Rambler was an automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 brand name used by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company

Thomas B. Jeffery Company

The Thomas B. Jeffery Company was an American automobile manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin from 1902 until 1916. The company manufactured the Rambler and Jeffery brand motorcars. It was preceded by the Gormully & Jeffery Manufacturing Company and it was the parent company to Nash Motors, thus one...

 between 1900 and 1914, then by its successor, Nash Motors

Nash Motors

Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors CorporationNash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation...

 from 1950 to 1954, and finally by Nash's successor, American Motors Corporation

American Motors

American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...

 from 1954 to 1969. It was often nicknamed the "Kenosha Cadillac" after its place of manufacture.
The first use of the name Rambler for an American made automobile dates to 1897 when Thomas B. Jeffery

Thomas B. Jeffery

For the government official in colonial Nova Scotia see Thomas Nickleson JefferyThomas B. Jeffery was an inventor and manufacturer of bicycles and early automobiles.-Early life:...

 of Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 and builder of the Rambler bicycle

Rambler (bicycle)

The Rambler is an American bicycle brand manufactured by the Gormully & Jeffery Mfg. Co., in Chicago from 1878 to 1900. This bicycle brand was created by Thomas B. Jeffery and was the predecessor to Jeffery's Rambler automobile....

, constructed his first prototype automobile.

After receiving positive reviews at the 1899 Chicago International Exhibition & Tournament and the first National Automobile Show in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, Jeffery decided to enter the automobile business.