In Lansing, Mich., in 1886, Ransom E. Olds had con- 

 structed a 3-wheeled, steam-propelled, passenger vehicle. 

 This was subsequently rebuilt into a 4-wheeled steamer, 

 and in 1893 it was shipped to a purchaser in Bombay, 

 India. Olds' first gasoline-engined automobile was not 

 built until late in 1895 or early in 1896, and unfortunately 

 was later destroyed by fire. In 1897 four similar gasoline 

 automobiles are said to have been built, one of which is 

 now in the National Museum collection (see p. 55). It is 

 the oldest Olds vehicle surviving. 



A few other makes and types of automobiles were also in 

 evidence in this country before the close of the century, 

 and untold numbers of experimental machines were built 

 by mechanically minded men in the next few years. 

 Many developed into successful enterprises, some doing 

 business even today. Not to be overlooked were the auto- 

 biles powered with steam engines and electric motors. 

 Each of these for a time appeared likely to become the 

 ultimate type of power plant for the passenger automobile, 

 but in the end gasoline won out. 



Figure 21. — Henry Ford's first automobile, his 2-cylinder machine of 1896, 

 now preserved in the Henry Ford Museum. 



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