George B. Selden
Inventor of the Automobile


The patent infringement case was finally settled on January 10, 1911. Most histories say that Henry Ford won the case but in fact the Selden patent was upheld but only for automobiles which used the Brayton style 2-cycle engine which very few automobiles, including Selden's auto were using. So the Selden patent was upheld but virtually worthless.

In 1913 (or possibly earlier) the Selden Company began manufacturing trucks and the renamed the company the Selden Truck Sales Corporation. On the right is a 1916 Selden Truck owned by American Can Co.

Selden Truck

During World War I the company built truck for the US military. This picture on the right shows a line of Selden trucks in a parade down Main Street in 1918.

Selden Liberty Trucks

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