Edwin Ross Thomas (1850–1936) established his motor company in Buffalo, New York, building motorised bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles from 1900 to 1919. His first motorised bicycle, the Thomas Auto-Bi, is generally regarded as the first production motorised bicycle made in the United States, and by 1903 the company had become the largest manufacturer of single-cylinder, air-cooled engines in America. The company subsequently expanded into automobiles, and the Flyer name was applied to touring car models from 1904 onwards.
On 12 February 1908, six automobiles set off from Times Square in New York City in what was billed as a race around the world by automobile — from New York westward across North America, across Asia, and on to Paris. The competing nations were represented by teams from France (entering three cars: De Dion-Bouton, Motobloc, and Sizaire-Naudin), Germany (the Protos), Italy (the Züst), and the United States (the Thomas Flyer). The original plan called for the cars to cross the Pacific Ocean by driving across the frozen Bering Strait, though conditions made this section largely unworkable.
The Thomas entry was a 1907 Model 35 fitted with a four-cylinder, 60-horsepower engine. The American team's chief driver for the critical final distance was George Schuster, who became the only member of the Thomas crew to complete the entire journey. Schuster drove the Flyer across the United States — a crossing completed in 41 days, 8 hours, and 15 minutes, making it the first automobile to cross the continental United States in winter.
The race concluded in Paris on 30 July 1908, 169 days after the start. Of the six starters, only three finished: the Thomas Flyer, the German Protos, and the Italian Züst. The German Protos actually arrived in Paris on 26 July, four days ahead of the American team; however, an investigation revealed that the Protos crew had taken prohibited shortcuts during the transcontinental section and was accordingly penalised, resulting in the Thomas Flyer being declared the official winner despite arriving second.
On the approach to Paris, the Thomas team was briefly denied entry to the city by police because the car was travelling with a broken headlamp. A passerby offered a bicycle light, and lacking tools to mount it properly, the crew simply strapped the bicycle itself to the Thomas Flyer so they could legally enter Paris and cross the finish line.
The New York to Paris Race was held at a moment when the automobile was still proving its capabilities to a sceptical public. Roads, fuelling infrastructure, and mechanical support were virtually nonexistent across much of Siberia and rural North America, and the endurance demanded of both machines and crews was extraordinary. Finishing at all — let alone winning — in 169 days across such terrain validated the reliability of the American touring automobile.
George Schuster's achievement in completing the winter transcontinental crossing of the United States by car was a first, and the race itself was one of the most widely publicised sporting events of 1908, followed by newspapers across the competing nations.
The original Thomas Flyer that won the race survived and was acquired by collector William F. Harrah, who restored it to the exact condition in which it crossed into Paris on the day of its arrival. The car is now permanently exhibited at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada.
The 1965 Warner Brothers comedy film The Great Race drew inspiration from the 1908 New York to Paris Race; the hero's car in the film, known as the Leslie Special, was documented by its designers to be inspired by the Thomas Flyer.
The E.R. Thomas Motor Company continued manufacturing automobiles until financial difficulties forced it into receivership in 1912. It was purchased by Empire Smelting and Refining Company owner C.A. Finnegan, and production finally ceased between 1918 and 1919, leaving the Thomas Flyer's New York to Paris victory as the enduring legacy of the Buffalo manufacturer.