Worth Dog Cart

Worth is believed to have produced only fifteen cars, and this is one of the two that are known to still exist.

The car was technically very advanced. It has a patented steel chassis, a cardan driveshaft and a spring to absorb vibration from the steering wheel – an early steering damper. The distinction between chassis and bodywork is clearly visible. Cars in those days were delivered as a chassis with an engine, after which a coachbuilder would install the bodywork. Going by information in the patents, it appears that this Worth dates back to 1899. The car is in its original state; it was stored in a barn at the end of the 1940s and bought by a car museum in Australia in 1981. The Worth was acquired by the Louwman Museum in 2009. This Worth, which was manufactured in Chicago, is a forerunner of the ‘highwheelers’, cars with high wheels which could cross the prairies of the western United States. The factory, the Chicago Motor Vehicle Company, was set up by three men under the leadership of William Worth, who gave his name to the car in an attempt to attain a degree of immortality.