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Article: America's Auto Industry Geared Up a Century Ago
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 10, 1996
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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Legend has it that 100 years ago in Springfield, Mass., the
American automobile industry was born. The qualifier is needed
because Springfield was the chosen home of brothers Charles E. and
J. Frank Duryea, whose talents for marketing and self-promotion
would have put many of today's advertisers to shame.
Most certainly, the Duryeas did not invent the automobile, and by
no means were they the first Americans to produce one.
Credits for invention go to various Europeans, most notably
Germans Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler. Benz built and operated a
gasoline-powered three-wheeler in 1885, eight years before the
Duryeas brought forth an experimental, gasoline-powered,
one-cylinder car.
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