The Black was an American

brass era The Brass Era is an American term for the early period of automotive manufacturing, named for the prominent brass fittings used during this time for such things as lights and radiators. It is generally considered to encompass 1896 through 191 ...

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

, built at 124 East Ohio Street,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, in 1906. It was a

high wheeler A high wheeler is a car which uses large diameter wheels that are similar to those used by horse-drawn vehicles. These cars were produced until about 1915, predominantly in the United States. Design High wheelers were derived from horse-drawn ...

buggy priced at a US$375-$450, when

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...

Runabout went for $650, and the

Ford Ford commonly refers to: * Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford * Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river Ford may also refer to: Ford Motor Company * Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company * Ford F ...

"Doctor's Car" was $850. The Black featured a 10 hp (7.5 kW) two-cylinder air-cooled

gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...

engine,

chain drive Chain drive is a way of transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of machines besides vehicles. ...

, wheel steering and (unusual for the era) double brakes.Clymer, p.61. It bragged speeds of 2-25 mph (3.2–40 km/h) and mileage of 30mpg (12.75 L/100 km). Surreys and "top motor buggies" were also advertised.

Black Crow and Chicago Motor Buggy

From 1909 to 1911, Black sold a

rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a man ...

Crow-Elkhart automobile as the " Black Crow". In addition to Black and Black Crow names, during 1908 and 1909,Kimes, Beverly. ''Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942'' (Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1996), p.303, calls them the

Black Manufacturing Company The Black Manufacturing Company was a clothing manufacturer that produced the Black Bear brand of overalls as well as mackinaws and overcoats; George G. Black was the proprietor. In 1914, Black had a building designed by Andrew Willatzen built for ...

. the company also sold a two-cylinder, high-wheeler under the Chicago Motor Buggy name.

References

Sources

* Clymer, Floyd. ''Treasury of Early American Automobiles, 1877–1925'' (New York: Bonanza Books, 1950), p. 32. * Kimes, Beverly. ''Standard Catalog of American Cars 1805-1942''. Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 1996. * Wise, David Burgess. ''The New Illustrated Encyclopedia of Automobiles''. Cars introduced in 1906 Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Illinois Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States History of Chicago Defunct manufacturing companies based in Chicago 1906 establishments in Illinois Highwheeler {{Brass-auto-stub