The Black was an American

brass era The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such features as lights and radiator (engine cooling), radiators. It is generally considered to ...

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

, built at 124 East Ohio Street,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Illinois, in 1906. It was a

high wheeler A high wheeler is a car which uses large diameter wheels that are similar to those used by horse-drawn vehicles. These cars were produced until about 1915, predominantly in the United States. Design High wheelers were derived from horse-drawn ...

buggy priced at a US$375-$450, when

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

's Model A was $500, the high-volume

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile (formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors) was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produc ...

Runabout went for $650, and the

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

"Doctor's Car" was $850. The Black featured a 10 hp (7.5 kW) two-cylinder air-cooled

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

engine,

chain drive Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of machines besides vehicles. ...

, wheel steering and (unusual for the era) double brakes.Clymer, p.61. It bragged speeds of 2-25 mph (3.2–40 km/h) and mileage of 30mpg (12.75 L/100 km). Surreys and "top motor buggies" were also advertised.

Black Crow and Chicago Motor Buggy

From 1909 to 1911, Black sold a

rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...

Crow-Elkhart automobile as the " Black Crow". In addition to Black and Black Crow names, during 1908 and 1909,Kimes, Beverly. ''Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942'' (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1996), p.303, calls them the Black Manufacturing Company. the company also sold a two-cylinder, high-wheeler under the Chicago Motor Buggy name.

References

Sources

* Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p. 32. * Kimes, Beverly. ''Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942''. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1996. * Wise, David Burgess. ''The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles''. Cars introduced in 1906 Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Illinois Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States History of Chicago Defunct manufacturing companies based in Chicago 1906 establishments in Illinois Highwheeler Cars discontinued in 1911 {{Brass-auto-stub