# 3022 FDC - 1995 32c Antique Automobiles: 1899 Winton

US #3022
1995 1899 Winton

• First Day Cover
• Last stamps issued in 1995
• Set features 5 antique automobiles

Category of Stamp:  Commemorative
Set:  Antique Autos
Value:  32¢, First-Class mail rate
First Day of Issue:  November 3, 1995
First Day City:  New York, New York
Printed by:  J.W. Fergusson for Stamp Venturers
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format:  Panes of 25 (from printing cylinders of 200 – 10 across, 20 down)
Perforations:  10.1 X 11.1

Reason the stamp was issued:  This set of five stamps was issued to commemorate some of the first American automobiles.  It follows the popular Classic Cars set (#2381-85).

About the stamp design:  The stamps were created by the same artist, Ken Dallison, who was the talent behind the Classic Cars stamps.  He specializes in painting cars, and his work has appeared in several publications.  In addition to the Classic Cars set, Dallison also did the artwork for some of the stamps in the Transportation series and the Pioneers of Aviation airmail stamps.

First Day City:  These stamps were dedicated on the second day of the American Stamp Dealers Association’s Postage Stamp Mega-Event.  The event was sponsored by the American Philatelic Society and the US Postal Service.  IT was held at the Jacob K. Javits Conventions Cetner in New York City.  Ken Dallison, the stamps’ designer, was one of about 500 people who attended the ceremony.

History the stamp represents: 
1898 Winton:  In 1891, Alexander Winton created Winton Bicycle Company and began producing bicycles from his own patented design.  The business was a great success, but within 10 years, Winton turned his attention to automobiles.  He built his first motorcar in 1896.  Using B.F. Goodrich tires, this marked the first use of pneumatic tires on an automobile.  Winton established the Winton Motor Carriage Company the following year.
By the spring of 1897, Winton had two functioning automobile prototypes.   He drove one on a 60-mile test drive to prove its reliability, but some were still skeptical.  So he arranged a much longer drive to prove the endurance of his vehicles.  On July 28, 1897, Winton embarked on a nine-day, 800-mile trip from Cleveland to New York.  In all, he drove for 78 hours and 43 minutes.  The success of that trip helped him to gain investors to build four more cars.
On March 24, 1898, Winton sold the first American-made standard-model gasoline car in the country.  Winton then made a more widely-publicized drive in 1899 that helped to boost his sales.
The 1899 Winton was the first “production” car ever sold in the United States.  With a list price of $1,000, the two-seater phaeton (an open carriage four-wheel vehicle) featured a horizontal single-cylinder engine, two-speed transmission, and laminated wood frame.  Two hundred of the cars were sold in 1899.
The popularity of Winton’s cars led to the opening of the first automobile dealership in Reading, Pennsylvania.  Winton didn’t want the cars to have miles on them when they were sold, so he built the first auto hauler in the country.  Soon other car companies began requesting car haulers of their own.  Winton also built the first mail delivery vehicle for the US Post Office.  He was a notable inventor, with more than 100 car and engine patents to his name.  Winton also allowed the free use of his patents when safety was involved.
Winton maintained his status as the top-selling automobile producer in the US for many years by constantly improving his product.  In 1902 Winton’s racing car, “Bullet No. 1” set a speed record of one mile in 52.2 seconds at Daytona Beach, Florida.
Winton designed and built four- and six-cylinder engines, as well as America’s first straight eight-cylinder.  In 1912 he founded the Winton Gas Engine Company to experiment with marine diesel engines.  In 1913, his company built the first diesel engine in America.  Upon retiring in 1930, he sold his company to General Motors.  He died two years later on June 21, 1932.  Winton was later inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame and the National Inventors Hall of Fame.