When you think of Henry Ford’s legacy and the automotive and technological advancements he achieved, it’s hard to imagine him building his first car engine on a kitchen table. But, that’s exactly what happened in 1896, and the car was called the Quadricycle because it was basically an engine mounted on a frame with four bicycle wheels holding it all up.
The 1896 Quadricycle
The engine was a smaller one-cylinder gasoline design that Ford came up with due to his interest in internal combustion engines. An internal combustion engine is what you’ll find under the hood of most modern cars, and it just means that the fuel is burned within the actual engine and not in an external furnace (like a steam engine for example).
In a lesson of humility, Henry Ford built the Quadricycle behind his house in a brick shed, but when it was completed, Ford realized that the frame was too wide to fit through the shed door. According to Ford, He was so excited to get his car out for a test run that he took an axe and smashed the bricks out of the wall. That just goes to show you how passionate Henry Ford was about his vehicles!
Ford got his first car out of the shed and took it for its first drive — only to have it stall a few blocks down the road. The car had an ignition problem, but Ford never gave up, and his Quadricycle soon got the attention and backing of the mayor of Detroit. This would be the start of his first car company in 1899, the Detroit Automobile Company, and while it didn’t last long, Henry Ford’s story was just beginning.
