Quadricycle

[Dave Mellor NJ]

Henry's baby

 

[nkaminar]

The baby grew up.

 

[old31]

A primative as we think it might be, just think back to when it was built.

How in the hell did they know what and how to do to make it happen. Ingenious people, and without computers!

 

[Bob Bidonde]

It is difficult to understand why Henry sold his Quadricycle, and nobody knows what became of it.

 

[Fullraceflathead]

Yes the original 1 was lost to history unfortunately I've always wondered what happened to the original one.

 

[Canton_Model_A's]

One is at the Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI

https://www.thehenryford.org/collections-and-research/digital-collections/artifact/252049#slide=gs-212201

 

[AzBob]

X2 Canton Model A's "One is at the Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI"
https://www.thehenryford.org/collect...lide=gs-212201

The original survives in the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. Dearborn, MI.

 

[rotorwrench]

Ford's work with Edison allowed him enough time too experiment and he was not satisfied as technology and resources changed rapidly in that time frame. He moved on to newer possibilities and took advantage of his assets. His first foray into the auto business was not without problems but he learned.from that and very quickly moved on.

I'm relatively sure that he considered his first auto, the quadricycle, to be obsolete by the time he finished it. His first model A was simple but definitely more advanced than his first design. He had his sights set on the manufacture of an automobile for the masses and not just for the elites of society. Why sell thousands when you can make millions of them. He understood the way to business was to make more so that they could be made less expensive and let them sell themselves as a good low cost product. He was at the leading edge of being an industrialist.

I likely will never own a Tesla but it seems that Musk is becoming an industrialist even though he didn't really start out that way. We need more folks like Henry Ford in the future to bring the US back where it should be.

 

[40 Deluxe]

A primative as we think it might be, just think back to when it was built.

How in the hell did they know what and how to do to make it happen. Ingenious people, and without computers!

By the late 1800's steam engines had been around for about 100 years so the principles of pistons, crankshafts and connecting rods were well known as well as how to make them. So it just took some relatively minor changes to make an internal combustion engine. It was largely a matter of adapting well-known methods and parts to these self-propelled "carriages". An example is "Bernoulli's principle" which explains how a carburetor works. This was known in the 1700's.

 

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

It is difficult to understand why Henry sold his Quadricycle, and nobody knows what became of it.

Bob, I either heard or read that he sold the 1st car to use the proceeds to start building cars (Sweepstakes, Enterprise, 999, etc) to raise capitol with.

One is at the Henry Ford in Dearborn, MI

I am pretty sure the one on display at the museum is the reproduction that George DeAngeles built. It is also the one that curator Glenn Miller drives around at Old Car Festival.

 

[mercman from oz]

Ford Quadricycle on display at Greenfield Village

 

[Fullraceflathead]

I've been to the Henry ford museum the quadricycle that's there is supposed to be an exact replica of the original.

 

[Gene F]

Anyone ever work in a major corporation?; "...so what if we just tell everyone this is car #1, I mean who will know any different..."

 

[Brad in Germany]

It is difficult to understand why Henry sold his Quadricycle, and nobody knows what became of it.

Yes, Henry Ford did sell his original Quadricycle, but he soon thereafter bought it back again and that original one is now on public display in The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation (Dearborn) (Bob: Don't worry, plenty of people know exactly where it is.)

A reproduction Quadricycle (second variation with enclosed engine compartment) is in the Greenfield Village (in Henry Ford's original shop) and Ford owns another one that is sometimes taken out on tours and/or displays.

There are several other reproduction Quadricycles around the world in private and public collections.....like this one that used to be in the former Den Hartogh Ford Museum in The Netherlands (subsequently auctioned off when the museum was closed):

Here is the link to the auction listing for that reproduction Quadricycle with more details and photos:
https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/25077/lot/190/a-full-scale-museum-display-of-the-1896-ford-quadricycle/

Here is a photo of the reproduction Ford Quadricycle that is in the Ford Classic Cars (private Ford collection/museum in the Ford factory grounds in Köln, Germany):

Brad in Maryland




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