Oliver E. Barthel, consulting and mechanical engineer at Detroit, is a man who has made possible the success of many of the leading motor cars of the country. Twenty years ago he was designing engineer for Henry Ford and since IBM has designed over eighty-five different types of gasoline motors. His contribution to the world's work is almost immeasurable, and it is but natural that he should be a resident of Detroit, which is the world center of the automobile industry. Moreover, he is a native man of Detroit, his birth having here occurred on the 3d of October, 1877, his parents being Albert and Elizabeth (Harter) Barthel, both of whom were natives of Germany. They came to America after their marriage in 1870. The father was a civil and mechanical engineer and was also in the patent business. He was also employed by the Michigan Stove Company as superintendent, but eventually resigned that position to introduce the American-made stove in Europe. Later he introduced American inventions abroad and in this capacity traveled through various foreign countries. While thus engaged he became ill in London, England, in 1894, and there passed away. His widow survived him for a decade and died in Detroit on December 18, 1904. In their family were four children, one of whom passed away In infancy, while the others are: Theodore E. A., Otto F. and Oliver E., all of Detroit.

The early education of Oliver E. Barthel was obtained in the Detroit public schools and he was afterward sent to a private school, where he received preparatory instruction in mechanical engineering. He later entered the Detroit Business University for a mechanical course and subsequently studied mechanical engineering. He entered upon the practice of his profession independently in 1894 as representative of the Charles B. King Company, with which concern he remained for six years. Ho resigned to engaged in private practice and has continued alone. His services are constantly in demand by Detroit automobile manufacturers and others seeking expert advice and newer method* and designs in mechanics. He has designed motors and engines for automobile manufacturers, which have made their owners wealthy. Ho was engaged in the designing and building of the first practical ear for Henry Ford and the automobile trade was revolutionized thereby. He built and designed the first engines and ears for the Henry Ford Company, which was later the reorganized Cadillac Motor Car Company, and through his professional skill has contributed to the development of many of the most successful cars placed upon tho market. He was with Charles B. King from 1894 until 1901, engaged in designing and experimental work on gasoline marine engines and automobiles. He designed the first motor for H. J. Carter and in 1901 and 1902 was associated with Henry Ford as designing engineer and designed Ford's first racing car. His connection with the Ford Motor Company continued until 1904 and in November of that year he entered the experimental department of the Olds Motor Works and his labors there resulted in the six-cylinder motor for the Olds speedboat "Six Shooter." In August, 1905, he resigned his position to take up professional practice as a consulting engineer and through the intervening period has designed many motors, including those for the Scripps Motor Company, the Waterman Marine Motor Company, Fairbanks Morse St Company and many others. He it was who designed the Scripps motor used by Captain Larsen In his trip through the Niagara Gorge on the 29th of October, 1911, and also the Scripps motor that successfully drove the thirty-five foot boat "Detroit" across the Atlantic from Detroit to St. Petersburg, Russia, in the summer of 1912. The extent and importance of his labors is indicated in the fact that in the past quarter of a century he hat designed over eighty-five different gasoline motors for stationary, marine and automobile purposes. He also specializes in working out inventions or ideas and making them of commercial value and in this connection has designed agricultural machinery, bakery machinery, steam specialties, printing, embossing and lithographing presses, pneumatic tools and appliances, automobile accessories and various other machines. He was retained in the capacity of consulting engineer for the Standard Steel Car Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1912 to 1919, and in this connection designed their "Standard Six" and "Standard Eight" automobiles. There is perhaps no man In the country more widely known in this connection than Mr. Barthel and none who enjoys a higher or more deserved reputation.

The United States Patent Office has granted the following patents to Mr. Barthel: April 5, 1904, muffler for explosive engines; July 11, 1905, design patent on automobile body; January 5, 1909, explosive engine; May 11, 1915, piston; May 8, 1917, piston; July 31, 1917, motor vehicle; July 31, 1917, explosive engine; December 31, 1918, internal combustion engine; April 1, 1919, motor vehicle frame - Mr. Barthel has also a number of applications for patents pending in the United States Patent Office that arc awaiting issue. He is the chief engineer for both the Detroit Elevated Corporation and the Michigan Elevated Railway Company, and to him largely belongs the credit for solving the many problems encountered in reducing the original idea of the system to an economical, practical and safe working basis.

He is also vice president of the Michigan Elevated Railway Company.

On the 18th of May, 1906, Mr. Barthel was married to Miss A. Gertrude Vargnson of Detroit, and they have one child, Oliver Edward, born in Detroit, May 1, 1917. Mr. Barthel is a life member of the Detroit Yacht Club and a life member of the national advisory board of the Old Colony Club, and also belongs to the Ingleside Club, the Fellowcraft Athletic Club, the Wilderness Club, the Detroit Board of Commerce, the Sabean Society, the Detroit Engineering Society, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the Society of Automotive Engineers. His contribution to the work of making Detroit the automobile center of the world has been n most valuable one. From his early days to the present he has given his attention to professional interests and today occupies a most prominent position among his contemporaries.