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The Buckeye gasoline buggy or Lambert gasoline buggy was the first practical gasoline automobile available for sale in American^[1], according to automobile historians.^[2]

History

John William Lambert made America's first such automobile in 1891,^[3] according to a five year extensive study^[4]^[5] by a well-known automobile historian, editor, and publisher.^[2] The study found substantial evidence to enter this claim on Lambert's behalf.^[6] The evidence from this study by L. Scott Bailey shows that Lambert designed, built, and ran a gasoline engine automobile in the early part of 1891 that he put on the market.^[7]^[8] It shows that neither Henry Ford nor the Duryea Brothers have the distinction of building the first such practical working internal combustion gasoline engine automobile in the United States.^[9]^[10] In Europe Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler produced the first gasoline automobiles in 1885/1886.^[11]^[12] The Duryea brothers made their automobile in 1893 and started the Duryea Motor Wagon Company in 1895 mass producting cars.^[12] Henry Ford started mass producing cars in 1899 at the Detroit Automobile Company.

Lambert initially designed and built his "horseless carriage" gasoline automobile in 1890.^[13] He successfully tested it in January of 1891 inside an 80 foot farm implement showroom he owned in Ohio City, Ohio.^[14] Lambert's three-wheeled surrey-top gasoline-powered buggy was his own design. It had a single cylinder, four-stroke engine. This, the Buckeye gasoline buggy, was a one-seat tricycle with large rear wheels.^[15]

Lambert designed a sales brochures advertising its' specifications in January of 1891. He mailed this brochure out to prospects in the first part of February of 1891 with a price of $550.^[16] Later in the month of February of 1891 he was running his automobile^[17] on the main street of Ohio City.^[18] Bailey points out there are several letters on file dated in the latter part of February and the early part of March of 1891 requesting additional information on this "horseless carriage" that Lambert described in the brochure. Other letters of inquire continued, however Lambert ultimately was not able to sell any.^[19]

This first model had a wipe spark ignition and dry cell batteries. The automobile had two speeds forward and none going backwards. A hand steering device was added later when the automobile was used outside on the roads. The weight of the car was 585 pounds. It had wooden wheels with steel rims for extra wear. The carburetor was a surface vaporizer with a flexible diaphragm "compensator." This was patented by Lambert on May 17, 1902. The original model cost Lambert $3200. In 1904 it was lost in a fire when a building that he was having remodeled burned to the ground.^[20]

In 1895 Lambert decided to manufacture stationary gasoline engines. He moved to Anderson, Indiana and there started Buckeye Manufacturing Company. In that same year he announced he would "soon have a gasoline vehicle on the market" to be called the Buckeye. He sent a picture to the newspapers, which was of the Buckeye gasoline buggy he made in 1891. This endeavor also did not come to fruition. Instead he continued experimentation and devised the friction gearing disk drive transmission. He invented and developed a friction transmission that would be the key feature on all of his automobiles he made. Lambert's first model design of 1891 was eventually modified and developed into the Union automobile which first was sold in 1902.^[20] He made the "Union automobile" from 1902 through 1905. In 1906, he produced the first Lambert automobile. With this superior vehicle to the previous "Union automobile" he established himself as one of the more successful automobile manufacturers of the time period. Lambert also manufactured fire engine trucks, gasoline engine utility trucks and steel-rimed wheeled farm tractors. The Buckeye Manufacturing Company produced the Lambert automobile and trucks through 1917. The maximum production was from 1907 to 1910. It then produced an average of two thousand vehicles a year.^[21]

Others of pre-Duryea

In the late nineteenth century there were many individuals in the United States working on a "horseless carriage", some of which paralled the time frame of Lambert. Some notable individuals with verifiable primary sources that invented such vehicles before the Duryea brothers were Henry Nadig, Charles H. Black, and Elwood P. Haynes.

