For a time, the Daimler Company, who were then almost the only makers in this country, made only vehicles of this power. They afterwards turned their attention to making a smaller vehicle, because then, as now, there seemed to be a considerable demand for the lighter and cheaper vehicle. They made a 6 horsepower voiturette, designed by their then engineer, Mr. Critchley, and shown by Fig. 7, as one of the earlier efforts to produce a light car. They adopted the same size of wheel, fore and aft. The body was built to carry two passengers only, and the wheels were of the bicycle type.

car. The engine was carried by suspenders, B, on suspending pivots. Tie rods were used to adjust and hold the engine in position or pull it forward to adjust the tension on the belt. One of these cars was tested during the Richmond trials. Empty, it weighed only 63 cwt.. and it attained a mean speed of 11 miles, and used 1 gallons for the fifty miles, so, as a light car, and upon these points of construction, it did very well, though the consumption was, as you will see, nearly as much as it was with the larger Siamese car shown by Fig. 1. The Daimler Company did

It was a belt-driven car, and it possessed several features of interest.

The engine was placed vertically and centrally in front of the car, between two belt pulleys, and the driving gear was all arranged on a form of bogy, independent of the frame, which was supported upon it by inverted springs. There were two belts for two speeds, and the change gear gave two more, the beltdriving gear being on a spindle, G, giving motion to the gearing on a live axle. For reversing, a wide pinion which is indicated at C, was dropped in between the gear wheels, K and L. The steering wheel was quite on one side, and the gear-shifting arrangements were brought out to the right-hand side of the

not persevere in the effort to produce a light cheap car.

These are, then, some of the cars that were made until the end of 1899.

We may now look at one or two of the cars that came from the other side of the Channel in very considerable numbers. The car shown by the photograph, Fig. 8, is one of the Benz ideal cars, of which a very large numbermore, I suppose than of any other-were then brought into this c country, though most of them were in use only a year and a-half, or two years. They were less expensive than others, and they satisfied the requirements of those whose desire was rather to travel and see things, than to speed from one place to

another in the least possible time. Quite a number of these cars are still running. They had, as you know, single-cylinder horizontal slow-running engines. They had electrical ignition apparatus, and in careful hands gave very little trouble. The car shown had an engine with a cylinder 4 inches in diameter, 5 inch stroke, and ran at 400 revolutions per minute. The larger car, built by the same firm-a dog-cart pattern-was fitted with a double cylinder engine, with cylinders 4 inches in diameter and 5 inch stroke, running at 500 revolutions per minute. The speed, to a great extent, was dictated by the method of driving,

had to be much smaller, and this would have made it almost impossible to transmit any driving power by it, there being no room for larger pulleys throughout. Even as it was it was necessary to run with belts rather tight, as the distance between the crank shaft and the sprocket shaft was rather small. The carburetter used was a form of surface carburetter*, something like, but not the same thing, as that originally used by Daimler, and one that very seldom gave any trouble. The engine was water-jacketed; but no pump was used for forcing circulation. In fact, the circulation was very

Even

namely, by means of belts. It will be seen that it is difficult-except with very large belts and very different diameters of pulleys-to reduce the speed of a high-speed engine to the low speed of the large driving-wheels which Benz always used, and at the same time to have a considerable range of ratios of road wheel speed to engine speed. with the engine running at only 400 revolutions per minute, the pulley 54 for the lowest speed (see Fig. 9, p. 911), is avery small one-although for the high speed the pulley 53 is a fair size; but if the engine, instead of running at 400 revolutions per minute, had run at 750 revolutions, the common speed with the Daimler engines of the time, this pulley would have

slow indeed, but for the power given off the arrangements adopted were generally sufficient. The only inconvenience was a rather more frequent requisition at places on the road, for water. These cars were light. The "Ideal" weighed only about 64 cwt., was' able to run 12 miles an hour, and at the early' trials slightly over the twelve miles average' was attained; the car carried two people, and consumed 1 gallons of petrol on the fifty' mile journey. That was excellent then, and would be looked upon as good even now. Benz' was one of the originators. He and Daimler were among those who should be remem

See "Motor Vehicles and Motors."

bered with gratitude, as their brains and labour made the things which have developed into the subject of a great industry and great benefit to mankind. They were the men who made an industry possible; the heads for those who were not prepared to do the inventing and experimenting, or incur much loss of money or of time. Although the earlier forms of the Benz cars are not now being made, and although the Benz people have to follow, but not without originality, the changes dictated largely by fashion, Karl Benz and his firm should have the fullest recognition.

