Page 7 - Edmonton Antique Car Club

inch wheels in the front and 36 inch wheels in the rear, nickel plated
spokes, steel rims, a seven gallon tank, and three-inch pneumatic
tires. The use of ball bearings ensured that parts wouldn't wear
away from friction. The weight had surged to 1,800 pounds. On
June 12th, this second prototype was given a 60 mile road test from
Cleveland west to Elyria and back carrying four passengers, taking
five hours for the trip, averaging 12 mph, and consuming six gallons
of stove gasoline.

Alex's new invention was still subject to much scepticism.
To prove his vehicle's durability and usefulness, on July 28, 1897,
he and his shop superintendent, William A. "Bert" Hatcher, began
America's first reliability run, a daring nine day trip of 800 miles
from Cleveland to New York City. Actual driving time was calcu-
lated at 78 hours and 43 minutes; refuelling was accomplished by
gasoline or cleaning fluid purchases at hardware stores along the
way. This run stimulated investment permitting construction of
four more hand-made vehicles; they were single-cylinder, six-
horsepower runabouts. Alex bought a vacant Cleveland factory to
manufacture his horseless carriages; he would also stay in the cycle
business until at least 1899. One of those four new vehicles would
be recognized as the first American-made, gasoline-powered, mass-
produced car sold. It was sold to Robert Allison, a retired machinist
from Port Carbon, Pennsylvania, who on March 24, 1898, appeared First horseless carriage ad, July 30, 1898
at Alex's factory in Cleveland with $1,000 cash in hand to buy the
car in response to a report he had seen in Scientific American. Mr. Alex would sell a total 22 Winton motor carriages in his
Allison was invited to choose from any of the four complete cars first production year of 1898, the thirteenth of which was sold on
then on hand; the car he choose now resides in the Smithsonian August 13 to a young electrical and mechanical engineer, James
Institute's motor vehicle collection in Washington D. C. Another of Ward Packard (1863-1928) of Warren, Ohio; those 13s were per-
those initial four Wintons became the first four-wheeled, gasoline- haps an ominous sign. Packard drove his new Winton all day to get
propelled motor vehicle in the Dominion of Canada. It was import- home to Warren, 65 miles away. There were over-heating issues
ed to Hamilton, Ontario, from Cleveland by John Moodie Jr. who and the car eventually stopped completely with a broken sprocket
piloted his new purchase on its first spin around that city on April chain a few miles short of Packard's home; a team of plough horses
12. Moodie promptly taught his wife Janet to drive thus making her had to tow him the rest of the way. A few days later, Alex sent his
the first woman driver in Canada. shop superintendent, Bert Hatcher, to fix the problem. But Pack-
ard's Winton was plagued by problems and repeated attempts by
The July 30, 1898, edition of Scientific American, con- Alex to resolve the issues failed. Packard studied the mechanical
tained what is generally considered the first car ad selling a specific workings of his Winton and made many detailed notes on how to
and real model of car that was actually in production, at a set adver- improve the car. Ward Packard showed up at Alex's factory with
tised price, in the United States. That ad would actually become his list of suggestions. At this point, Alex completely lost his pa-
famous for its pitch to "Dispense With a Horse and save the ex- tience; his famous response is the single greatest reason Alex has
pense, care and anxiety of keeping it. To run a motor carriage costs been remembered as that short tempered Scotsman. Alex finally
about 1/2 cent a mile." The Winton Motor Carriage Company snapped, "If you're so smart, Mr. Packard, why don't you make a
would continue advertising in Scientific American weekly through- car yourself." That response would cost Alex; Ward Packard was
out the rest of that year, and beyond, with different enticing head- up for the challenge and replied, "I will, Mr. Winton, I will." And
lines like: "Better than a Horse or Bicycle," "The Luxury of Loco- he did. Packard would hire away Alex's shop superintendent, Bert
motion," "A Delightful Drive," "Over the Hills and Far Away," Hatcher, to assist in that endeavour and would also attract away one
"Wonderful Control," "The Proof and the Pudding," and "Snow, Ice of Alex's major investors, George Lewis Weiss (1862-1945). Alex
and Slush" (December 10). was so incensed by Weiss's defection that he would remove his
name from the list of the first fifty buyers of Winton cars published
in The Auto Era even though Weiss had been buyer number four on
other lists.

The Winton Motor Carriage Company would sell more
than 100 vehicles in 1899 making it the largest manufacturer of
gasoline-powered horseless carriages in the United States. This
success led to the opening of America's first motor car dealership by
H. W. Koler in Reading, Pennsylvania. To deliver his Wintons to
Koler, Alex built the first motor vehicle hauler in America. With
the shortened wheelbase of a touring car, it could pull a car loaded
onto a small semi-trailer. One of these Wintons was purchased by
wealthy socialite and American diplomat Larz Anderson (1866-
1937) and his wife, shipping heiress Isabel Weld Perkins (1876-
1948). You can still see that car at the Larz Anderson Auto Muse-
um in Brookline, Massachusetts. Early that year, Dr. Ray Vaughn
Pierce (1840-1914) of Buffalo, New York, famed creator and suc-
cessful salesman of patent medicines like "Smart Weed" and
Robert Allison and his first Winton sold, 1898 "Pleasant Pellets," bought six Winton delivery wagons to keep sales
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