The upward push of the Revolutionary ‘Riding Car’ [Techversaries]

The age of the auto started exactly 125 years ago yesterday when Gottlieb Daimler filed a patent for his revolutionary ” riding car,” a two-wheeled machine driven by an internal combustion engine.

His machine looks as if a bike with training wheels. But under the strictest etymology – the Greek auto means ” self” and the Latin mobilis means ” mobile” – the riding car was the first automobile. The automobile as we understand it arrived in 1886 when Daimler built the four-wheeled Motor Carriage and Carl Benz built the three-wheeled Patent Motor Car . But Daimler set the stage for the automotive era when he filed his patent for the riding car on Aug. 29, 1885.

Daimler and Benz, who had developed their automobiles independently, later founded Daimler AG . The enormous German automaker marked the anniversary of the riding car by calling it ” the largest precursor to individual mobility.” It proved an internal combustion engine could power a vehicle and a man or women could control it. It was a glimpse of what can be achieved.

In today’s tech world, it might be called Automobile V1.0.

What made the machine possible was the ” Grandfather Clock” engine , so named because it resembled a clock. Daimler developed the only-cylinder four-stroke engine with Wilhelm Maybach in 1884. It displaced 265cc, produced 0.4 horsepower at 600 rpm and was remarkable for its relatively light weight

Daimler built the riding car to check the engine. The wood frame rode on wood wheels wrapped with iron bands. The engine drove the rear wheel via a belt. Consistent with Daimler, a modern publication (which Daimler failed to name) described the riding car like this:

” To begin the engine, one must break of day the small flame beneath the hot ignition tube and crank the engine once using the crank; these preparations take only a minute. The engine runs smoothly, since the silencer dampens the exhaust gases entering the exhaust pipe. To set the vehicle in motion, the driving force climbs aboard, takes hold of the steering bar and connects the engine to the bicycle. This can be done by way of a lever, cord and tension pulley, which shifts the drive belt onto the pulley.”

Two gears were available, selected using a lever while at a standstill. First gear was good for 6 km/hr (3.7 mph) while second gear brought the machine to twice that. The brakes were activated by tugging on a cord.

In November 1885, Daimler’s son Adolph Daimler drove the riding car along a three-kilometer stretch of road between Caanstatt and Untertürkheim and back. The patent was awarded on Aug. 11, 1886.

The automobile age was officially under way.

Photos: Daimler

A replica of the ” riding car” at Spa Gardens in Caanstatt, Germany, where it was first tested.

The ” hot tube” ignition system.

Adding fuel.

The ” Grandfather Clock” engine, so named because it resembles a clock. The riding car was built to find out the engine, which had a displacement of 265cc and produced 0.4 horsepower.

The riding car’s two gears were selected via a lever when the machine was at a standstill.

The riding car had a top speed of 12 km/hr, or a bit more than 7 mph.

A drawing of the ” Grandfather Clock” engine Daimler and Maybach developed.

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This post is tagged: Car, push, riding, Techversaries, upward