Duryea Motor Wagon Company

Duryea Motor Wagon Company, established in 1895 in Springfield, Massachusetts, is described as the first American firm to build gasoline automobiles. It was founded by the brothers Charles and Frank Duryea and built the Duryea Motor Wagon, a one-cylinder, four-horsepower car first demonstrated in Springfield in September 1893. In 1895 a Duryea driven by Frank won the Chicago Times Herald race, the first American auto race in which any entrants finished, and the brothers began commercial production that year; thirteen cars had been sold by the end of 1896. The brothers parted ways by the end of the century over a financing dispute that would have moved the company to Detroit. Frank went on to help produce the Stevens-Duryea, while Charles built Duryea vehicles until 1917.