Powel Crosley Jr. was an inventive man, building his first car by the age of fourteen and creating a home built generator to power his family home in about 1900\\. He sold novelty items door-to-door before becoming a self-made millionaire by offering America's first low cost radios and home refrigerators. But since the time he built his first vehicle, Crosley's passion lay with the automobile. He became infatuated with the idea of a small, lightweight motorcar in the early 20th century, during the short-lived cyclecar craze in America. In spite of his booming radio business, the idea of building his own car persisted. After a couple of failed attempts, the idea of the Crosley as we know it began to materialize in the mid-1930s.