Henry Nadig

Henry Nadig of Allentown, Pennsylvania invented a vehicle that history records he built somewhere between 1891 and 1893. In 1905 Nadig reports that he began to construct a "horseless carriage" in 1891 and when he finished it, he then ran it on Fourth Street in Allentown.^[22] The original 1891 vehicle was extensively modified in the winter of 1892-93 to the point it could be almost considered a different vehicle.^[23] This vehicle was driven "for pleasure" for the next ten years.^[24] Of as 1992 this vehicle was owned by a David K. Bausch of Allentown. About 70% of the original vehicle still existed, however it was in "rough" condition and needed complete restoration. The historical importance of this particular vehicle is that it may be the oldest America-made gasoline-powered automobile that still exists.^[25]

Charles H. Black

Charles H. Black reported that he completed and tested his first steam engine "chug buggy" in 1891. He rejected a steam engine "as too cumbersome and hard to manage" for use in an automobile.^[25] He then went about making a gasoline engine vehicle. Later in 1891 he then tried such a "horseless carriage" out in Indianapolis on the paved streets of Circle and Delaware. He drove this vehicle around Indianapolis for the next twenty years. A business card of C.H. Black Manufacturing Company showed a picture of this vehicle with the writing "Estimates furnished for power-equipped vehicles of any style." The business card was dated 1892.^[26]

Elwood P. Haynes

Elwood P. Haynes, who successfully made his trial run of his automobile on July 4th, 1894, arranged a meeting with Lambert shortly thereafter. He told Lambert, a close friend of his, that he planned on manufacturing the car and wanted to advertise it as "America's First Car" to be able to promote sales.^[27] Lambert agreed not to refute this and let his friend take the honors.^[28]

A mistake Haynes made was that the Duryea brothers and others predated him. Lambert never broke his promise to his friend, however when he went into production he often made reference to his "1891" gasoline engine horseless carriage buggy but never said it was "America's First Car" made.^[29]

Footnotes

^ "Anderson's Automobile Age". Retrieved 2008-12-19.
^ ^a ^b Bailey, pp 342 As an automotive historian, I have always been intrigued with the adventure, though clouded and somewhat frusted at times, as to who was the very first to produce a gasoline automobile for sale in the United States. One of the objectives of our society's publication, the ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE, is to unearth undiscovered and unpublished automotive history. The controversial dispute between the Duryea brothers, the myriad of other independent claims by various one-of-a-kind automobile inventors, plus the extreme difficulty of obtaining complete records on some 300 horless carriages that were constructed up to 1895 makes the road of research almost as impassable as the main street of Ohio City where, in 1891, Lambert drove his first automobile. It has taken almost five years to ferret out substantial evidence in order to enter a claim for America's first automobile on behalf of John William Lambert. Cite error: The named reference "bailey" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ "Famous Automobile Makers". Retrieved 2008-12-19.
^ "John W. Lambert built one of America's first successful automobiles in 1891". Retrieved 2008-12-19.
^ Encyclopedia Britannica, The magazine Antique Automobile, after five years of investigation, announced its conviction that the Duryea Brothers had not been the first United States internal combustion automobile, and that this distinction should be assigned to a car built in 1890 and run in 1891 by John William Lambert of Ohio City, Ohio.
^ Scharchburg, p. 22 To L. Scott Bailey, well-known historian, editor, and publisher, belongs the credit for collecting and publishing the evidence that relates to the 1891 Lambert automobile. His findings were published in 1960 "Antique Automobile" after nearly five years research.
^ Huffman, Wallace Spencer, Indiana's Place in Automobile History, "Indiana History Bulletin", vol. 44, no. 2, Feb. 1967, p. 12; Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Bureau. John W. Lambert has been credited with making a gasoline powered automobile as early as 1891, which he drove in Ohio City, Ohio.
^ Anderson Sunday Herald newspaper; Anderson, Indiana; November 16, 1958 In 1891 John Lambert, as an experiment and for amusement, built and operated a gasoline car in Ohio City, Ohio. The experimental car was more a buggy than automobile, but it was propelled by a gasoline engine.
^ The Daily Chronicle, Centralia, Washington dated Friday, December 24, 1976, page 8. "The heart of free enterprise". The history of the development of the automobile is the history of business innovators in our society, pioneers on a technological frontier. One of these pioneers, whose story should be more widely known, is John William Lambert of Ohio. Though the Duryea Brothers are usually credited with building the first successful automobile, John Lambert was driving a gasoline-powered automobile on the main street of Ohio City, Ohio - a year earlier than the Duryeas produced their vehicle.
^ James, p. 6 Ford, in fact, stood well behind in the race to produce the first successful automobile. John W. Lambert of Ohio had already been driving his three-wheeled, gas-powered car back in 1891; Charles and Frank Duryea built their first car in 1893 and won America's first automobile race in Chicago in 1895; Elwood Haynes drove his vehicle in 1894, and Charles B. King of Detroit was seen driving his in 1896, six months before Henry's car was ready.
^ "Automobile History - Famous Automobile Makers". Retrieved 2008-12-19.
^ ^a ^b "The History of the First Cars". Retrieved 2008-12-19.
^ Encyclopedia Britannia, Encyclopedia Britannia Inc., 1968, Volume 2, p. 867 The magazine "Antique Automobile", after five years of investigation, announced its conviction that the Duryea Brothers had not been the first United States internal combustion automobile, and that this distinction should be assigned to a car built in 1890 and run in 1891 by John William Lambert of Ohio City, Ohio.
^ Madden, p. 2 L. Scott Bailey, the respected former editor of "Automobile Quarterly", declared in a 1960 article that the Lambert built by John William Lambert in 1891 in Ohio City, Ohio, was the first practical, working automobile built in the United States. While the Lambert effort was not documented prior to its use, it is better documented by other means than most early automobiles.
^ Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.6.
^ Kimes, p. 835
^ Anderson Sunday Herald newspaper; Anderson, Indiana; November 16, 1958 In 1891 John Lambert built and operated a gasoline car in Ohio City, Ohio. The experimental car was more a buggy than automobile, but it was propelled by a gasoline engine.
^ Bailey, p. 343 Lambert was convinced that he had a workable engine to power his three-wheel carriage and he set forth specifications and a price of $550 in a sales brochure which was mailed during the first part of February of 1891. Later that month, the automobile was running with the new stirrup-type steering on the main street of Ohio City.
^ Bailey, p. 343 It is interesting to record that several letters are on file dated in the latter part of February and early March of 1891 requesting additional information on the Lambert car. Although the letters of inquiry continued, no sales contracts were signed for the Lambert. Lambert soon realized that there was no sales potential for his automobile.
^ ^a ^b Dolnar, vol.10, Jan. 1906, p. 225
^ Dittlinger, p. 76
^ Scharchburg, p. 18 In 1905 Henry Nadig affirmed that he had begun to build a vehicle in 1891 and that he ran it on Fourth Street in Allentown when it was finished.
^ Scharchburg, p. 16 The vehicle was modified in 1892-93 to the point that it could almost be considered a second vehicle.
^ Scharchburg, p. 18 The 1891 vehicle was modified in the winter of 1892-93 and driven "for pleasure" until 1903.
^ ^a ^b Scharchburg, p. 19 Cite error: The named reference "Scharchburg4" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
^ Scharchburg, p. 28
^ Kimes, p. 835 Elwood P. Haynes, who had successfully tested his first gasoline car in Kokomo (Indiana) on July 4th, 1894, visited Lambert and announced that he planned to get into manufacture and to bill his product as "America's First Car."
^ Huhti, p. 59 Locals claim that one John Lambert of Union City actually built the first functional automobile; apparently he was such a good friend of Kokomo's Elwood Haynes that he let his friend take credit.
^ Kimes, p. 835 And he never did, though when Lambert did get into manufacture, frequent reference was made by him to the fact of the 1891 gasoline car; he simply did not say he was the first.

