Fort Lauderdale Antique Car Museum • The 1909 Packard "Model 18" Gentleman's Runabout Speedster

When my grandmother was a young girl, it wasn't called a "car;" it was called a Horseless Carriage. The photos below speak for themselves. With solid rubber tires on wooden-spoked wheels, the earliest automobiles were variations of inventing ways to put a motor on a carriage.

Photography by Stephen Sessa

In 1909 this runabout commanded a price of $3,200, which in those days was a princely sum. The seats were leather of course; the trim was brass; and the car was built by craftsmen. Acetylene lighting powered the headlamps and taillight. The side lanterns burned kerosene.

We talk about the trunk of the car without ever stopping to think about where the term came from.