Oldsmobile Curved Dash History

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.