1908 Overland Runabout Model 24
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.
Late in 1902, over a cup of coffee, Charles Minshall, president of the Standard Wheel Company of Terre Haute, Indiana,
and Claude Cox decided that "Overland" would be the name of their company. Minshall considered Cox's Ross Polytechnic
Institute senior thesis about a motorized four-wheel automobile at to be sufficient experience to head the new automobile
department at Standard Wheel.
Cox developed the following for a new car design:
- water-cooled, five hp, single-cylinder engine
- two-speed planetary transmission controlled by a foot pedal
- jump spark ignition
- two-way switch plug for changeover between two dry batteries
The first Overland was advanced for its time.
