When most people think of Detroit’s automotive origins, Henry Ford’s name is the first to come to mind. His Quadricycle, built and driven in 1896, is often celebrated as a milestone in the birth of the American auto industry. But months before Ford’s historic drive, another inventor had already made history on the streets of Detroit: Charles Brady King.
Charles Brady King was a true Renaissance man—an engineer, artist, musician, and inventor. Inspired by European pioneers like Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz, King set out to build his own “horseless carriage.” His goal was to enter America’s first automobile race in Chicago in 1895, but delays meant his vehicle wasn’t ready in time. Undeterred, King completed his car in early 1896 and prepared for a different kind of debut.
On March 6, 1896, King rolled his four-cylinder, gasoline-powered carriage out of John Lauer’s machine shop on St. Antoine Street. With hundreds of curious onlookers lining the route, King steered his creation down Jefferson Avenue, turned onto Woodward, and made his way through the heart of Detroit. The car reached speeds of up to 20 miles per hour—a remarkable feat for the era. Among the crowd that day was a young Henry Ford, reportedly following King’s maiden voyage on a bicycle, eager to witness the spectacle.
King’s drive was more than just a technical achievement; it was a public demonstration that the future of transportation had arrived. Local newspapers reported on the event, and King himself confidently predicted that “the horseless carriage will supersede the horse.” Despite the excitement, Detroit was not yet the car capital it would soon become. Skepticism, legal threats (including one from a police officer for “disturbing the peace”), and a lack of infrastructure meant King’s invention was ahead of its time.
After his historic drive, King dismantled his prototype and sold the chassis to Byron Carter, another future automotive innovator. But King’s influence didn’t end there. He mentored Henry Ford and other pioneers, contributed inventions like the air brake and air-controlled clutch, and later founded the King Motor Car Company. His company introduced innovations such as left-hand steering, a centrally located gearshift, and one of the first practical V8 engines.
While King’s name faded from popular memory, his impact on Detroit and the automotive world was profound. He was the first to drive a gasoline-powered car on Detroit’s streets, paving the way for the city’s rise as the Motor City. Without Charles Brady King’s vision and daring, Detroit’s story—and perhaps the entire American auto industry—might have looked very different.
Ford’s trip almost three months later in his Quadricycle was certainly notable, but Charles Brady King is the man recognized by the Automotive Hall of Fame, the Detroit Historical Society and other sources as the man who took that first drive in Detroit.