Looks like Hemmings (and through them, me) got taken by an urban legend:
http://www.hemmings.com/newsletter/newsletter.html?
volume=2&issue=27&id=831&refer=news&emlid=123347#831
"Horseless Carriage Committee report an urban myth
Last week, we quoted the congressional Horseless Carriage Committee,
supposedly of 1875. Were we a little skeptical of the source? Sure,
and we did scour the Congressional Record of the time for a
reference, and couldn't find it, but then, the Record is a little
spotty. At worst, we thought that maybe it came from later on, you
know, when the internal combustion engine actually became common, say
from 1895 or so.
Reader Chuck Picciuti was also looking for the source of this, and we
suggested that the only way to verify or disprove this account would
be to dive into the published volumes of the Record at his local
Federal Depository. Chuck actually had the time and inclination to go
to the Public Services Division of the Law Library of Congress, and
this is what they told him:
“This is, in fact, an urban legend. We checked ‘Committees in the
U.S. Congress,’ published by CQ Press and verified that there never
was a ‘Horseless Carriage Committee.’ We also checked the
Congressional Record Index (indexing debate in congress), the
Congressional Hearings Index and the U.S. Serial Set, which indexes
congressional reports and documents, and found no references. Indeed,
the terms ‘gasoline’ or ‘horseless carriage’ do not even appear in
these sources for this time period. We also checked these sources
using the terms ‘automobile’ and ‘petroleum’ and again found no
references for this time period.
"We also believe this statement is anachronistic. In 1876, Nicholas
Otto of Germany invented and built the first gas motor engine and
then built it into a motorcycle. Subsequently, in 1885, Karl Benz
designed and built the first practical automobile to be powered by an
internal combustion engine. The first gasoline-powered automobile
built in the United States in 1891 by John Lampert was a three-
wheeled motor vehicle. The first U.S. patent for a gasoline-powered
automobile was issued in 1895, and the first U.S. company to
manufacture automobiles was founded in 1896 by the Duryea brothers.
For additional information, click here, or click here for a brief
history of gasoline."
We hope this sets the record straight on this oft-quoted, totally
fabricated bit of history.
- By David Traver Adolphus"
On digest mode, so I'm a little slow...
Kevin Wright
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX http://
www.wankel.net/~krwright/cars/olds/70Olds.html
'71 Cutlass S for sale, less engine and trans: http://www.wankel.net/
~krwright/cars/olds/71_cutlass.html
Snoopy: 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass S Sports Coupe - It wants to be a
W-31! And have EFI, 4-wheel discs, a 6-speed, a turbo or two... :)
...and a '71 Holiday Coupe less engine/transmission for sale - it'll
be parts if someone doesn't buy it!
