FOREWORD 



At present a large number of collections of antique auto- 

 mobiles exist in the United States. Most are small, reflect- 

 ing the discoveries of private collectors; but more than a few 

 are large, representing considerable effort by either individ- 

 uals or organizations. None contains so many actual 

 automotive milestones, however, as that housed in the U. S. 

 National Museum, at the Smithsonian Institution in 

 Washington, D. C. 



This collection includes, for example, the Duryea car, 

 built in Springfield, Massachusetts, which is universally 

 considered to be the first American automobile driven by 

 an internal-combustion engine. For those who endorse the 

 claim of Elwood Haynes and the Apperson brothers, it also 

 includes the first vehicle produced as a result of their genius. 

 Neither of these cars would be of much use to the collector 

 who might wish to operate them, but they are the two most 

 important very early gasoline vehicles built in this country. 



As most of us know, the internal-combustion-engined 

 vehicle was not the first self-propelled vehicle to travel the 

 public road. Long before the appearance of the first 

 Daimler, Benz, or Duryea gasoline automobiles, steam 

 wagons of various forms were built. Recent acquisitions 

 of the Smithsonian's National Museum that come under 

 this heading are the Roper steam velocipede of the late 

 1860's and the Long steam tricycle of 1879-1881. While 

 much more recent than the Cugnot three-wheeled gun 

 tractor of 1770, still preserved in Paris, these are very early 

 as far as American development is concerned, and are of 

 unusual interest in themselves. 



Probably the most elusive of automotive treasures are the 

 early racing cars, which were always few in number. The 

 hazardous nature of their use saw to it that few remained 

 for many years. It is astounding, therefore, that the 

 Winton "Bullets" Nos. 1 and 2 both are to be found in the 

 Smithsonian collection. These machines share with Henry 



