1904 Oldsmobile Curved Dash Runabout Model 6C
edited by David Barth, 10 January 2009.
Courtesy The Forney Museum of Transportation at 4303 Brighton Blvd., Denver,
Colorado. Photos were taken in January 2009.
Ransom Eli Olds had been experimenting with building cars in 1887. The family business of P. F. Olds & Son was too busy
manufacturing gasoline engines in central Michigan to get into the automobile business. However, Ransom organized the
Olds Motor Vehicle Company in Lansing, Michigan on August 21, 1897. On March 9, 1901, fire blazed throughout the plant,
and of eleven automobiles, only one was rescued. This fire was the best thing to happen because that single vehicle was
the Curved Dash Oldsmobile.
The Curved Dash Olds was America’s first car produced in quantity. Its success encouraged others of mechanical mind to
enter the field and persuaded investors that the automobile was a viable business.
The Model 6C Curved Dash Olds remained in production until the end of 1904. It seemed identical to the Model R, but the
6C body was larger, containing more reinforcements. The running gear was heavier and stronger, but the transmission only
had a low forward speed and reverse.
