Curved Dash Olds Note Card

Curved Dash Oldsmobile was introduced by the Oldsmobile Company in 1901 and is credited as being the first mass-produced automobile, built on an assembly line using interchangeable parts. It was produced until 1907. It was a run-about model, and could seat two passengers, and sold for $650. The flat-mounted water cooled single cylinder engine was situated at the center of the car, and produced 5 horse power relying on a brass gravity-feed carburetor. The transmission was a semi-automatic design with two forward speeds and one reverse. The car had a top speed of 20 mph. The car’s success was partially by accident, in 1901 a fire destroyed a number of other models before they were approved for production, leaving the Curved Dash as the only one intact. This vehicle can be seen at the R.E.Olds Transportation Museum in Lansing Michigan.