Two of the interesting pioneers of the American automobile industry were the Duryea brothers, who invented the country’s first practical gasoline-powered car in 1893.
Charles (1861-1939) and Frank (1870-1967) Duryea, following development of their 1893 car in Springfield, Mass., also participated in the first U.S. automobile race during 1895.
The Times Herald newspaper of Chicago sponsored a 52-mile race up the Lake Michigan shoreline. The Thanksgiving Day race attracted 80 entries, but only six starters.
The race was run over muddy streets covered with snow. Ten hours and twenty-three minutes later, a dazed Frank Duryea and his brother Charles crossed the finish line in their Duryea car. The car had averaged 5 miles per hour. America’s first car race was won by the first practical gasoline-powered car.
In 1896, three years after inventing the first American car, the two brothers founded the Duryea Motor Power Wagon Co. During that year, 13 Duryea cars were produced, the first creation of identical, multiple designed vehicles.
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