John William Lambert

---

title: "John William Lambert" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["19th-century-american-inventors", "people-from-anderson,-indiana", "american-automotive-pioneers", "people-from-van-wert-county,-ohio", "1860-births", "1952-deaths", "people-from-mechanicsburg,-ohio", "people-from-union-city,-ohio", "inventors-from-indiana", "inventors-from-ohio", "20th-century-american-inventors"] description: "American automobile manufacturer" topic_path: "geography/united-states" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_William_Lambert" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American automobile manufacturer ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	John William Lambert
image	John William Lambert 1909.png
birth_date
birth_place	Mechanicsburg, Ohio
death_date
death_place	Anderson, Indiana
resting_place	East Maplewood Cemetery
known_for	America's First Successful Gasoline Automobile and the Father of the Gradual Transmission
occupation	Mechanical Engineer
spouse	Mary (Minnie) F. Kelley
married 1885
children	Alvin Ray and Ethel Mae
parents	George Lambert
Anna Lambert
parents from Pennsylvania
::

| name = John William Lambert | image = John William Lambert 1909.png | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Mechanicsburg, Ohio | death_date = | death_place = Anderson, Indiana | resting_place = East Maplewood Cemetery | resting_place_coordinates = | other_names = | known_for = America's First Successful Gasoline Automobile and the Father of the Gradual Transmission | education = | employer = | occupation = Mechanical Engineer | title = | height = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | boards = | spouse = Mary (Minnie) F. Kelley married 1885 | partner = | children = Alvin Ray and Ethel Mae | parents = George Lambert Anna Lambert parents from Pennsylvania | relatives = | signature = | website = | footnotes = }}

John William Lambert (January 29, 1860 May 20, 1952) was an American automobile manufacturer pioneer and inventor. He is the inventor of the first practical American gasoline automobile. In 1891, he built a working gasoline automobile and took it on the streets of Ohio City for experimental drives. He had over 600 patents.

Innovations and patents

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/First_American_Gasoline_Automobile.jpg" caption="1891: the first workable American gasoline car, made by John W. Lambert"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/Lambert_Union_car_1901.png" caption="Lambert 1901 experimental automobile"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Lambert&brothers_1902.jpg" caption="John Lambert and his brothers in 1902 in a Union Automobile"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Lambert_car_ad_1907.jpg" caption="Lambert 1907 automobile advertisement with the friction transmission featured in it."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/25/Lambert_Automobile_Company_1908.png" caption="Lambert Automobile Company, 1908"] ::

Lambert had more than 600 inventions.

Later life and legacy

Lambert died in Anderson, Indiana, on May 20, 1952.

Lambert Days is celebrated in Ohio City.

References

References

1. Anthony Harrigan. (December 27, 1976). "American Automobile Changed Our Lives". The Brownsville Herald.
2. (October 20, 1960). "American's First Gas Auto". The Cincinnati Enquirer.
3. (May 22, 1952). "John W. Lambert". Anderson Herald.
4. (May 21, 1952). "John Lambert dies at home". Anderson Herald.
5. "John W. Lambert". Ohio History Central.
6. Mosier, Dave. "Lambert Days 2013". The Van Wert Independent.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::