Automobile manufacturing was booming in York a hundred years ago. One of the most successful was the Pullman automobile, made by the York Motor Car Company. Manufacturers entered the cars in all kinds of races and competition to capture the attention of the public, and the results were duly reported in the sports pages.
One such competition was a hill climb in New York. The account in the April 11, 1908 York Gazette reads:
“NEW YORK, April 10.--The twenty horse power Pullman automobile, manufactured by the York Motor car company of York, Pa., led all twenty horse power machines in the hill climbing contest given under the auspices of the New York Auto club here yesterday. The Pullman was entered in the contest with machines of thirty and thirty-five horse power, geared purposely for hill climbing contests.
There were seventy-five machines entered in the content and the Pullman was third in the event in which it was entered. It defeated all twenty horse power cars in the race.”
When you consider that the horsepower of today’s coupes and sedans range around 200-250 horsepower, I wonder how they even got up the hill in 1908.
Click here for illustrations of the Pullmans of 100 years ago.
Click here to read what happened when an early auto met a mule.
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