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The Company's re-evaluated plans called in part for
developing a one-cylinder gasoline-powered
"runabout" that was to sell in the $1000 price
range. This proved to be a slow and difficult
task. Even at the $1000 price, sales were few
and far between. In time however, this
concept developed into the world famous Curved Dash
Oldsmobile. By eventually achieving a $650
selling price, this model soared to unprecedented
sales success in the months following the March 9,
1901 factory fire.
A second, much less-known undertaking by R.E. at
this same time was his decision to make what he
called "city" vehicles powered by
electricity. Though previously rejected by
R.E., he now reasoned that a line of electrics
could quickly be put on the market, as they were to
be primarily assembled from proven components that
Olds planned to purchase from outside
manufacturers. The electrics would hopefully reach
a segment of the buying public not at all
interested in owning a gasoline-powered
vehicle. Well over half of the 8000+ vehicles
registered in America in 1900 were
electric. Consequently, the market for
the sales of electric vehicles envisioned by Olds
appears to be reasonable in hindsight.
Further, any revenues generated from their
sales would do much to soothe the cash flow worries
of his backers, and hopefully would provide the
needed time for him to bring to market his "second
generation" of less expensive and simpler to
operate gasoline vehicles.
The new electric project was quickly put into
operation, and in a short time, several electrics
were assembled, tested, and offered for sale.
Although found to be very dependable, easy to
operate and of high quality construction, the
necessarily high selling price drastically limited
their sales appeal. With a selling price of
over $1600 for the least costly model, the Olds
electrics were not "cheap" by any standards of the
day. Still, R.E. saw enough selling potential
for them that the Olds Company placed several large
orders for electric parts and materials.
Also, a large area on the second floor of the
factory was outfitted with the equipment needed to
assemble a substantial number of electric
vehicles.
Just as significant production of electric vehicles
was getting underway, disaster befell the entire
automobile operation of the recently renamed Olds
Motor Works. On March 9, 1901, the factory
was almost totally destroyed by fire.
Reportedly, all but one of the existing Old's
vehicles, both gasoline and electrics, were
destroyed in the fire. This catastrophe
brought an immediate and total end to R.E.'s hopes
for marketing a successful line of electric
vehicles.
Some post-fire historians have stated that there is
no "hard" evidence that any Olds electrics were
ever sold. They also point out that several
"knowledgeable, first hand" sources have stated
that only a handful of electrics at best were ever
produced. Thus, they make the case that the
electric project was not, and never had been, (even
in R.E.'s mind) a sincere and all out attempt to
produce and sell an ongoing and significant number
of electric vehicles. They quote the fact
that (in 1954,) Theo Barthel, Oldsmobile's official
book-keeper in 1901, stated that he recorded a
total of only 5 electrics on the official company
inventory report for the year of 1900. Also
often quoted is Fred Smith's 1928 published account
that proclaimed that R.E. did actually "Chase after
strange electric Gods" for a short while, and may
have even sold "one or two" of what Smith
obviously, and in hindsight, perceived to be a
worthless and ill-conceived
undertaking.
These historians draw the conclusion that the
entire electric project was at best, only a minor
footnote in Oldsmobile's long and storied history
and is not important enough to warrant more than a
brief mention in passing. Other equally
compelling evidence, more recently un-covered or
re-discovered, calls for a somewhat different and
possibly more accurate conclusion.
The following brief account of events in the Olds
electric vehicle story are presented in as accurate
a chronological order as can be yet determined, and
will serve to shed new light on the Olds electric
vehicles themselves. It will also expand
their significance in the overall history of
Oldsmobile vehicle production.
- A pre-1901 Olds sales
catalogue shows many fanciful artist-drawn
renditions of a number of never existing and
obviously never built vehicles. Of the
many fanciful artist sketches that are included
in this catalogue, only two drawings do closely
resemble actual vehicles under development by
R.E. They are a four passenger electric
"Cabriolet" and a small gasoline powered
"Runabout" that is shown having a straight dash
front-end configuration. There are no
prices or descriptive texts covering either of
these vehicles included in this early catalogue.
If the Olds Motor Works had any other
saleable gasoline powered vehicles ready to
market, wouldn't they logically have been
pictured in this
catalogue?
- A second pre-1901
sales catalogue (published shortly after the
"fanciful" catalogue mentioned above) features
R.E. Olds on the cover. He is shown at the
tiller of an electric "Stanhope." Also
included inside the catalogue are pictures and
text covering two electric vehicles.
