The Ford Quadricycle was the first vehicle developed by

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American Technological and industrial history of the United States, industrialist and business magnate. As the founder of the Ford Motor Company, he is credited as a pioneer in making automob ...

. Ford's first car was a simple frame with a gas-powered engine mounted onto four bicycle wheels.

Historic Frame

The earliest cars were hand built, one by one, and were very expensive. The machines were seen as toys for the rich. In the 1890s, the "horseless carriage" was a relatively new idea, with no one having a fixed, universal idea of what a car should look like or how it should work. Most of the first car builders were inventors, rather than businessmen, working with their imaginations and the parts they had on hand. Thus, the invention of the

Quadricycle The Quadricycle was an early form of automobile. Earliest models were propelled by a small steam engine, then designers switched to early internal combustion engines as they became available. The word is derived from the fact that it had four ...

type of vehicle in France in the 1880s marks an important innovation as a proto-automobile that would lay the foundation for the future, with more practical designs to follow. The term "Quadricycle" comes from the fact that these vehicles ran on four tires, and that it used a lot of the

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

technology of the time. Namely the spoked wheels and tires, and the

drivetrain A drivetrain (also frequently spelled as drive train or sometimes drive-train) or transmission system, is the group of components that deliver mechanical power from the prime mover to the driven components. In automotive engineering, the driv ...

to power the rear wheels.

Ford's first Automobile

On June 4, 1896, in a tiny workshop behind his home on 58 Bagley Avenue,

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

,Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p. 58. where the Michigan Building now stands, Ford put the finishing touches on his pure ethanol-powered motor. After more than two years of experimentation, Ford, at the age of 32, had completed his first experimental

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 ...

.Brinkley, David, ''Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress'', (New York: Penguin Group, 2003), p. 22 The success of the little vehicle led to the founding of the

Detroit Automobile Company The Detroit Automobile Company (DAC) was an early American automobile manufacturer founded on August 5, 1899, in Detroit, Michigan. It was the first venture of its kind in Detroit. Automotive mechanic Henry Ford attracted the financial backing ...

in 1899, followed by the

Henry Ford Company The Henry Ford Company was an automobile manufacturer active from 1901 to 1902. Named after Henry Ford, it was his second company after the Detroit Automobile Company, which had been founded in 1899. The Henry Ford Company was founded November 1 ...

in 1901 and then later the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

in 1903.The Showroom of Automotive History: 1896 Quadricycle
The two cylinder engine could produce 4 horsepower. The Quadricycle was driven by a chain. The

transmission Transmission or transmit may refer to: Science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Transmission (mechanical device), technology that allows controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual tra ...

had only two gears (first for up to , 2nd for up to ), but did not have a reverse gear. The machine was steered using a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn ...

, had wire wheels and a fuel tank under the seat. Ford test drove it on June 4, 1896, after various test drives, achieving a top speed of . Ford would later go on to found the Ford Motor Company and become one of the world's richest men. The original Quadricycle resides at The Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Replicas

Ford Piquette Avenue Plant - Ford Quadricycle Replica

Several Ford Quadricycle replicas exist. Enthusiast Burnard Jarstfer built a replica, to resemble the original as close as he was able to, without actually having access to it.Manufacturers/ Burnard Jarstfer/ 1896 Burnard Jarstfer Quadricycle
at conceptcarz.com, accessed 8 May 2018

References

External links

{{Commons category, Ford Quadricycle Vehicles introduced in 1896

First car made by manufacturer Cars powered by boxer engines Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan

Historic Frame

Ford's first Automobile

Replicas

See also

References

External links