1909 White Model "M" 40HP
The Motoring President
The following slide show presents how and why America took to the automobile, and a celebration of the man who made it happen -- and his favorite car, the White Model "M" 40 HP Steamer, which resides today in the Heritage Museums & Gardens, Sandwich, MA. Also discussed is the Ford Model N, the first successful mass market automobile.
The following is derived from a presentation by Michael L. Bromley at the Heritage Museums on October 20, 2004 (-- a bad day in NY Yankees history, and quite the opposite for the Boston Red Sox). Please see also the web presentation and paper, Early Automobiles & Airplanes: The Cultural Lag (or why nobody cared about Henry Ford and the Wright Brothers until 1909) Some material from that presentation was repeated in the Heritage Museums speech, and has not been entirely included here.
| Good evening! It’s a real special treat to be here with you tonight and to talk with you about a special car that’s in this collection and the man who made it so special. Unlike other famous or important automobiles, it’s not who designed it, it’s not who built or sold it, and it’s not who drove it that makes this car so important. In fact, the man who made it so didn’t even own it. All he did was sit in the back seat for a couple years... |
1909 White Model "M" 40HP
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Well, he did quite a bit more than just sit in the
back seat... By making this car his, this magnificent car, the one in this great museum, Taft made it the most significant single automobile ever. Taft and his steamer changed America. |
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