I don't remember that one, but I am reminded of the late Sir Peter Ustinov's 'Grand Prix of Gibraltar', in which a French team fields a revolutionary design featuring a wooden engine.
. 1913 De Cross Cy-Car of Cincinnati OH. This is still another manufacturer that was said to have used the "Spacke" motor with a friction drive system. .
Flipper,I don't have any more on this car.It looks like an Amilcar chassis.Take a look at the chain behind the spinner going down to the frame.I'm sure that htere is a sprocket below,connected to a shaft transfering the power to a clutch and transmission. While you're dreaming you could always look here.... http://www.rotecradialengines.com Just be sure to bring your wallet! BanjeauX Bob
Where do you find these images, Bob? This one looks like the legendary old Mark 1, Mod 1. Or is it an XP? Gary
. It looks as though the photo of the "Spacke Deluxe Powered Cyclecar" was shot to show how the "Center-Point" steered front end was capable of accommodating bumps and holes in the roadway. After thinking some about it, it occurs to me this feature wasn't (apparently) universal to all center-point steered cycle cars. Seems as though, without the ability to either pivot or in some other manner accommodate roadway irregularities, the frame of those cars lacking some sort of pivoting arrangement would transfer some or maybe most of the twisting moment to the frame and body - - - not something that suggests a very long or useful life for the vehicle. Anyone here have any thoughts or explanations on this curiously apparent potential area for chassis problems? .
The car itself is quite light, and would most likely bodily move up and down to negotiate such irregularities. Some of the forces involved would go into deflecting the tyres, however; and what remains would twist the frame. I wonder how the articulation on the above SDPC was achieved, and whether it incorporated any sprung resistance to roll. I mentioned the loading of the outer front wheel in turns and the consequent tendency to steer opposite to the intended direction in a previous post. Having no resistance in the articulation would make that loading and tendency go away. Stand by for a sketch of a tilting Bedelia clone, if I simultaneously happen to find the time and the energy to draw it.
. Just guessing here - - but the center of rotation for the front steering/spring assy. of the "Spacke Deluxe Powered Cyclecar" looks to be located a few inches or so above the top of the front frame cross-rail. Fooling about with a crop of the front end geometry produced this - - (someone with better computer skills should be able to improve on this). .
Flat Ernie wrote: Ned's sketch is of a modified Bedelia - - a four wheeler - - - but I take your meaning about the possibilities where the three wheeled cars are concerned too. Boy oh boy - - how I wish I could sketch - - or draw - - or do something constructive along those lines. Comes to mind to wonder what the rear end of the Bedelia in Ned's sketch is doing during the fun and frolic. With the Bedelia's body up at such a angle, is the rear of the car likewise tilted (it looks to be)? Does frame-flex enter here to absorb some of the twisting moment? Perhaps if the rear of the car were suspended on a half-elliptic transverse spring (like early Fords), it might allow some body roll around the mounting point of the rear spring assy? .
I'm thinking trailing arms at the back, with a mechanism like a differential (possible even literally a differential out of a suitable axle - the amplitude of motion is enough to justify it) between them. It'd be as if the trailing arms were fixed to the respective axle shafts, and a moment arm and spring were connected to the ring gear, i.e. planet carrier. The same can be achieved with some sort of linkage. The angle doesn't show much of the rear wheels but I was thinking something like 200/60R16 motorbike rear tyres.
. Question: Other than those efforts by Ben Gregory in 1919/1920, were there any front-wheel-drive cyclecars? I know the Gregory cars don't really qualify as cyclecars, but they go to illustrate what might have been done with the technology of the time(s). For a bit more on Ben Gregory: http://winfield.50megs.com/Adams/Gregory.htm About the only other photo I turned up on -line was this (which seems to qualify as a cyclecar) - - but it's a trike which kinda sidesteps the intentions of my question. .
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