TIMES PAST IN L A: May 30, 1897: J. Philip Erie, described in The Los Angeles Times as "a wealthy New York civil engineer and inventor," rolled his $30,000 gasoline carriage out of a garage on 5th Street, cranked it up and took off.
About eight people were aboard as his carriage went down Broadway to 6th Street, south on Main to 7th Street and then east to his home in Boyle Heights. Erie conducted further trials, but engine overheating was an unsolvable problem.
The photograph above is of J. Phillip Erie driving Boyle Workman at Hollenbeck Park in his self-built automobile in Los Angeles in 1897. Mr. Erie, the mechanic, sits at the helm in a suit and a brimmed hat, steering the tall, boxy automobile with a stirrup-handle while tending the side break-lever. The wheels are spoked and seem to bow out in the front. Mr. Workman, the son of Los Angeles civic leader, William H. Workman, sits in the back seat wearing a long overcoat and dark hat.
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