Shifting Gears: The Ottomobile, Case Automobiles and more

By Bill Vossler
Published on June 1, 2007
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The 1910 Otto built by Otto Gas Engine Works of Philadelphia.
The 1910 Otto built by Otto Gas Engine Works of Philadelphia.
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The Pierce automobile was the forerunner to the Case car.
The Pierce automobile was the forerunner to the Case car.
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A Selden roadster, circa 1910.
A Selden roadster, circa 1910.
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The Stephens Model 74 also came in a four-passenger Victoria model. Stephens cars were considered dependable but not stylish.
The Stephens Model 74 also came in a four-passenger Victoria model. Stephens cars were considered dependable but not stylish.
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One of the oddest automobiles ever built: a Reeves Octoauto. The Octoauto’s unique eight-wheel configuration was intended to deliver a truly smooth ride. But none of the machines were ever sold, perhaps due to their $3,200 price – a princely sum in 1911.
One of the oddest automobiles ever built: a Reeves Octoauto. The Octoauto’s unique eight-wheel configuration was intended to deliver a truly smooth ride. But none of the machines were ever sold, perhaps due to their $3,200 price – a princely sum in 1911.
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A Velie car in an early race.
A Velie car in an early race.
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This three-passenger 1926 Velie Coupe 60 sold for $1,425 (including tools, jacks, speedometer, ammeter, voltmeter, electric horn, automatic windshield cleaner, demountable rims, spare tire carrier, rear view mirror, sun visor, cowl ventilator, headlight dimmer and cowl lights). Velie Motors Corp., founded by Willard Lamb Velie (grandson of John Deere), was based in Moline, Ill.
This three-passenger 1926 Velie Coupe 60 sold for $1,425 (including tools, jacks, speedometer, ammeter, voltmeter, electric horn, automatic windshield cleaner, demountable rims, spare tire carrier, rear view mirror, sun visor, cowl ventilator, headlight dimmer and cowl lights). Velie Motors Corp., founded by Willard Lamb Velie (grandson of John Deere), was based in Moline, Ill.
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A Farmer’s Automobile built by International Harvester. This undated photo is unusual on two counts. First, in an era when women rarely learned how to drive, the driver is a woman. Second, the front seat passenger is U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.
A Farmer’s Automobile built by International Harvester. This undated photo is unusual on two counts. First, in an era when women rarely learned how to drive, the driver is a woman. Second, the front seat passenger is U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt.
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A 1915 Case 35 touring car. The five-passenger car was rated at 28.9 hp, featured four cylinders arranged vertically and sold for $1,600.
A 1915 Case 35 touring car. The five-passenger car was rated at 28.9 hp, featured four cylinders arranged vertically and sold for $1,600.
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A rear view of the Reeves Sextoauto chassis. (Image courtesy Roy Bernick.)
A rear view of the Reeves Sextoauto chassis. (Image courtesy Roy Bernick.)
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Fageol Motors Co. evidently loved sharp designs on its vehicles. The Fageol tractor’s wheels had knife-like edges; louvers on the hood of this 1917 Fageol touring car give a toothy appearance when viewed from the side. With the exception of an experimental car developed in about 1900, 1917 was the only year Fageol made automobiles.
Fageol Motors Co. evidently loved sharp designs on its vehicles. The Fageol tractor’s wheels had knife-like edges; louvers on the hood of this 1917 Fageol touring car give a toothy appearance when viewed from the side. With the exception of an experimental car developed in about 1900, 1917 was the only year Fageol made automobiles.

Heck, why not make tractors and cars? It’s a question many American tractor manufacturers must have posed during the first two decades of the 20th century.

Those were heady years for manufacturers. How would a tractor look, or a car? Kerosene or gasoline? How many wheels? How much horsepower? Design considerations like those are taken for granted today. Decades ago the answers were less obvious.

Tractor manufacturers did not shy away from the challenge; a surprising number manufactured cars and trucks. Some were normal vehicles; others were unique, bordering on bizarre. Success (or lack of it) in building tractors was no guarantee of success (or failure) with cars and trucks. Truly, it was a wide-open period, and several companies enjoyed success in the new venture.

Otto Gas Engine Works

The Selden patent case centered on patent rights claimed by applicant George Selden, Rochester, N.Y., in his 1879 invention of “an improved road engine” powered by a liquid hydrocarbon engine. A decades-long legal battle ensued with Selden winning the battle but perhaps not the war. After Selden finally won his case in 1909, Judge Walter C. Noyes said that if Selden had “appreciated the superiority of the Otto engine and adapted that type (in his application), his patent would cover the modern automobile,” and Selden would have earned a royalty for every automobile engine made.

But Selden apparently didn’t know of the high quality of the superb Otto engines, the world’s first production 4-cycle internal combustion engines, invented in 1876 by Nikolaus August Otto. The engines were used in Otto tractors starting in 1896 and Otto automobiles in 1910.

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