A pioneer in the American automobile industry, Elwood Haynes (1857-1925) built one of the first automobiles powered by a gasoline internal combustion engine in 1894. In 1898 Haynes co-founded the Haynes-Apperson Automobile Company, and Haynes continued to manufacture automobiles until 1924. He also held a number of metallurgical patents and built the Stellite Corporation into a multimillion dollar enterprise manufacturing an early form of stainless steel.

Although his name is not as well remembered as Henry Ford, Ransom Olds, or the Duryea Brothers, Elwood Haynes was one of the pioneers of the automobile age. While the debate has continued on who built the first automobile in America, Haynes was one of the first to make a successful trial run of a gasoline internal combustion-powered automobile in the United States. His mechanical innovations helped spur early automotive technology past its first challenges of durability and performance. After winning a number of awards...