1903 Dyke No. 1 Gasoline Runabout

1903 Dyke No. 1 Gasoline Runabout

Established in St.Louis in 1899 by A.L.Dyke (Andrew Lee Dyke), Dyke was the first American auto parts business. Dyke also sold early autos, kit car or assembled. In addition to the Dyke name, the company also sold automobiles under the St. Louis (St. Louis Motor Company) and Dyke-Britton names.

Andrew Dyke founded the first automobile supply catalog business in 1899. But because no one really yet needed parts, he decided to build some cars (and sell some kit cars) while he waiting for the need to arise.

This is one of the kits, as his early cars were electrics, and the 1904 Dyke-Britton was a four-cylinder touring car. Essentially, you bought the running chassis from Dyke and them went about sourcing a body. This is powered by either a one or two-cylinder engine.

Only three such cars remain, and the current owner of this car purchased it directly from a Harrah dispersal sale in 1985. It’s been freshened and modified (slightly) for an improved top speed: 30 mph.

Descriptions & pictures by wikipedia & classiccarweekly & rmsothebys & american-automobiles