Primary Sources

Biography of John W. Lambert , written by his son January 25th 1935 - obtained from the Detroit Public Library, National Automotive History Collection

Dolnar, Hugh, Automobile Trade Journal, article: The Lambert, 1906 Line of Automobiles, Chilton Company, v.10 January 1906

Forkner, John L., History of Madison County, Indiana, New York and Chicago, The Lewis Publishing Company, 1914

The Horseless Age: The Automobile Trade Magazine, The Horseless Age Company, 1902

Secondary Sources

Bailey, L. Scott, Historic Discovery: 1891 Lambert, New Claim for America's First Car, Antique Automobile magazine, Vol. 24, No. 5, Oct-Nov 1960

David Burgess Wise, The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles ISBN 0-7858-1106-0

Dittlinger, Esther et al, Anderson: A Pictorial History, G. Bradley Publishing, 1990, ISBN 0943963168

Georgano, G. N., The Beaulieu Encyclopedia of the Automobile, Taylor & Francis, 2000, ISBN 1-5795829-3-1

Huffman, Wallace Spencer, Indiana's Place in Automobile History in Indiana History Bulletin, vol 44, no. 2, Feb. 1967; Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Bureau

Huhti, Thomas, The Great Indiana Touring Book: 20 Spectacular Auto Tours, Big Earth Publishing, 2002, ISBN 1-9315990-9-2

James, Wanda, Driving from Japan, McFarland, 2005, ISBN 0-786417-3-4X

Kimes, Beverly Rae, Standard Catalog of American Cars, 1805-1942, Krause Publications, 1996, ISBN 0-8734142-8-4

Madden, W. C., Haynes-Apperson and America's First Practical Automobile: A History, McFarland, 2003, ISBN 0-7864139-7-2

Scharchburg, Richard P., Carriages Without Horses: J. Frank Duryea and the Birth of the American Automobile Industry, SAE, 1993, ISBN 1-5609138-0-0

[carhistory1a-1] "Anderson's Automobile Age". Retrieved 2008-12-19.

