Maxim Motor Tricycle
This short story describes Hiram Percy Maxim‘s motor driven Pope tandem tricycle. Albert Augustus Pope hired Maxim to run his Motor Vehicle Division out of which in 1899 emerged Pope Columbia, gasoline-powered automobile.
The Maxim Motor Tricycle (original article)
Daimler Carriage
This story from Horseless Age how William Steinway brought the production Daimler motors into the US. William Steinway was one of the sons in the Steinway & Sons piano manufacturing concern.
The Daimler Motor (original article)
William Steinway (Wikipedia)
Daimler Motor Company Ad
William Steinway was instrumental for bringing Daimler engines into the US.
First Streamlined Car
This article describes Rumpler Tropfenwagen – the first streamlined car. Even by modern standards it was very slippery. It was developed by an Austrian engineer Edmund Rumpler. This car incorporated a number of innovations and it was clearly ahead of its time.
German Automobile Shaped Like A Raindrop (original article)
American Car Abroad
This article by George Lee Dowd Jr. reads like a fiction. “Automobiles from the factories of the United States have penetrated to the outpost of civilization.” The author describes all kinds of barriers, cultural and otherwise to selling American made cars abroad. Very interesting.
Odd Rules Hamper Our Cars Abroad
Front Wheel Drive
If you think the front wheel drive is a modern invention, think again. In fact there were experiment with front wheel drive from the beginning of the automobile era. In early nineteen hundreds American engineer John Walter Christie was working on front wheel drive designs. This article describes the benefits of front wheel drive using the example of 1929 L-29 Phaeton (Cord Automobile).
Car Wash
This short story describes what is likely one of the first car wash businesses. Certainly not as automated as the modern-day car wash but the main ideas are already formed.
Washing Eight Hundred Cars a Day
Gearbox
This article describes shifting gear at the time when the the gearbox did not have synchronizers as they do today. It is still worth learning proper shifting techniques because it will make your gearbox last longer. Also, you never know when you will need to drive an old car or perhaps a big truck. Unfortunately, the article omits a description of proper down-shifting techniques. For that you should learn proper double-clutching technique.
Gear Changing as a Fine Art for the Motorist
Electric Car
Do you think electric cars, hybrid cars, regenerative braking,.., is something new? Read this article describing an electric-hybrid vehicle designed by Harry E. Dey of Jersey City, N.J. This car has a number of innovative features.
Flivverette
This story describes the miniature cars of Slaby-Beringer. Unfortunately, these electric cars were too expensive and did not sell well. But the idea of a small electric vehicle makes more sense than the full size electric cars like GM Volt.
Motoring May Be Cheaper than Trolleying
Any thoughts?
