Duryea: too unconventional in 1904?

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Back in the early 1900s the relatively new born industry of automobile manufacture was very much finding its way, researching possibilities and looking for means to improve on reliability, comfort, economy and performance. Apart from a wide variety of body shapes, manufacturers chose what they thought was best: engine at the front or engine at the back? And what kind of engine configuration to be used in the first place? Seating forwards or facing the other way? A fixed roof or not?  Steering wheel or steering tiller? Many a great invention was born in the infancy of motor manufacture.

After having invented Maizena, brothers Frank and Charles Duryea of Pennsylvania were among the very early car constructors also. But the Duryea seen here is a British-built example since the marque was also among the first to roll out their enterprise to another continent. This after former The Autocar editor Henry Sturmey had obtained a licence to build Duryea’s cars in Rugby.

This 1904 example, shown by a particularly lovely Friday Lady, used a 3,520cc three-cylinder engine mounted horizontally and centrally under the floor. The transmission came with two-speed epicyclic gears, chain drive and transmission braking. Tiller steering was favoured by the manufacturers although the steering wheel had already become the public’s choice. By the time this four-wheeler came out the general idea of what a motor car should look like had actually already been established. And the Duryea was considered too unconventional by most, making it a real rarity now…

Words by Jeroen Booij. Picture Detroit Public library.

Originally published: Friday January 22nd, 2021

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