[bailey-2] Bailey, pp 342 As an automotive historian, I have always been intrigued with the adventure, though clouded and somewhat frusted at times, as to who was the very first to produce a gasoline automobile for sale in the United States. One of the objectives of our society's publication, the ANTIQUE AUTOMOBILE, is to unearth undiscovered and unpublished automotive history. The controversial dispute between the Duryea brothers, the myriad of other independent claims by various one-of-a-kind automobile inventors, plus the extreme difficulty of obtaining complete records on some 300 horless carriages that were constructed up to 1895 makes the road of research almost as impassable as the main street of Ohio City where, in 1891, Lambert drove his first automobile. It has taken almost five years to ferret out substantial evidence in order to enter a claim for America's first automobile on behalf of John William Lambert. Cite error: The named reference "bailey" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

[famous1-3] "Famous Automobile Makers". Retrieved 2008-12-19.

[carhistory2b-4] "John W. Lambert built one of America's first successful automobiles in 1891". Retrieved 2008-12-19.

[5] Encyclopedia Britannica, The magazine Antique Automobile, after five years of investigation, announced its conviction that the Duryea Brothers had not been the first United States internal combustion automobile, and that this distinction should be assigned to a car built in 1890 and run in 1891 by John William Lambert of Ohio City, Ohio.

[scharchburg22-6] Scharchburg, p. 22 To L. Scott Bailey, well-known historian, editor, and publisher, belongs the credit for collecting and publishing the evidence that relates to the 1891 Lambert automobile. His findings were published in 1960 "Antique Automobile" after nearly five years research.

[7] Huffman, Wallace Spencer, Indiana's Place in Automobile History, "Indiana History Bulletin", vol. 44, no. 2, Feb. 1967, p. 12; Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Bureau. John W. Lambert has been credited with making a gasoline powered automobile as early as 1891, which he drove in Ohio City, Ohio.

[8] Anderson Sunday Herald newspaper; Anderson, Indiana; November 16, 1958 In 1891 John Lambert, as an experiment and for amusement, built and operated a gasoline car in Ohio City, Ohio. The experimental car was more a buggy than automobile, but it was propelled by a gasoline engine.

[9] The Daily Chronicle, Centralia, Washington dated Friday, December 24, 1976, page 8. "The heart of free enterprise". The history of the development of the automobile is the history of business innovators in our society, pioneers on a technological frontier. One of these pioneers, whose story should be more widely known, is John William Lambert of Ohio. Though the Duryea Brothers are usually credited with building the first successful automobile, John Lambert was driving a gasoline-powered automobile on the main street of Ohio City, Ohio - a year earlier than the Duryeas produced their vehicle.

[10] James, p. 6 Ford, in fact, stood well behind in the race to produce the first successful automobile. John W. Lambert of Ohio had already been driving his three-wheeled, gas-powered car back in 1891; Charles and Frank Duryea built their first car in 1893 and won America's first automobile race in Chicago in 1895; Elwood Haynes drove his vehicle in 1894, and Charles B. King of Detroit was seen driving his in 1896, six months before Henry's car was ready.

[carhistory1-11] "Automobile History - Famous Automobile Makers". Retrieved 2008-12-19.

[carhistory2-12] "The History of the First Cars". Retrieved 2008-12-19.

[13] Encyclopedia Britannia, Encyclopedia Britannia Inc., 1968, Volume 2, p. 867 The magazine "Antique Automobile", after five years of investigation, announced its conviction that the Duryea Brothers had not been the first United States internal combustion automobile, and that this distinction should be assigned to a car built in 1890 and run in 1891 by John William Lambert of Ohio City, Ohio.

[Madden2-14] Madden, p. 2 L. Scott Bailey, the respected former editor of "Automobile Quarterly", declared in a 1960 article that the Lambert built by John William Lambert in 1891 in Ohio City, Ohio, was the first practical, working automobile built in the United States. While the Lambert effort was not documented prior to its use, it is better documented by other means than most early automobiles.