Further, quite possibly for the first time,
several pictures of prototype "Curved Dash"
gasoline vehicles are shown as well.
- A pre-1901 one page
Olds price sheet that lists the two-passenger
"Stanhope" model at $1650 and the five-passenger
"Phaeton" model electric at $1750. A
number of gasoline-powered Olds vehicles are
also listed at prices ranging from a low of
$1000 for a one-cylinder "runabout" to $2,750
for a four passenger "Brougham." Obviously
the new lower priced gasoline powered vehicles
as envisioned by R.E. aren't "up and running" or
being offered to the public as of
yet.
- A 1900 dated trade
journal article states that Olds Motor Works has
placed a "large" order for batteries with the
Sipe and Sigler firm of Cleveland,
Ohio.
- In 1900, the company
at both the Chicago and Cleveland Auto Shows
displays a "Stanhope" electric. R.E.
himself takes the vehicle to the Chicago
show. The vehicle is given very good
reviews by the automotive reporters covering the
two shows. Doesn't it stand to reason that
Olds would have shown their proposed new line of
gasoline vehicles at these shows as well if they
were ready for production?
- The fairly recent
discovery and identification of a number of
actual pre-1901 Olds factory photographs that
show a number of electric vehicles (certainly
more than five) being tested and driven on the
Detroit River island of Belle Isle. A
close study of these photographs identifies at
least 7, and perhaps more, electric vehicles
existing in 1900.
- A newspaper account
appearing one day after the factory fire quotes
Olds Automobile Department Superintendent Willis
Grant Murray as saying that over 20 electrics,
either completed or in varying stages of
assembly were destroyed in the fire. He
further states that a large amount of electric
parts and materials stored at the factory were
also destroyed. One other interesting
statement of Murray is that one Olds electric
vehicle survived the fire because it was being
used by an Olds official and therefore was not
at the factory site.
- There exists a
photograph of a four-passenger Olds electric
"Phaeton" being driven in a Detroit parade in
July of 1901. R.E. Olds is at the tiller
and Fred Smith is his fellow passenger.
This is some four months after the
fire.
In the 1960s an electric vehicle is recovered from
a barn in Lansing, Michigan. It is
subsequently identified as an Olds electric
"Phaeton." A study of this newly found and
apparently sole-surviving Olds electric reveals
much about the fine engineering and high quality
workmanship that R.E. lavished on his line of
electric vehicles. To begin with, R.E. bought
the high styled and beautifully executed bodies for
his electrics from one of the leading body firms in
Detroit, the Sievers and Erdman Coach Builders
Company. The bodies were appointed with
patent leather mudguards and dashboards; nickel
trim on all exposed hardware and top quality
goatskin leather upholstery. The highly
lacquered black wooden bodies featured both gold
hand striping and beautifully contrasting purple
cloth trim bands along all exposed seat
edging.
The mechanical features of the vehicle included:
instruments by Weston; motor by the Eddy Company of
Windsor, Ct.; hard-rubber tires by Goodyear Tire
Company; top grade Sarvin wheels and hubs; and an
Olds designed and built controller unit for
changing speeds. Showing nice attention to
small details, the control arm and the tiller were
furnished with sterling silver accented ebony
handles. In short, a high quality,
beautifully made vehicle that puts to rest the
contention that the line of Olds electrics was only
developed as a stopgap and cut rate
proposition. That it did not survive and
succeed sales wise was a shame. It died
principally because of the fire, not because of any
inherent weakness design wise in it's
make-up. But for the fire, it seems likely
that it could have successfully found it's own
segment of the market and thus co-existed with Olds
Curved Dash gasoline vehicles.
Obviously, the entire history of the Olds electric
vehicle project is far from complete at this
time. All readers of this article are invited
to offer feedback covering new or corrected
information concerning the Olds electric history
presented in this article.
While history shows the demise of practically all
electric vehicle companies was only a few short
years down the road, the Olds electric could almost
certainly have had more than a couple of good years
of success at the turn of the century. The
sudden and almost overwhelming success of the
Curved Dash Oldsmobile immediately after the fire
left Olds with no room to even consider
re-introducing the electric or any other
model. Thus, this fine car, like thousands of
other American vehicles, disappeared into almost
total obscurity. It is gone but should not be
forgotten.
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