Robert E. Twyford had an important role in the development of the automobile. He originally started out as a building contractor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but later turned to developing automobiles. In 1900, the patent office granted him a patent for a four-wheel driving gear for motor carriages. Robert Twyford developed cars with both four-wheel drive and power-steering, first in Pittsburgh and then in Brookville, Pennsylvania. He later moved to Texas. In 1985, William McCracken began work on a replica of the Twyford automobile and finished it in 1989.