Oldsmobile Curved Dash

Launched in 1901 by Ransom Eli Olds in Lansing, Michigan, the Curved Dash owes its name to its curved front dashboard, inherited from sleighs and carriages. It was the first American car to be mass-produced.

Light and simple, it was powered by a single-cylinder engine of around 7 horsepower under the seat, with a two-speed gearbox. It was steered with a tiller rather than a wheel. To build it in large numbers, Olds organised his factory along production-line principles, with each station carrying out a specific task, several years before Henry Ford.

Selling for 650 dollars, it brought the car within reach of a new clientele and became the best-selling car in the United States at the turn of the century. Nearly 19,000 were produced until 1907. Its success even inspired a popular song, “In My Merry Oldsmobile”, which brought the car into American culture.