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One of his first famous races was against Henry Ford, which he lost in 1901. In 1902 he built the first of three custom race cars; all were called the 'Bullet'. Bullet No. 1 was the first car to win a sanctioned race at Daytona Beach, Florida. Bullet No. 2 was built for the Gordon Bennett Cup in Ireland in 1903. It was one of the first 8 ...
However, it was considered the first safe and practical oil engine and also served as inspiration to George B. Selden. As a production engine the design evolved over time, and according to Henry de Graffigny in Gas and Petroleum Engines, it was available in both vertical and horizontal forms. [9]
The history of the Selden Truck Corporation is told with images of current models and the company's plans for the future. The invention of the first gas propelled road wagon in 1877 by George B. Selden is described in the item. "Baker Motor Sales Co., Inc., distributors Selden Trucks, 400 Mass. Ave., Cambridge, Mass." is stamped on the item.
George Baldwin Selden (September 14, 1846 – January 17, 1922) was a patent lawyer and inventor who was granted a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1895.[1][2][3] In 1859, his father, Judge Henry R. Selden, a prominent Republican attorney most noted for defending Susan B. Anthony, moved to Rochester, New York, where George briefly attended the University of Rochester before dropping out to ...
In 1899 he sold his patent rights to William C. Whitney, who proposed manufacturing electric-powered taxicabs as the Electric Vehicle Company, EVC, for a royalty of US$15 per car with a minimum annual payment of US$5,000. Whitney and Selden then worked together to collect royalties from other budding automobile manufacturers.
George Selden conceived -- but didn't build -- a gasoline-powered self-propelled vehicle in 1877. Selden, a patent attorney, shrewdly waited until 1895 to receive a patent on the idea -- long enough for the automobile industry to emerge and his patent to become valuable. After an eight-year legal fight led by Henry Ford, Selden's broad patent claim was severely restricted in 1911.
The firm produced its first car in 1909 and continued through 1912. The Selden automobile was a fine-quality, upper-mid-priced automobile of attractive design, including the 40R Varsity Roadster of 1911, a lovely, sporting job with a “mother-in-law” seat and 40-horsepower, 356 cu. in. four-cylinder engine on a 125-inch-wheelbase chassis.
