The flat-mounted, water-cooled, single-cylinder engine, situated at the center of the car, produced 5 hp (3.7 kW),[2] relying on a brass gravity feed carburetor.

[13] The car's success was partially by accident; in 1901, a fire destroyed a number of other prototypes before they could be approved for production, leaving the Curved Dash as the only one intact.

The engine received improved cooling and a new flywheel, and the handbrake now worked on the differential instead of the gearbox.

In 1902, Mr. Olds modified a Model R and essentially stripped it down to an engine, a single seat, and a radiator, and connected the solid front and rear axles on semi-elliptic leaf springs, which then supported the engine, transmission and passenger.

He raced it at Florida's Ormond Beach in 1902 and 1903, where his driver Horace Thomas drove the Pirate to a record speed of 54.38 mph.