Buffum Four Cylinder Stanhope

This is the first four cylinder car in the world.

This is the worlds oldest four cylinder car and the only surviving creation of one of the greatest designers in American automotive history: the Buffum Four Cylinder Stanhope. Although H.H. Buffum built only a few cars, he still achieved a number of important milestones: he produced the first American four cylinder car, the first American series produced racing car, and the worlds first series produced car with a V8 engine. The obvious idea of fitting an existing engine into a carriage did not appeal to Buffum. He wanted a compact, multifunctional and far more advanced engine, made specifically for an automobile. Buffum therefore designed a mid sized four cylinder engine himself. Once this engine was finished, he needed a chassis to install it in. For this, Buffum turned to local coachbuilder George Pierce, who created a surprisingly elegant, high quality tubular frame for Buffums design. The chassis was eventually fitted with a graceful Stanhope body, resulting in a sophisticated car and certainly not a cobbled together prototype.