Dorris Motor Car

St. Louis, Missouri, was the home of a number of early automobile companies — small, well-run firms that made some pretty good cars. One of the better manufacturers was Dorris Motor Car Company, named after founder George Preston Dorris. He seems to have been born with mechanical ability and an inquisitive mind: After designing and building a steam engine for his boat in 1892, when he was a mere teenager, Dorris went on to build his own gasoline-powered horseless carriage around 1897, when he was a young man of 23. He also pretty much invented the first float-feed carburetor in America, although he never patented it. Later on, some enterprising — and dishonest — manufacturers put slightly altered versions on the market and took credit for the idea.

There’s no record of whether or not Dorris pursued legal action against the men who stole his idea, but he probably didn’t. Dorris was more interested in building automobiles and was anxious to get to work in that field. In 1898, he joined forces with an old friend, John French, in the St. Louis Motor Carriage Company, which introduced