[15] Clymer, Floyd. Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925 (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.6.

[Kimes835-16] Kimes, p. 835

[17] Anderson Sunday Herald newspaper; Anderson, Indiana; November 16, 1958 In 1891 John Lambert built and operated a gasoline car in Ohio City, Ohio. The experimental car was more a buggy than automobile, but it was propelled by a gasoline engine.

[bailey343b-18] Bailey, p. 343 Lambert was convinced that he had a workable engine to power his three-wheel carriage and he set forth specifications and a price of $550 in a sales brochure which was mailed during the first part of February of 1891. Later that month, the automobile was running with the new stirrup-type steering on the main street of Ohio City.

[bailey343c-19] Bailey, p. 343 It is interesting to record that several letters are on file dated in the latter part of February and early March of 1891 requesting additional information on the Lambert car. Although the letters of inquiry continued, no sales contracts were signed for the Lambert. Lambert soon realized that there was no sales potential for his automobile.

[Dolnarv011906-20] Dolnar, vol.10, Jan. 1906, p. 225

[21] Dittlinger, p. 76

[Scharchburg2-22] Scharchburg, p. 18 In 1905 Henry Nadig affirmed that he had begun to build a vehicle in 1891 and that he ran it on Fourth Street in Allentown when it was finished.

[Scharchburg3-23] Scharchburg, p. 16 The vehicle was modified in 1892-93 to the point that it could almost be considered a second vehicle.

[24] Scharchburg, p. 18 The 1891 vehicle was modified in the winter of 1892-93 and driven "for pleasure" until 1903.

[Scharchburg4-25] Scharchburg, p. 19 Cite error: The named reference "Scharchburg4" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).

[Scharchburg5-26] Scharchburg, p. 28

[Kimes835b-27] Kimes, p. 835 Elwood P. Haynes, who had successfully tested his first gasoline car in Kokomo (Indiana) on July 4th, 1894, visited Lambert and announced that he planned to get into manufacture and to bill his product as "America's First Car."

[Huhti59b-28] Huhti, p. 59 Locals claim that one John Lambert of Union City actually built the first functional automobile; apparently he was such a good friend of Kokomo's Elwood Haynes that he let his friend take credit.

[Kimes835c-29] Kimes, p. 835 And he never did, though when Lambert did get into manufacture, frequent reference was made by him to the fact of the 1891 gasoline car; he simply did not say he was the first.

