Oldsmobile Curved Dash History
Catalog record
This is a brief catalog introduction with limited source documentation. A licensed, identity-checked lead photograph has not yet been added for this page. Detailed year, configuration and ownership coverage must be identified separately; this page is not a complete vehicle catalog.
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The gasoline-powered Oldsmobile Model R, universally known as the Curved Dash for its distinctive upswept footboard, is credited as the first mass-produced automobile — built on an assembly line using interchangeable parts. It was introduced in 1901 and produced through 1907.
A simple, single-cylinder tiller-steered runabout, it was light and cheap enough to sell in then-unheard-of numbers: 425 were built the first year, around 2,500 in 1902, and over 19,000 across the run. It was the best-selling car in America from 1902 to 1905, putting the country on wheels years before the Ford Model T.
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