right|thumb|Thomas Plant

right|thumb|Thomas Model 17 (1903)

right|thumb|Thomas Model 18 (1903)

right|thumb|Thomas Model 31 (1906)

right|thumb|1908 Thomas 4-20 Town Car

thumb|1909 Thomas Flyer in an upscale [[Salt Lake City suburb]]

right|thumb| Thomas Model M 6-40 Touring Car (1910-1912)

E. R. Thomas Motor Company was a manufacturer of motorized bicycles, motorized tricycles, motorcycles, and automobiles in Buffalo, New York between 1900 and 1919.

Motorized bicycles, tricycles, and motorcycles

In 1896, Edwin Ross Thomas (1850–1936) of Buffalo, New York began selling gasoline engine kits for propelling ordinary bicycles. After forming the Thomas Motor Company, he began selling complete motor-assisted bicycles under the name Thomas Auto-Bi. The Auto-Bi is generally considered to be the first production motorized bicycle made in the United States. By 1903, the company was the largest manufacturer of single-cylinder, air-cooled engines. The steel-framed car weighed 1900 lb (862 kg). A modern cellular radiator was used for cooling. An 8 hp (6 kW) tonneau model sold for US$1250 ($ in dollars ). In 1912 the company went into receivership and was purchased by Empire Smelting & Refining Company owner C.A. Finnegan. E.R. Thomas was finally shut down between 1918 and 1919.

Production models

  • Thomas Model 17
  • Thomas Model 18
  • Thomas Flyer Model 22
  • Thomas Model 25
  • Thomas Model 26
  • Thomas Model 27
  • Thomas Model 29
  • Thomas Model 30
  • Thomas Model 31
  • Thomas Model 32
  • Thomas Model 33
  • Thomas Model 34
  • Thomas Model C-I
  • Thomas Model C-II
  • Thomas Model XXXVI
  • Thomas Model XXXIX
  • Thomas Model XL
  • Thomas Model 4-40 Detroit
  • Thomas Model 4-20 Town Car
  • Thomas Model F 4-60 Touring Car
  • Thomas Model K 6-70 Touring Car
  • Thomas Model M 6-40 Touring Car
  • Thomas Model 4-16 Town Car
  • Thomas Model R 4-28 Town Car

New York to Paris Race

A 1907 Model 35 with 4 cylinders and 60 horsepower, dubbed Thomas Flyer, won the 1908 New York to Paris Race, the first and only around-the-world automobile race ever held. The race began in Times Square, New York, on February 12 and covered some , finishing in Paris on July 30, 1908. Six teams started the race (one Italian, one German, three French (De Dion-Bouton, Motobloc, and Sizaire-Naudin), and the American Flyer). Only three of the cars finished, the Thomas Flyer which won, the German Protos, and the Italian Züst. The original intent was to drive the full distance using the frozen Bering Strait to drive across the Pacific Ocean. In the course of the race, the Flyer was the first car to cross the United States taking 41 days 8 hours and 15 minutes, and the first to do so in the winter with George Schuster the first automobile driver to ever make the transcontinental winter crossing of the US.

The Flyer survived and was restored to the exact condition it entered Paris on that day by William F. Harrah. It is now on exhibit at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.

The Germans arrived in Paris on July 26, 1908. The American Flyer arrived at the edge of the city on July 30, and initially was not allowed into Paris by police because it had a broken headlamp. A passerby offered the team a bicycle light. With no tools to remove the light, they simply strapped the bike on the Thomas Flyer so they could enter Paris and finish the race.

It was later discovered the Protos took some shortcuts on its path and was penalized, so the American team that actually arrived second was declared the official winner of the epic race.

The 1965 Warner Brothers movie The Great Race is inspired by the 1908 New York to Paris race and the hero's car, the Leslie Special, is documented to be inspired by the Thomas flyer.

See also

  • Brass Era car
  • List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers
  • Charles T. Hinde

References

  • Rafferty, Tod, The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Motorcycles, Philadelphia, PA: Courage Books (1999)
  • Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly (January 1904)
  • Schuster & Mahoney, The Longest Auto Race, New York, NY: The John Day Company (1966)
  • The Great Auto Race of 1908
  • 1908 New York to Paris Race