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 ==History==
-[[John William Lambert]] made America's first such automobile in 1891,<ref name="famous1"> {{cite web|url= http://www.flash-screen.com/free-wallpaper/2005-car-calender-wallpaper_899.html|title= Famous Automobile Makers|accessdate= 2008-12-19}}</ref>  according to a five year extensive study<ref name ="bailey"> Bailey, p. 341-345 </ref> by a well-known automobile historian, editor, and publisher. The study found substantial evidence to enter this claim on Lambert's behalf.<ref name ="scharchburg22"> Scharchburg, p. 22 ''To L. Scott Bailey, well-known historian, editor, and publisher, belongs the credit for collecting and publishing the evidence that relates to the 1891 Lambert automobile. His findings were published in 1960 "Antique Automobile" after nearly five years research.</ref> The evidence from this study by [[L. Scott Bailey]] shows that Lambert designed, built, and ran a gasoline engine automobile in the early part of 1891 that he put on the market.<ref> Huffman, Wallace Spencer, ''Indiana's Place in Automobile History'', "Indiana History Bulletin", vol. 44, no. 2, Feb. 1967, p. 12; Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Bureau. ''John W. Lambert has been credited with making a gasoline powered automobile as early as 1891, which he drove in Ohio City, Ohio.''</ref><ref> Anderson Sunday Herald newspaper; Anderson, Indiana; November 16, 1958 ''In 1891 John Lambert, as an experiment and for amusement, built and operated a gasoline car in Ohio City, Ohio. The experimental car was more a buggy than automobile, but it was propelled by a gasoline engine.''</ref> It shows that neither [[Henry Ford]] nor the [[Duryea Brothers]] have the distinction of building the first such practical working [[Internal combustion engine|internal combustion gasoline engine]] automobile in the United States.<ref>The Daily Chronicle, Centralia, Washington dated Friday, December 24, 1976, page 8. ''"The heart of free enterprise". The history of the development of the automobile is the history of business innovators in our society, pioneers on a technological frontier. One of these pioneers, whose story should be more widely known, is John William Lambert of Ohio. Though the Duryea Brothers are usually credited with building the first successful automobile, John Lambert was driving a gasoline-powered automobile on the main street of Ohio City, Ohio - a year earlier than the Duryeas produced their vehicle.''</ref><ref> James, p. 6 ''Ford, in fact, stood well behind in the race to produce the first successful automobile. John W. Lambert of Ohio had already been driving his three-wheeled, gas-powered car back in 1891; Charles and Frank Duryea built their first car in 1893 and won America's first automobile race in Chicago in 1895; Elwood Haynes drove his vehicle in 1894, and Charles B. King of Detroit was seen driving his in 1896, six months before Henry's car was ready.''</ref> In Europe [[Karl Benz]] and [[Gottlieb Daimler]] produced the first gasoline automobiles in 1885/1886.<ref name="carhistory1"> {{cite web|url= http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventors/tp/Famous-Automobile-Makers-.htm|title= Automobile History - Famous Automobile Makers|accessdate= 2008-12-19}}</ref><ref name="carhistory2"> {{cite web|url= http://www.chevroncars.com/learn/cars/history-cars|title= The History of the First Cars|accessdate= 2008-12-19}}</ref> The Duryea brothers made their automobile in 1893 and started the [[Duryea Motor Wagon Company]] in 1895 mass producting cars.<ref name="carhistory2"/> Henry Ford started mass producing cars in 1899 at the [[Detroit Automobile Company]].
+[[John William Lambert]] made America's first such automobile in 1891,<ref name="famous1"> {{cite web|url= http://www.flash-screen.com/free-wallpaper/2005-car-calender-wallpaper_899.html|title= Famous Automobile Makers|accessdate= 2008-12-19}}</ref>  according to a five year extensive study<ref name="carhistory2b"> {{cite web|url= http://www.indiana-automotive-history.com/cruise-in-sample2.html|title= John W. Lambert built one of America's first successful automobiles in 1891|accessdate= 2008-12-19}}</ref><ref>Encyclopedia Britannica, ''The magazine Antique Automobile, after five years of investigation, announced its conviction that the Duryea Brothers had not been the first United States internal combustion automobile, and that this distinction should be assigned to a car built in 1890 and run in 1891 by John William Lambert of Ohio City, Ohio.''</ref> by a well-known automobile historian, editor, and publisher.<ref name ="bailey"> Bailey, p. 341-345 </ref> The study found substantial evidence to enter this claim on Lambert's behalf.<ref name ="scharchburg22"> Scharchburg, p. 22 ''To L. Scott Bailey, well-known historian, editor, and publisher, belongs the credit for collecting and publishing the evidence that relates to the 1891 Lambert automobile. His findings were published in 1960 "Antique Automobile" after nearly five years research.</ref> The evidence from this study by [[L. Scott Bailey]] shows that Lambert designed, built, and ran a gasoline engine automobile in the early part of 1891 that he put on the market.<ref> Huffman, Wallace Spencer, ''Indiana's Place in Automobile History'', "Indiana History Bulletin", vol. 44, no. 2, Feb. 1967, p. 12; Indianapolis, Indiana Historical Bureau. ''John W. Lambert has been credited with making a gasoline powered automobile as early as 1891, which he drove in Ohio City, Ohio.''</ref><ref> Anderson Sunday Herald newspaper; Anderson, Indiana; November 16, 1958 ''In 1891 John Lambert, as an experiment and for amusement, built and operated a gasoline car in Ohio City, Ohio. The experimental car was more a buggy than automobile, but it was propelled by a gasoline engine.''