What is the name of the first car built by Henry Ford?

The Ford Quadricycle was the first car built by Henry Ford.

Ford completed the experimental vehicle in 1896 after more than two years of work on gasoline engines. He test-drove it on June 4 from a small workshop behind his home on Bagley Avenue in Detroit. The lightweight machine used a simple metal frame, four bicycle wheels and a two-cylinder engine producing about four horsepower.

The Quadricycle was closer to a motorized carriage than a modern automobile. It had a chain drive, tiller steering and a two-speed transmission with no reverse gear. Its top speed was roughly 20 mph. Ford later sold the first Quadricycle to Charles Ainsley for $200, then eventually bought it back.

The name comes from its four wheels and its heavy use of bicycle technology. It should not be confused with the 1903 Ford Model A, which was the first car produced by the Ford Motor Company after the company was founded. The better-known Model T arrived several years later, in 1908, and transformed automobile manufacturing through large-scale assembly-line production.