The Ford Quadricycle was the first vehicle developed by Henry Ford, completed on 4 June 1896 in a small workshop behind his home on Bagley Avenue in Detroit. Ford’s first car was a simple frame with a petrol engine mounted on four bicycle wheels.
Ford Quadricycle at a glance
| Builder | Henry Ford |
|---|---|
| Finished | 4 June 1896 |
| Place | 58 Bagley Avenue, Detroit |
| Ford’s age | 32 |
| Engine | two cylinders, 4 hp, running on pure ethanol |
| Drive | chain |
| Gears | two, no reverse |
| Speeds | first to 10 mph, second to 20 mph |
| Steering | tiller |
| Wheels | wire, bicycle type |
| Fuel tank | 3 US gallons, under the seat |
| Top speed | 20 mph (32 km/h) |
This page is based on English Wikipedia only.
History of the Ford Quadricycle
Why a quadricycle
In the 1890s the horseless carriage was a new idea and nobody had a fixed notion of what a car should look like or how it should work. Most of the first car builders were inventors rather than businessmen, working with their imaginations and whatever parts they had to hand. The quadricycle type, invented in France in the 1880s, was an important step towards practical designs, and the name comes from the four tyres: these vehicles used a lot of bicycle technology, with spoked wheels and tyres and a drivetrain driving the rear wheels.
The night of 4 June 1896
After more than two years of experimentation, Ford, then 32 years old, put the finishing touches to his pure ethanol-powered motor in a tiny workshop behind his home at 58 Bagley Avenue, where the Michigan Building now stands. The two-cylinder engine produced 4 horsepower, the car was driven by a chain, and the transmission had only two gears, the first for up to 10 mph and the second for up to 20 mph, with no reverse at all. It was steered with a tiller, rode on wire wheels and carried a 3 US gallon fuel tank under the seat. Ford test drove it on that day, reaching a top speed of 20 mph.
What came next
The success of the little vehicle led to the founding of the Detroit Automobile Company in 1899, then the Henry Ford Company in 1901 and finally the Ford Motor Company in 1903. Ford went on to become one of the richest men in the world.
Design and features
- Bicycle ancestry: spoked wheels, tyres and chain drive taken from bicycle practice.
- Ethanol engine: two cylinders and 4 hp running on pure alcohol.
- Two gears, no reverse: 10 mph in first and 20 mph in second.
- Tiller steering: steered with a lever rather than a wheel.
Ford Quadricycle versions
- The 1896 Quadricycle: the single original car built by Henry Ford.
- Replicas: later copies built by enthusiasts and museums.
The Quadricycle came before Ford’s first production cars and led, through the Detroit Automobile Company, to the Model T and the company that made it. More Ford vehicles are in the Ford collection.
Sources
- Ford Quadricycle, English Wikipedia: build, engine, gears, performance
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