I have omitted to say that quite a number of early makers of cars-makers who gave the cars their names, or fancy names-all were using the Benz arrangement precisely, the engine, gearing, car, and everything. Some of them actually bought the motors from Benz, though the cars appeared under different names.

We come now to a new departure by the Decauville firm-that which was called the Decauville voiturette. It was one of the handiest little cars, and one of the cheapest brought out at the time. It had a singlecylinder, air cooled motor, with electric ignition, and could be started from the driver's seat. The motor and its gear were at the rear of the car, and it had a live axle driven by three speed bevil gear. It was

awarded a silver medal at the Richmond Show and trials of the Automobile Club, and in the hands of some young expert drivers of the Decauville Works, it made some remarkable performances in gymkanas, where extreme handiness gave it great advantages. All its gearing was uncovered and exposed to the mud, dust, and dirt. Another defect of its arrangement-although its gearing was very ingeniously designed-was that in order to put the second speed into gear it was necessary to pass the third, by way of getting the second speed into position. So that there was often a very great deal of quarrelling in the gear; and, in fact, a spare pinion for this part was always sent out with a new car without charge. The car is well worth noting because of its originality and its influence on the designers of several of the cars since its birth.

The next car to be noticed is one of the Cannstatt Daimler cars, one of the original Daimler Con.pany's, made at their works. It originated the Daimler-Maybach car. They are now known as the makers of the celebrated "Mercedes" car. At the Richmond Show

• Society of Arts Journal, vol. xliv., 1896, p 160.

and trials, there was one of these carsalthough not the one here shown, but with gearing of practically the same arrangement. The car at the Richmond Show had a marine type of condenser used as a water-cooler. That was the first appearance of a car with what is known as the honey-comb cooler. It was provided with a fan so placed that it drew the air through the condenser or cooler, as was done by some earlier inventors for locomotive purposes. Other inventors had tried fans unsuccessfully for driving the air through condensers or coolers, but failed, for reasons which are sometimes matters of contention; but concerning which there can be no doubt. When we try to drive air through small holes, or to drive anything at certain speeds through passages, we run the risk of getting that effect which is well known in certain pneumatic work, as packing; namely, of getting the air, or liquid, or whatever it may be that the air may be carrying, blocked or packed up instead of passing through. There is a limit to the speed at which you can, under practical conditions, push a fluid through a tube. There is an analogy to be found in the action of sand in the sand-box, used for carrying the centering of an arch. Although the sand carries a very great weight, and could not be pushed through a hole in it, a very little effort indeed-in fact, hardly any would be necessary to cause the sand to flow through that box if you apply it by drawing away the sand from the hole. The same result is to be found if you try to force air carrying grain through a pipe; it will soon reach the limit at which it is possible.

The arrangement of the gearing of this car differed from that of the English Daimler car in many respects. The engine was carried on a frame separate from that which carried the body, and it was the first car that had a satisfactory countershaft pedal brake, though it was of a form which had been in use for a good many years.*

The next car of this date to which reference must be made is one by a maker who has, since its introduction, made a very great name in the construction of the fastest, as well as some of the best cars, namely, the "Mors." That car ran in the automobile trials, and did remarkably well, It was not long before some of its essential features were followed; and the main features were adopted by Mors for the next couple of years.

See "Motor Vehicles and Motors," p. 2027.

FIG. 9.-BENZ "IDEAL" CAR-ARRANGEMENT OF UNDER FRAME AND RUNNING GEAR.

FEET