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KF5JRV > TODAY 04.06.24 12:07l 48 Lines 2425 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 701_KF5JRV
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jun 04
Path: IZ3LSV<DB0ERF<DK0WUE<DK0WUE<N2NOV<K7EK<VE3CGR<KF5JRV
Sent: 240604/1004Z 701@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA BPQ6.0.24
At approximately 4:00 a.m. on June 4, 1896, in the shed behind his home on
Bagley Avenue in Detroit, Henry Ford unveils the “Quadricycle,ö the first
automobile he ever designed or drove.
Ford was working as the chief engineer for the main plant of the Edison
Illuminating Company when he began working on the Quadricycle. On
call at all hours to ensure that Detroit had electrical service 24 hours a
day, Ford was able to use his flexible working schedule to experiment
with his pet project—building a horseless carriage with a gasoline-
powered engine. His obsession with the gasoline engine had begun
when he saw an article on the subject in a November 1895 issue of
American Machinist magazine. The following March, another Detroit
engineer named Charles King took his own hand-built vehicle—made
of wood, it had a four-cylinder engine and could travel up to five miles
per hour—out for a ride, fueling Ford’s desire to build a lighter and
faster gasoline-powered model.
As he would do throughout his career, Ford used his considerable
powers of motivation and organization to get the job done, enlisting
friends–including King–and assistants to help him bring his vision to
life. After months of work and many setbacks, Ford was finally ready
to test-drive his creation–basically a light metal frame fitted with four
bicycle wheels and powered by a two-cylinder, four-horsepower
gasoline engine–on the morning of June 4, 1896. When Ford and
James Bishop, his chief assistant, attempted to wheel the Quadricycle
out of the shed, however, they discovered that it was too wide to fit
through the door. To solve the problem, Ford took an axe to the brick
wall of the shed, smashing it to make space for the vehicle to be rolled out.
With Bishop bicycling ahead to alert passing carriages and pedestrians,
Ford drove the 500-pound Quadricycle down Detroit’s Grand River
Avenue, circling around three major thoroughfares. The Quadricycle had
two driving speeds, no reverse, no brakes, rudimentary steering ability
and a doorbell button as a horn, and it could reach about 20 miles per
hour, easily overpowering King’s invention. Aside from one breakdown
on Washington Boulevard due to a faulty spring, the drive was a success,
and Ford was on his way to becoming one of the most formidable
success stories in American business history.
73 de Scott KF5JRV
Pmail: KF5JRV@KF5JRV.#NWAR.AR.USA.NA
Email KF5JRV@gmail.com
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