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Article: 1901 Oldsmobile good as new.(Auto Weekend)(Out Of The Past)
- Article from:
- The Washington Times (Washington, DC)
- Article date:
- February 23, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 News World Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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At the dawn of the 20th century, the fledgling automobile industry was not only struggling with what a car should be but also with its motive power - gasoline, electricity or steam.
Oldsmobile, founded in 1897, was almost put out of business in March 1901. Until then, the company had not produced many vehicles but had built quite a few prototypes of varying size and design to determine which offered the best chance of success.
All of the prototypes were stored together in a Detroit building when it caught fire and, according to company legend, Oldsmobile employee James Brady, braving the smoke and flames, pushed the curved-dash model to safety. All ...