Industry · engineering · Builder · former owner

Henry Ford

1896 Ford Quadricycle Runabout

Henry Ford’s black-and-green 1896 Quadricycle Runabout displayed at The Henry Ford.
Henry Ford’s actual 1896 Quadricycle Runabout, The Henry Ford object 00.2.93, photographed at the museum in 2014.Photo: Sicnag / Cars Down Under · CC BY 2.0. Downloaded the 5184 × 3456 Commons original, auto-oriented, proportionally resized to 1600 × 1067, stripped of metadata and recompressed at JPEG quality 92. No crop, retouching, generated content or vehicle reconstruction.
Henry Ford in a circa-1919 identification portrait by Fred Hartsook.
Henry Fordca. · Identification portraitFred Hartsook · No known copyright restrictions. Downloaded the 1744 × 2226 Commons JPEG, auto-oriented, proportionally resized to 1024 × 1307, stripped of metadata and recompressed at JPEG quality 92. No crop, retouching or generation. A responsive frame may crop displayed edges.

The first Ford was built, sold, then bought back

Connection
Builder · former owner
When
Built and first driven in 1896 · reacquired in 1904
Identity
The Henry Ford object 00.2.93 · 1896 Quadricycle runabout · 59-cu-in inline two · two-speed manual

The Henry Ford identifies object 00.2.93 as the 1896 Quadricycle, Henry Ford’s first gasoline-powered automobile. The museum’s maker record does not turn it into a lone-genius story: Ford built it in Detroit with David Bell, James Bishop, George Cato and Edward Huff, using an angle-iron frame, buggy seat, bicycle wheels, belt-and-chain drive and a two-cylinder engine.

Ford first drove the Quadricycle on June 4, 1896. The museum records a 59-cubic-inch inline two, a two-speed manual and an estimated four horsepower at 500 rpm. Those facts belong to this individual handmade machine, not to a production Ford model or a later catalog generation.

The custody trail is unusually complete. Ford sold the car in late 1896 for $200 and used the money to build his second automobile. In 1904, as Ford Motor Company became successful, he bought the Quadricycle back for $65. It is now in the Henry Ford Museum as a gift of Henry and Clara Ford. Joyride therefore records both a builder connection and former ownership—not present private ownership.

Documented custody

Where the car went next

  1. June 4, 1896First drive

    Ford took the newly completed Quadricycle on its first documented drive in Detroit.

  2. Late 1896Sold for the next build

    Ford sold the car for $200 and used the proceeds to build his second automobile.

  3. 1904Bought back

    Ford reacquired the same Quadricycle for $65 after Ford Motor Company began to succeed.

  4. Museum record reviewed October 4, 2026Museum collection

    Object 00.2.93 is held by The Henry Ford as a gift of Henry and Clara Ford.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

The Henry Ford establishes the individual museum object, its 1896 identity, Ford’s four named collaborators, first drive, late-1896 sale, 1904 reacquisition and present museum custody. No current private owner, production-series identity or unsupported sole-inventor claim is made.

  • 1896 Ford Quadricycle Runabout, First Car Built by Henry FordThe Henry Ford · Collection record reviewed 2026-10-04 · external source

    Object 00.2.93, the 1896 handmade Quadricycle identity, collaborators, engine and transmission specifications, late-1896 sale, 1904 reacquisition and museum custody.

  • A Very Special Test DriveThe Henry Ford · 2013-06-04 · external source

    The June 4, 1896 first drive and the $200 sale used to fund Ford’s second car.

Reviewed

Why this is the actual car
  • Photo identity evidence

    The Henry Ford identifies object 00.2.93 as the 1896 Quadricycle Runabout, Ford’s first car, and records its present museum location.

  • Photo identity evidence

    Photographer Sicnag identifies the photographed car as the first Ford-built Quadricycle at The Henry Ford Museum on April 29, 2014.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.