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Leland, famous for his precision
craftsmanship at the pistol maker, Colt Co., founded the Cadillac Company in 1902,after
bypassing the Detroit Automobile Company. His first accomplishment was the Cadillac
Model A, designed by the renowned Henry Ford. Its engine was adapted from Oldsmobile,featuring
a single-cylinder,water-cooled system equipped with planetary gears,providing
one reverse and two forward gears.The distinguishing feature of this car was a
radiator system,which returned steam released from the radiator during operation
back into the engine so as not to disturb the passengers.The feature,combined
with its unique pressed steel-constructed frame, resulted in a strong demand for
the car. |
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Despite the emergence of affordable
gasoline cars, American manufacturers continued to produce electric cars. Firstly,
electric cars were quite popular among women passengers and drivers at this time
because the automobiles discharged very little fumes and did not involve the problems
of hand cranking that were associated with the new gasoline cars. Furthermore,
Selden still held a patent for gasoline cars which made gasoline cars more expensive
because of royalty payments.The Baker Electric(1899-1915)was one of the more famous
of these electric cars because it was the first to incorporate the bevel-gear
system.It had a 1hp motor,using a ball bearing system,making it capable of speeds
of up to 40km/h. |
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The Stanley Automobile Manufacturing
Company began making steam-powered cars in 1897. It consistently sought to find
ways to improve its cars every year and succeeded in achieving great success with
the special"Bonnet-Style"model released in 1905. The car's boiler was positioned
in the front end of the car with an enclosed water tank, and it employed a two-cylinder
slide-valve engine under the floor. However, there was no gearbox and so the axle
was directly powered into high gear.
Only the Stanley“Steamer,”with its many attractive features, was kept
in production until around 1927. It was quiet, vibrated little during operation,
was easy to handle at full torque, and could reach very high speeds. In fact,
at Ormond Beach in Florida, the Stanley set a world speed record of 127.66mph
in 1906. |
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