Andrew L. Riker

American auto designer

Andrew L. Riker.
Providence Horseless Carriage Race (sept. 1896).

Andrew Lawrence Riker (1868–1930[1][2]) was an early automobile designer known for helping the U.S. car industry to transition from electric to gas-powered car manufacturing.[3] He began experimenting with electric vehicles in 1884. He formed the Riker Electric Motor Company in 1888 to make electric motors, and a year later formed the Riker Motor Vehicle Company in Elizabeth, New Jersey. (advertised as "Elizabethport".) The company was absorbed by the Electric Vehicle Company in 1901.

Riker was hired afterwards by Locomobile for their ICE development.

Riker was a Co-Founder of the Society of Automotive Engineers in 1905 and served as the first president for three years.[1]

Wins

  • 1896: Rhode Island State Fair (Providence, 7–11 sept.)
  • 1900: Springfield-Babylon-Springfield (14 apr.)

References

  1. ^ a b "SAE International: Andrew L. Riker, SAE's First President". Archived from the original on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  2. ^ Smithsonian Institution: America On The Move: Riker electric automobile
  3. ^ Evans, Steve (22 June 2018). "Impeccably refined Locomobile". The Classic Cars.com Journal. Retrieved 7 November 2018.

Further reading

  • James J. Flink. The Automobile Age. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1988.
  • Smithsonian Institution: America On The Move: Riker electric automobile
  • A.L. Riker Photos and articles about the early years of the Riker Electric Vehicles


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