The 1916 Eveready Autoped was an early American motor scooter designed to fold away for storage and short trips. A particular example was scheduled for Bonhams’ Autumn Stafford sale on October 16, 2016, with a reported estimate of US$1,000–1,500. That auction date has passed, and the estimate is not a confirmed sale price.
What was the 1916 Autoped?
The Autoped was a stand-up motor scooter with its engine mounted above the front wheel. Its steering column also operated the clutch and brake, according to the historical account Smithsonian Magazine draws from the Online Bike Museum. New Atlas described the machine as foldable—a practical feature for a vehicle intended to make short journeys without taking up the space of a full motorcycle.
The model was made by the Autoped Company of America, established in Long Island City in 1915, Smithsonian reports. Arthur Hugo Cecil Gibson received a U.S. patent for the self-propelled vehicle design on July 25, 1916. Smithsonian notes that Joseph F. Merkel appears to have contributed significantly to the final product, so the patent attribution should not be mistaken for proof that Gibson alone designed every part of the production machine.
How fast was it, and what did it cost?
New Atlas’s 2016 account gives the Autoped a period price of US$100, a claimed top speed of 25 mph, and claimed fuel economy of 125 mpg. Those are reported figures, not results from a controlled test cited by the article.
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Speed accounts differ. Smithsonian notes that some sources claimed speeds as high as 35 mph, while the Online Bike Museum described the ride as unsteady when pushed beyond 20 mph. These figures do not establish a reliable tested top speed; they reflect claims and historical commentary from different sources.
Was the Autoped the first motor scooter?
It is safer to call the Autoped an early mass-produced U.S. motor scooter than to declare it the world’s first scooter. Smithsonian describes it as the first mass-produced motorized scooter ride in the United States, while also noting a Motoped predecessor. The distinction matters: a claim about American mass production is narrower than a claim about the first scooter anywhere.
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Who was it made for?
Autoped marketing pitched the machine as practical transport for both women and men—not just as a novelty. An advertisement reproduced by Smithsonian promoted it for shopping, work commutes, medical calls, school journeys, errands and quick commercial deliveries. It explicitly named professionals, shoppers, physicians, children, domestic workers, merchants, employees, collectors, repairmen and messengers.
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The scooter also had working uses. Smithsonian reports that the New York Postal Service used Autopeds to deliver mail. It also recounts that California businesses bought 50 machines in 1917 to rent at beach resorts the following season; that figure concerns those businesses, not a nationwide fleet.
Why didn’t the Autoped become a commercial success?
The scooter offered motorized mobility in a compact, stand-up format, but it occupied an awkward middle ground. Smithsonian says experts cited in its account suggested it cost more than a bicycle without offering the seated comfort of a motorcycle. Motorcycle historian Erwin Tragatsch characterized the Autoped, along with scooters of its period, as “not a commercial success.” That is an attributed explanation of the market’s limits, not a definitive account of every cause behind the company’s fortunes.
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How long was it made?
New Atlas reports U.S. production from 1915 to 1921 and licensed production by Germany’s Krupp from 1919 to 1922. Smithsonian says manufacturing ended around 1921 and places the Autoped within an earlier U.S. scooter boom. The machine anticipated the idea of compact motorized personal transport, but the available accounts do not establish a direct design lineage from it to particular later scooter models.
What happened to the auction listing?
New Atlas reported on October 4, 2016, that a 1916 Autoped was scheduled for Bonhams’ Autumn Stafford sale on October 16, 2016, with an estimate of US$1,000–1,500. This was an estimate for that planned auction, not a verified hammer price or a current offer. No realized sale price is established in the cited account.
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Sources: New Atlas, October 4, 2016; Smithsonian Magazine, April 18, 2019.
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