History of the diesel car Production diesel car history started in 1933 with Citroën's Rosalie, which featured a diesel engine option (the 1,766 cc 11UD engine) in the Familiale (estate or station wagon) model. The Mercedes-Benz 260D and the Hanomag Rekord were introduced in 1936. Immediately after World War II, and throughout the 1950s and 1960s, diesel-powered cars began to gain limited popularity, particularly for commercial applications, such as ambulances, taxis, and station wagons used for delivery work. Most were conventional in design. Mercedes-Benz offered a continuous stream of diesel-powered taxis, beginning in 1949 with their 170D powered by the OM-636 engine. Later, in 1959
Edwards Rail Car Company (1997–2008) motors. Hydrostatic propulsion employs the use of diesel engine to power a hydraulic pump which supplies pressurized fluid to two 100 H.P. hydraulic motors on the front truck, in place of the final drive gear box as per the mechanical set-up for the standard Model-20. Edwards Rail Car Company manufactured several streetcars, to a modified Peter Witt streetcar design. Edwards Rail Car was awarded a contract to facilitate some aspects of the restoration of John Ringling's private business car, the Wisconsin. Originally built by Pullman in 1905, it was used by the Ringling family for travel with the circus. The