The Automobile is a progressive form of transportation featured in Red Dead Redemption and mentioned in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Automobiles in Red Dead Redemption

While the primary mode of in-game travel is on horseback or by a horse-drawn carriage, as the player progresses through the game, the creeping onset of modernization will make itself known, especially in Blackwater. Automobiles are still a rarity in 1911 and cannot be independently driven by the player, but they still play important roles in several main story missions.

Automobiles were not produced in any significant numbers, having only been commercially available less than a decade prior; automobiles would have been considered rare contraptions. All in-game automobiles are lightweight except for the red Model-T.

A Ford Model-T is seen being unloaded at the Blackwater docks during the introduction cinematic. The same vehicle is seen parked beside an automobile repair shop on a street in Blackwater.

Edgar Ross and Archer Fordham use a burgundy, early Ford Model-T as their primary mode of transportation. John Marston rides as a passenger in the vehicle in several gameplay missions.

Dutch van der Linde stole a burgundy Ford Model-T which he used to kidnap a banker and eventually crashed in the Edgar Ross mission "Great Men are Not Always Wise".

In "And You Will Know The Truth", Edgar and Archer drive an early Minerva Armored Car, with Marston manning the Maxim gun mounted in the bed.

Automobiles in Red Dead Redemption 2

An exact reference is given in one newspaper article after the Epilogue, to a speed record of a modified Stratton Steamer in Florida.^[1]

Another article details a fatal car accident.^[2]

Mission Appearances

Red Dead Redemption

• "Exodus in America"
• "The Gates of El Presidio"
• "Bear One Another's Burdens"
• "Great Men Are Not Always Wise"
• "And You Will Know The Truth"
• "And The Truth Will Set You Free"

Trivia

Red Dead Redemption

• The automobile that is seen in Blackwater is a 1910 Ford Model T.^[3]
• If obtaining gold, Jack will shout "Jack's getting an automobile!" though he is unable to buy one.
• In the mission "Bear One Another's Burdens", Fordham is able to start the motorcar from the driver's seat via the "auxiliary starter" aka ignition button which was a rare option for the 1911 Model T.
• The Ford Model-T acts as a world object as it will take cosmetic damage, but has no special damage effects.
• John Marston prefers horses over automobiles as a means of transport.
• It is unknown exactly what in-game company produces automobiles as they lack any badges or logos, however most are modeled after early models of Ford; as they were the leading carmaker at the time of the game's setting.

Red Dead Redemption 2

• In the mission "Friends in Very Low Places", Alden Carruthers mentions that his job will probably be replaced by a "horseless carriage", in reference to automobiles.
  • In the same chapter, Lenny Summers will discuss automobiles in a conversation with Susan Grimshaw and Mary-Beth Gaskill at camp.^[4]

Gallery

An Automobile on the main street of Blackwater, seen during the mission Exodus in America.

An Automobile Repair shop, present in Blackwater in 1911.

A broken automobile can be found in Blackwater next to the automobile repair shop.

One of the earliest production automobiles of the 20th century, a Minerva Armored Car

John Marston with a Browning Gun in an automobile

3D model of the Minerva Armored Car

An advertisement for automobiles in Red Dead Redemption 2

References