Duryea pronunciation

He was the engineer of the first working American gasoline-powered car and co-founder of Duryea Motor Wagon Company.

Duryea motor wagon

Duryea and his brother Frank — were initially bicycle makers in Washington, D. Their design was inspired by a Benz gasoline-powered car that Charles saw at a fair in Ohio. Generally speaking, Charles engineered the automobiles, while Frank built, tested and raced them. On September 21, , the Duryea brothers road-tested the first-ever, working American gasoline -powered automobile on the Howard Bemis farm in Chicopee, Massachusetts.

The car buggy had a friction transmission, spray carburetor and low tension ignition. Frank Duryea test drove it again on November 10 — this time in a prominent location: past their garage at 47 Taylor Street in Springfield. The next day it was reported by The Republican newspaper with great fanfare. This particular car was put into storage in and stayed there until , when it was rescued by a former Duryea engineer Inglis M.

Uppercu and presented to the United States National Museum. On November 28, , in Chicago , their vehicle, driven by brother Frank, had won America's first car race. It ran to Evanston, Illinois and back. The only other finisher was one of three Benz cars mostly made in Germany. After Frank won, demand grew for the Duryea Motor Wagon.

In , the Duryea Brothers produced 13 cars by hand — in their garage at 47 Taylor Street — and thus Duryea became the first-ever commercially produced vehicle, and also the largest automobile factory in the United States. For the history of the company and its cars, see Duryea Motor Wagon Company. Duryea sought out investors and buyers while his brother, Frank Duryea, primarily handled the mechanical side of the business.