author
Charles Andrew Coey
1870–1952
An early automobile entrepreneur and instructor, he turned the excitement of the motoring boom into a practical guide for new drivers and mechanics. His surviving work offers a vivid snapshot of how Americans first learned to handle cars in the early 1900s.
1 Audiobook
C.A. Coey's School of Motoring, 1424-26 Michigan Ave. Chicago
by Charles Andrew Coey
About the author
Charles Andrew Coey (1870–1952) is best known today for C.A. Coey's School of Motoring, 1424-26 Michigan Ave. Chicago, a 1912 book connected to his Chicago driving school. Project Gutenberg and other library records identify him as the author of that work, which combines instruction with promotion and reflects the fast-growing car culture of the period.
Sources from the period and later historical references connect him closely with early automobile business in Chicago. The Coey-Mitchell Automobile Company article on Wikipedia identifies Charles A. Coey as the founder of the company and notes that it operated a chain of driving schools in the 1910s, which fits the picture presented by his motoring manual.
Rather than a literary author in the usual sense, Coey comes across as a hands-on promoter, teacher, and entrepreneur writing for people eager to enter a brand-new industry. That gives his work a special charm: it is part manual, part advertisement, and part time capsule from the moment when driving was still a fresh skill to be learned.