Selden Automobile Patent Model, 1879
date: label: Date made
content: 1879
label: patent date
content: 1895-11-05
name: label: inventor
content: Selden, George B.
notes: label: Description
content: George Selden's dubious claim that he invented the automobile cast a shadow on the early auto manufacturing industry. His claim rested on a patent application for a "road-engine" that he had filed in 1879. A lawyer schooled in science, Selden was intrigued by the challenge of devising an engine light enough to propel a road vehicle. He designed a small, improved version of George Brayton's compression engine of 1872 and filed a patent application for "a liquid-hydrocarbon engine of the compression type" combined with broadly defined chassis components. Selden deliberately delayed issuance of the patent until 1895, when automobiles were attracting more attention. Soon a patent-pooling association of auto manufacturing companies demanded and received royalties from other manufacturers for the right to produce Selden's "invention." Henry Ford, then just entering the automobile industry, became locked in a highly-publicized legal battle with the Selden interests when his application for a license was turned down in 1903. Ford blasted monopolistic control and exploitation by the "automobile trust" and forever fixed his image as an independent businessman fighting a corporate Goliath for the good of all. Ford's victory in court raised his standing in the automotive industry and made him one of the best known businessmen in America. In 1911 the Selden patent was limited to vehicles with Brayton-type engines as modified by Selden, and his influence quickly faded.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: associated place
content: United States: New York, Rochester
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Transportation, Road
label: See more items in
content: Industry & Manufacturing
label: See more items in
content: National Treasures exhibit
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
label: See more items in
content: Road Transportation
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: Kendrick, Kathleen M. and Peter C. Liebhold. Smithsonian Treasures of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: TR.252678
label: catalog number
content: 252678
label: accession number
content: 49064
label: patent number
content: 549,160
objectType: label: Object Name
content: patent model, automobile, gasoline
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 1/2 in x 6 1/2 in x 11 in; 19.05 cm x 16.51 cm x 27.94 cm