1916 Owen Magnetic Model O-36 Deluxe Touring Victoria

One of the most unusual automobiles built in Cleveland was the Owen Magnetic. Production began in New York in 1915 and shifted to Cleveland from 1916-1919 and concluded in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania in 1920-21.

The motor is a conventional in-line six-cylinder motor that turned a generator and, in turn, an electric motor. Various speeds were available by turning the control wheel mounted on the steering wheel. The Owen Magnetic was marketed as 'The Car with a Thousand Speeds' due to its unconventional gear system allowing limitless gear selection. It was one of the first-generation hybrid electric automobiles using an Avant-grade electromagnetic transmission system. The unique drivetrain design consisted of an internal combustion engine adjoined to a generator, which produced electrical current to the motor, which in turn powered the driveshaft.

These automobiles became extremely popular at a time when steam-fired engines were considered cumbersome and inefficient, and gasoline internal combustion engines were in their infancy and thought to be noisy and dirty.

Only 700 total cars were built between 1915 and 1922; this is one of four known to exist today. This rare example, coached by Rauch & Lang of Cleveland, Ohio, retains its original and unmodified body and drivetrain. It was acquired by the Western Reserve Historical Society in 1975.