White Motor Company

White Motor Company, American automobile manufacturers

In 1876, Thomas H. White incorporated his business in Cleveland, Ohio, as the White Sewing Machine Co. His three sons eventually became involved in their father’s very successful sewing machine manufacturing business and in 1901 they set up operations to build automobiles.

Their first automobile was chain-drive, tiller-steered, and run by a two-cylinder, steam-powered engine mounted under the floorboards. The photo is a copy of an advertisement for the White Sewing Machine Company’s 1905 model. The following year, the White family created the White Motor Company as a separate entity from the rest of their business that continued to make passenger cars until 1918.

Today, only about 150 White steam cars are known to remain from the 10,000 that were made.

For information on other vehicles see: List of automobiles.