<P> He was born on December 15, 1861 near Canton, Illinois to George Washington Duryea and Louisa Melvina Turner . </P> <P> Charles Duryea and his brother Frank (1869--1967) were initially bicycle makers in Washington, D.C., but later became world - renowned as the first American gasoline - powered car manufacturers, headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts . Generally speaking, Charles engineered the automobiles, while Frank built, tested and raced them . </P> <P> On September 20, 1893, the Duryea Brothers road - tested the first - ever, working American gasoline - powered automobile in a portion of Springfield, Massachusetts that is now Chicopee, Massachusetts . The Duryea's "motor wagon" was a used horse drawn buggy that the brothers had purchased for $70 and into which they had installed a 4 HP, single cylinder gasoline engine . The car (buggy) had a friction transmission, spray carburetor and low tension ignition . Frank Duryea test drove it again on November 10--this time in a prominent location: past their garage at 47 Taylor Street in Springfield . The next day it was reported by The Republican newspaper with great fanfare . </P> <P> This particular car was put into storage in 1894 and stayed there until 1920, when it was rescued by a former Duryea engineer Inglis M. Uppercu and presented to the United States National Museum . </P>

When was the first gasoline-powered american automobile made