</ref> It shows that neither [[Henry Ford]] nor the [[Duryea Brothers]] have the distinction of building the first such practical working [[Internal combustion engine|internal combustion gasoline engine]] automobile in the United States.<ref>The Daily Chronicle, Centralia, Washington dated Friday, December 24, 1976, page 8. ''"The heart of free enterprise". The history of the development of the automobile is the history of business innovators in our society, pioneers on a technological frontier. One of these pioneers, whose story should be more widely known, is John William Lambert of Ohio. Though the Duryea Brothers are usually credited with building the first successful automobile, John Lambert was driving a gasoline-powered automobile on the main street of Ohio City, Ohio - a year earlier than the Duryeas produced their vehicle.''</ref><ref> James, p. 6 ''Ford, in fact, stood well behind in the race to produce the first successful automobile. John W. Lambert of Ohio had already been driving his three-wheeled, gas-powered car back in 1891; Charles and Frank Duryea built their first car in 1893 and won America's first automobile race in Chicago in 1895; Elwood Haynes drove his vehicle in 1894, and Charles B. King of Detroit was seen driving his in 1896, six months before Henry's car was ready.''</ref> In Europe [[Karl Benz]] and [[Gottlieb Daimler]] produced the first gasoline automobiles in 1885/1886.<ref name="carhistory1"> {{cite web|url= http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventors/tp/Famous-Automobile-Makers-.htm|title= Automobile History - Famous Automobile Makers|accessdate= 2008-12-19}}</ref><ref name="carhistory2"> {{cite web|url= http://www.chevroncars.com/learn/cars/history-cars|title= The History of the First Cars|accessdate= 2008-12-19}}</ref> The Duryea brothers made their automobile in 1893 and started the [[Duryea Motor Wagon Company]] in 1895 mass producting cars.<ref name="carhistory2"/> Henry Ford started mass producing cars in 1899 at the [[Detroit Automobile Company]].
 Lambert initially designed and built his "horseless carriage" gasoline automobile in 1890.<ref> Encyclopedia Britannia, Encyclopedia Britannia Inc., 1968, Volume 2, p. 867 ''The magazine "Antique Automobile", after five years of investigation, announced its conviction that the Duryea Brothers had not been the first United States internal combustion automobile, and that this distinction should be assigned to a car built in 1890 and run in 1891 by John William Lambert of Ohio City, Ohio.''</ref> He successfully tested it in January of 1891 inside an 80 foot farm implement showroom he owned in [[Ohio City, Ohio]].<ref name ="Madden2> Madden, p. 2 ''L. Scott Bailey, the respected former editor of "Automobile Quarterly", declared in a 1960 article that the Lambert built by John William Lambert in 1891 in Ohio City, Ohio, was the first practical, working automobile built in the United States. While the Lambert effort was not documented prior to its use, it is better documented by other means than most early automobiles.'' </ref> Lambert's three-wheeled surrey-top gasoline-powered buggy was his own design. It had a single cylinder, [[four-stroke]] engine. This, the Buckeye gasoline buggy, was a one-seat [[tricycle]] with large rear wheels.<ref>Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877-1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p.6.</ref>
@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 This first model had a wipe spark ignition and dry cell batteries. The automobile had two speeds forward and none going backwards. A hand steering device was added later when the automobile was used outside on the roads. The weight of the car was 585 pounds. It had wooden wheels with steel rims for extra wear. The [[carburetor]] was a surface vaporizer with a flexible diaphragm "compensator." This was patented by Lambert on May 17, 1902. The original model cost Lambert $3200. In 1904 it was lost in a fire when a building that he was having remodeled burned to the ground.<ref name ="Dolnarv011906"> Dolnar, vol.10, Jan. 1906, p. 225 </ref>
 In 1895 Lambert decided to manufacture stationary gasoline engines. He moved to [[Anderson, Indiana]] and there started [[Buckeye Manufacturing Company]]. In that same year he announced he would "soon have a gasoline vehicle on the market" to be called the Buckeye. He sent a picture to the newspapers, which was of the Buckeye gasoline buggy he made in 1891. This endeavor also did not come to fruition. Instead he continued experimentation and devised the [[Lambert friction gearing disk drive transmission|friction gearing disk drive transmission]]. He invented and developed a friction transmission that would be the key feature on all of his automobiles he made. Lambert's first model design of 1891 was eventually modified and developed into the [[Union (automobile)|Union automobile]] which first was sold in 1902.<ref name ="Dolnarv011906"/>  He made the "Union automobile" from 1902 through 1905. In 1906, he produced the first [[Lambert (automobile)|Lambert automobile]]. With this superior vehicle to the previous "Union automobile" he established himself as one of the more successful automobile manufacturers of the time period. Lambert also manufactured fire engine trucks, gasoline engine utility trucks and steel-rimed wheeled farm tractors. The Buckeye Manufacturing Company produced the Lambert automobile and trucks through 1917. The maximum production was from 1907 to 1910. It then produced an average of two thousand vehicles a year.<ref> Dittlinger, p. 76 </ref>
 ==Others of pre-Duryea ==