Duryea Motor Wagon
Encyclopedia
The Duryea Motor Wagon was among the first standardized
Standardization
Standardization is the process of developing and implementing technical standards.The goals of standardization can be to help with independence of single suppliers , compatibility, interoperability, safety, repeatability, or quality....

 automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

s and among the first powered by gasoline
Gasoline
Gasoline , or petrol , is a toxic, translucent, petroleum-derived liquid that is primarily used as a fuel in internal combustion engines. It consists mostly of organic compounds obtained by the fractional distillation of petroleum, enhanced with a variety of additives. Some gasolines also contain...

. Fifteen Motor Wagons were built by the Duryea Motor Wagon Company
Duryea Motor Wagon Company
The Duryea Motor Wagon Company, established in 1895, was one of the first American firms to build gasoline automobiles.Founded by Charles Duryea and his brother Frank, they built a one-cylinder "Ladies Phaeton", first demonstrated on September 21, 1893 in Springfield, Massachusetts, on Taylor...

 company of Chicopee, Massachusetts
Chicopee, Massachusetts
Chicopee is a city located on the Connecticut River in Hampden County, Massachusetts, United States of America. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 55,298, making it the second largest city in...

, between 1893 and 1896.

Before this time, all automobiles were one-off individual models, The first commercially available automobile was patented by Karl Benz
Karl Benz
Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered car, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz...

 on January 29, 1886 and put into production in 1888.

It is not clear whether the Benz Velo
Benz Velo
Karl Benz patented the three-wheeled Patent Motorwagen on January 29, 1886 and produced it as the first commercially available automobile from 1886 through 1893. He followed this initial success with the introduction of the Benz Velo model of 1894. The Velo and the Duryea Motor Wagon, patented in...

 or this vehicle was standardized first. The Duryea Motor Wagon remained in production into the 1920s.

The Duryea brothers entered their horseless carriage in many shows and races. The Duryea Motor Wagon carriage won the first prize in the first ever American automobile race Times-Herald race
Chicago Times-Herald race
The Chicago Times-Herald race was the first automobile race held in the United States. Sponsored by the Chicago Times-Herald, the race was held in Chicago in 1895 between six cars and won by Charles Duryea's Motorized Wagon...

, a 54-mile course, in 1896. Duryeas also won first and second place in the Cosmopolitan Race on Decoration Day
Decoration Day
Decoration Day is the former name of Memorial Day in the United States, and may also refer to:*Decoration Day , a song by Sonny Boy Williamson I, later performed by John Lee Hooker*Decoration Day , a 2003 album by Drive-By Truckers...

, 1896 in New York City. On November 14, 1896 they joined the Procession/Race from London to Brighton
London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the longest-running motoring event in the world. The first run was in 1896, and has taken place most years since then. To qualify, the cars must have been built before 1905...

England.

The First Duryea
Year Engine HP Wheel size
1893 1-cylinder 4 54
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