Thomas Motor Company

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E. R. Thomas Motor Company was a manufacturer of automobiles in Buffalo, New York between 1902 and 1919.

The 1904 Thomas was a touring car model. Equipped with a tonneau, it could seat 5 passengers and sold for US$2500. The vertically-mounted water-cooled straight-3, situated at the front of the car, produced 24 hp (17.9 kW). A 2-speed planetary transmission was fitted. The steel-framed car weighed 1900 lb (862 kg). A modern cellular radiator was used for cooling. An 8 hp (6 kW) tonneau model sold for US$1250.

A 1907 model Thomas Flyer won the 1908 New York to Paris Race, the first and only around-the-world automobile race ever held. The Race began in Times Square, New York on February 12 and covered some 22,000 miles, finishing in Paris on July 30, 1908. Six teams started the Race (one Italian, one German, three French and the American Thomas Flyer). Only three of the cars finished, the Thomas Flyer which won, the German Protos, and the Italian Zust. The original route was to drive the full distance, including a trek across the frozen Bering Straits. This proved impossible (even today), and the cars were shipped across the Pacific. Finishing in 169 days was a remarkable feat, considering the lack of roads and services in 1908. George Schuster was the driver Team Captain of the US Thomas, and the only member of the Thomas crew to go the full distance from New York to Paris.

The 1908 New York to Paris Race was of international interest with daily front page coverage by the New York Times (a cosponsor of the Race with the Parisian newspaper Le Matin). It established the reliability of the automobile as a dependable means of transportation, and led to the call for improved roads to be constructed in many parts of the world. The Thomas Flyer survived and was restored to the exact condition it entered Paris on that day by William F. Harrah of Reno, NV. It is now on exhibit at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, NV. Additional details with numerous photos and videos on the 1908 New York to Paris Race are available at The Great Auto Race of 1908