automobile manufacturing could be a profitable endeavor. In 1908, Olds Motor Works was sold to Billy Durant and became part of his General Motors company. In 1906, it was memorialized in a song by Billy Murray entitled “In My Merry Oldsmobile.”