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Winton Bicycle Company

The Winton Motor Carriage Company of Cleveland, Ohio was a pioneer United States automobile manufacturer. Winton was the first American company to sell a motor car.

1897

The company was incorporated on March 15, 1897 by Scottish immigrant, Alexander Winton, owner of the Winton Bicycle Company. Their first automobiles, called "horseless carriages," were built by hand and assembled piece by piece. Each vehicle had fancy painted sides, padded seats, a leather roof, and gas lamps. The B.F. Goodrich Company of Akron, Ohio made the rubber tires for Winton cars.

By this time, Winton had already produced two fully operational prototype automobiles. In May of that year, the 10 hp (7.5 kW) model achieved the astonishing speed of 33.64 mph (54.14 km/h) on a test around a Cleveland horse track. However, the new invention was still subject to much skepticism and to prove his automobile's durability and usefulness, Alexander Winton had his car undergo an 800 mile endurance run from Cleveland to New York City.

1898

On March 24, 1898 Robert Allison of Port Carbon, Pennsylvania became the first person to buy an American-built automobile when he bought a Winton after seeing an advertisement in Scientific American. Later that year the Winton Motor Carriage Company sold twenty-one more vehicles, including one to James Ward Packard, later founder of the Packard automobile company.

1899 - 1900

The following year, more than one hundred Winton vehicles were sold, making the company the largest manufacturer of gas-powered automobiles in the United States. This success led to the first automobile dealership being opened by Mr. H.W. Koler in Reading, Pennsylvania. To deliver the vehicles, in 1899 the innovative Winton company built the first auto hauler in America.

1901

Publicity generated sales and in 1901 the news that both Reginald Vanderbilt and Alfred Vanderbilt had purchased Winton automobiles, boosted the company's image substantially.

1904 - 1924

The 1904 Winton was a touring car model. Equipped with a tonneau, it could seat 5 passengers and sold for US$2500. The flat-mounted water-cooled straight-2, situated amidships of the car, produced 20 hp (14.9 kW). The channel and angle steel-framed car weighed 2300 lb (1043 kg).

Winton continued successfully through the 1910s marketing automobiles to upscale consumers. As dozens of new automobile companies started up rapid innovation and intense competition led to falling sales in the early 1920s.

1924

Winton Motor Carriage Company ceased automobile production in 1924. However, Winton continued in the marine and stationary gasoline and diesel engine business, an industry he entered in 1912 with the Winton Engine Company.

1919 Winton

1919 Winton

1920 Winton