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About the Beginnings of the Automotive Industry

The invention of the automobile affected the daily life of twentieth-century Americans more than any other technological development. At the center of this change was Michigan, which became the nations automobile capital less than twenty years after the horseless carriage made its first appearance.

On March 6, 1896, Charles King became the first Michiganian to operate a gasoline-powered horseless car-riage when he drove his four-cylinder vehicle several blocks down Woodward Avenue in Detroit. Later that year, Detroits Henry Ford and Lansings Ransom E. Olds drove their horseless carriages. Within a few years, the lightweight, inexpensive Curved Dash Olds became the first automobile to be manufactured in any significant numbers. Olds also stimulated other Michigan manufacturers. Among those was Ford, who in 1908 introduced the Model T. The car, which only came in black, boasted a fifteen-horsepower engine that reached speeds of up to 45 miles per hour. Over fifteen million Model Ts were sold, making it one of the most important cars in automobile history. In 1908 Flints William Durant founded the General Motors Company. Offering Americans a range of vehicles, General Motors became the worlds largest producer of automobiles by the 1920s.

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